Saints and Soldiers (2003)

Four American soldiers and one Brit fighting in Europe during World War II struggle to return to Allied territory after being separated from U.S. forces during the historic Malmedy Massacre.

Director:

Ryan Little

Writers:

Geoffrey Panos (story), Matt Whitaker

Stars:

Corbin Allred, Alexander Polinsky, Kirby Heyborne

16 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Corbin Allred	...	Cpl. Nathan 'Deacon' Greer
Alexander Polinsky	...	Medic Steven Gould (as Alexander Niver)
Kirby Heyborne	...	Flt. Sgt. Oberon Winley
Larry Bagby	...	Pvt. Shirley 'Shirl' Kendrick (as Lawrence Bagby)
Peter Holden	...	SSgt. Gordon Gunderson
Ethan Vincent	...	Rudolph 'Rudi' Gertz
Melinda Renee	...	Catherine Theary
Ruby Chase	...	Sophie Theary (as Ruby Chase O'Neil)
Jeff Birk	...	Radio Announcer
Benjamin Gourley	...	Private McKinley (as Ben Gourley)
Tane Williams	...	Injured One-Armed Soldier
Randy Beard	...	German Officer #1
Curt Doussett	...	German Soldier #1
Michael Buster	...	German Soldier #2
M. Casey Reeves	...	Weeping Soldier

Storyline

After surviving a massacre in Malmedy, a location behind the German army in Europe, four American soldiers with only one weapon rescue the British pilot Oberon Winley (Kirby Heyborn) in a tree and they move together, trying to reach the allied forces and save a great number of allied soldiers from a German attack with the information got by Winley in his flight. While marching, each soldier discloses inner secrets to the rest of the group.

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Plot Keywords:

soldier | massacre | american soldier | battle | behind enemy lines | 

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Taglines:

Trapped behind enemy lines. All they have is their hope.

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Genres:

War | Action | Drama | Adventure

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for war violence and related images

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

25 March 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Saints of War

Filming Locations:

Alpine, Utah, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$780,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$129,056 (USA) (6 August 2004)

Gross:

$1,310,270 (USA) (20 May 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Go Films, Medal of Honor Productions LLC

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Over 100 war re-enactors volunteered to participate in filming, lying in the snow for hours at a time.

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Goofs

Two of the main characters are from the 101st Airborne Division, and were supposed to have been fighting on the Elsenborn Ridge, which is on the north edge of the Bulge. In fact, the 101st was a couple hundred miles to the rear on 16 December 1944, the day the German attack began, and was never near Elsenborn. The Malmady Massacre took place about 17 or 18 December 1944, long before the 101st got to Bastogne.

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Connections

Followed by Saints and Soldiers: Airborne Creed (2012)

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Soundtracks

"Villa"
Performed by JoAnn Ottley
JOANN OTTLEY: Retrospective
1999 Tantara Records
Used by permissionn

User Reviews

FESTIVAL WINNER IS EXCEPTIONAL!

FOR more then a year I have waited to see Ryan Little's SAINTS & SOLDIERS. Back in the fall of 2002, KSL-TV did a featurette on Mormon filmakers and showed location scenes being shot in Alpine, Utah of a film with a World War II setting. It seemed like an ambitious undertaking for a low budget filmmaker. As time went on and the film was completed, word came out that the film was very good. Instead of bring it immediately to local theatres, Excel (the distributor for the film), began showing it at film festivals all over the place -- and it hit home with film fans, winning numerous awards.

Today, Friday, August 6th, 2004, the film opened it theatrical run here in Utah. Now I have had the opportunity to see the film for myself and can say that it is EXCEPTIONAL! Uncle Sam invited me to join them for 2 years back in the early 1960's. I was glad to serve my country and was even more gratful that I did not have to actual fight in a shooting war. Going through basic training and later, holding my breath as the Cuban missile crisses came and went, I wonder what I would do if called upon to fire with intent to kill. I'm glad that I was not put to that kind of test. As I experienced SAINTS & SOLDIERS, watching a young soldier of faith, who had previously served his church as a missionary in Berlin, face the reality of killing those whom he had come to love and respect, it touched my heart in a way no other war film has ever done. The film is very well acted, tense, moving and thought provoking. In short, this is a film that I will strongly recommend, will return again to see in the theatre, and will certainly purchase when released on DVD.

Congratulations to all involved!