Allies

During the heyday of British war films in Fifties, Allies would have fitted in nicely as the B movie to some better fayre. But trying to push it out alone in 2014 was always going to be a disaster. The film received no distribution as it offers nothing we haven't seen a hundred times before. The core audience for films like this is 50+ so there needs to be an angle to even get it noticed. A simple commando raid and journey back through the lines was the staple of so many films (and TV shows), far better done, that it's difficult to maintain any involvement in the shrinking cast of new faces in this.

The budget meant that the one German armoured car kept coming up again and again bit like the Daleks going round and round in old Doctor Who. Nobody had a clue how to use their weapons. You do not loose off machine gun rounds from the hip. You'd miss your target and have to reload except you'd be dead by then. You also don't stand up as sitting ducks as the Germans continually do. They gave the Germans the same bullets from When Eagles Dare whilst the Allies bullets were everlasting.Nice but unbelievable.

This is a ten year old boy's idea of a war film. Constant gun battles, sacrifices and noise. And the odd tit for Dad. On a streaming service only to fill the shelves.

"Allies" is an exciting, action-packed war movie that can be very enjoyable if you can get over the fact that it is rather ludicrous and predictable. If every Allied soldier killed that many Germans, the war would have been over in six months. And one could only wish that Allied tanks would have shown up in such a timely manner. It rather reminded me of WWII shows that used to appear on American TV, except that some of them (especially "Combat!") were superior, dramatically speaking. But who doesn't like a slam-bang story of commando action, combat, betrayal, and even a little romance? Not a great war movie by any means, but not a bad film if you are willing to suspend a rather large portion of disbelief.

In the later half of 1944. A four man team of British Commandos are seconded for a secret snatch 'n' grab mission to recover detailed military maps being held by the Germans. Tagging alongside the team is American Captain Jackson (played by Julian Ovenden).

And that my friends and Allies is all the story I shall deliver at this point. I discovered the storyline firsthand, and I 100% recommend you also do the same.

Allies is Directed by Dominic Burns, a filmmaker whose career I have followed pretty closely for the past few years. One thing I love about the films that Dominic Burns gets involved in is that they are all different. From the horror film 'Cut', to the comedy film 'How To Stop Being A Loser' through the science fiction film 'UFO' (also known as Alien Uprising) , and including the thriller films Airborne ,

Dominic never seems to tackle the same genre twice and I can't help wondering if there is a musical or an animated film on the horizon at some point waiting to appear on his filmography.

Part way through the viewing of the film, I realised that whilst I have always figured Dominic tackles different genres each and every time. I realised that they all had one thing in common. People..If you strip back the covers on all the films Dominic has done to the bare minimum, you'll see that his films are about people, and the relationships they have with each other.

For all the fantastic set pieces (and they are most certainly fantastic) in Allies, the gunbattles, the planes and explosions. For me the heart of Allies is just that. Allies. Its about the comoradery , that band of brothers feeling that a lot of military films convey, But a lot don't. Allies certainly does give you that feeling of one man willing to take a bullet for the man next to him.

So whilst you might think you have seen all that the 'men on a mission' films can offer. You really haven't. Allies is fantastic in so many ways. It is beautiful to look at, Praise needs to be given to both the director and also his camera crew. Its outstanding and epic to watch and hear as the story unfolds from start fo finish. As much as I love the work of Dominic Burns. If you sit down and watch each of his films in the order they were released. You'll see the quality of the films ramp up with each new project. That my friends is a filmmaker who knows what he is doing but still learning more and more with each new film. But more than the learning new things, he is using those new lessons to make his next film better than the last (and I love the last film) and surround himself with the best team out there (such as Jake 'Doghouse' West, James 'Tower Block' Nunn, Poppy Lloyd -the highest regarded casting agent out there) and many more)

It would be so easy to write a review (although is it a review if I am not delving into too many plot details) where I go through a list of the things I loved about it Acting:CHECK, Directing:CHECK, Editing:CHECK and so on. Thats the easy way out.

Kudos do go to all the cast though, what a wonderful mix of actors (and actresses) from very different styles of projects. Whether its Leon Vickers (Doctor Who), Edmund Kingsley (The Borgias, and the up and coming Artificial Horizon), Chris Reilly (Game Of Thrones, Everest) or Matt Willis (McBusted) who make up the core group of the cast as the Allies themselves (Matt Willis is wonderful as sniper Billy) The whole cast are excellent actually. Upon looking at the filmographies of the cast. I was stunned to learn that Chris Reillys first credit was in 2010. The guy has the acting chops that display a lifetime of excellence and I cant wait to follow this guys career from project to project as well as the other cast members, some of whos work I was familiary with before Allies, some I wasn't.

But lets get back to the film. In fact lets get back to the sound. My god, whoever did the sound mix on Allies. Thank you, thank you and thank you. I haven't seen a film with this good a soundmix for a long time. From the ambient noise of forests, to the tank blasting craziness of war accompanied by one of the most beautiful film scores I have heard this year.(the score is composed and conducted by Phillippe Jakko), Allies is the sort of film that makes you want to rush out and get a huge soundbar or a 7.1 surround system or whatever number they are up to now. Allies is the sort of film that begs to be watched on a huge screen with the most perfect sound set up) I aim to get one of those soon and Allies will be a first watch on it.With the fact that I have seen over 250 films this year. One thing is written in stone. Dominic Burns has created yet another film thats blown my socks (and ears) off.

Thank you, thank you oh and thank you to all the cast and crew who put sweat and perhaps tears into this film. For me as a film fan. You hard work has been worth it. Now lets get others watching the film.

I watched ten minutes of this movie then had to leave it.

The opening battle was implausible. As another reviewer noted there were groups standing and firing at each other - like a civil war movie more than a WWII one. Senior officer commanding a Platoon level action while wearing his gorget patches in the field. Refers to his subordinate leaders as Company Captains. British troops had Company Commanders who were Majors. US command companies with Captains.

Then onto a briefing about the coming mission. The SGT comes to attention like a kid would if playing at soldiers. Servicemen will understand what I mean. Briefing was light on detail and delivered by a senior officer who sounded like a voice over man. Then the British soldiers all salute like recruits with no head dress on.

I figured it wasn't going up hill from here so I decided to spend my time on something that didn't make me want to shout at the TV.

Might sound picky but these were glaring issue that set the scene for for a poor movie.

I love low budget films and will happily make allowances for realism flaws. But the flaws in this weren't due to cost except maybe the fee for an adviser.

There is an action scene about half way through this movie which is one of the most exciting I've seen in recent memory! I obviously don't want to put up any spoilers but the minefield chase scene with the German tank is worth watching this movie for even if you don't like another frame, which you will because it's great. I can't tell you how refreshing it is to see the British fighting in World War Two in a movie because I was beginning to think the Americans were attempting to write us out of history! But forgetting all that, this movie has a real soul, you certainly care about the actors and if you're not careful it'll draw a tear or two as well! Don't get me wrong, it's no to the standard as Saving Private Ryan, then again, what films are, but the fact that I even dare say Allies in the same breath as Ryan, says a lot about this film. If you're a war film fan, this is an absolute must, if you're not, it might just surprise you.