Overlord (2018)

A small group of American soldiers find horror behind enemy lines on the eve of D-Day.

Director:

Julius Avery

Writers:

Billy Ray (screenplay by), Mark L. Smith (screenplay by)

Stars:

Jovan Adepo, Wyatt Russell, Mathilde Ollivier

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jovan Adepo	...	Boyce
Wyatt Russell	...	Ford
Mathilde Ollivier	...	Chloe
Pilou Asbæk	...	Wafner
John Magaro	...	Tibbet
Iain De Caestecker	...	Chase
Jacob Anderson	...	Dawson
Dominic Applewhite	...	Rosenfeld
Gianny Taufer	...	Paul
Joseph Quinn	...	Grunauer
Bokeem Woodbine	...	Rensin
Erich Redman	...	Dr. Schmidt
Mark McKenna	...	Murphy
Hayley Carmichael	...	Mrs. Lesner
Marc Rissmann	...	Scherzer

Storyline

On the eve of D-Day, the 5th of June, 1944, several American paratroopers are dropped behind enemy lines to carry out a mission crucial to the invasion's success: destroy a radio tower built in a little castle of an old French town that the Third Reich uses for communication between Berlin and Normandy beaches' bunkers. Due to the intense enemy fire, the planes are shot down and most soldiers die in the landing or are killed by the Nazis' night patrols after they land. However, a private named Ed Boyce survives to find Corporal Ford, a last-minute incorporation from Italy and a veteran expert in bombs and explosives, rogue sniper Tibbet, war photographer Chase, and finally private Dawson. After they watch the killing of their superior Sargeant Eldson by a Nazi night patrol, Ford becomes leader of the group and they try to get the town with the tower in order to complete the mission. In the forest close to the town they meet Chloe, a villager who assists the soldiers in her home with ...

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Plot Keywords:

world war two | supernatural power | nazi | nazi occultism | supernatural horror | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong bloody violence, disturbing images, language, and brief sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Twitter

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English Russian French German

Release Date:

9 November 2018 (USA)

Also Known As:

Overlord

Box Office

Budget:

$38,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,202,108, 11 November 2018, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$21,704,844, 20 December 2018

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bad Robot, Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The title of the film is, no doubt, in reference to Operation Overlord, the codename for the Allied operation for the Battle of Normandy, which launched the successful invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe. This, alongside Operation Neptune, would become known as D-Day.

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Goofs

Unfortunately there were no African American members of the 101st Airborne or the 82nd Airborne in World War Two.

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Quotes

Wafner: They have been given a purpose.

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Alternate Versions

After the film was given the restricted R18+ rating in Australia, Paramount Pictures decided to edit out almost 1 minute of footage to lessen the violence for the cinema version. The subsequent re-submission got the film a more accessible MA15+ rating. Although this version never ended up getting released due to Paramount Pictures changing their minds to instead give the original R18+ rated cut to cinemas.

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Connections

Referenced in At Dawn They Sleep (2019)

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Soundtracks

Bridging the Gap
Written by Ansel Collins (as Ansel George Collins), Nas (as Nasir Jones), Winston Riley (as Winston Delano Riley), Dave Barker, Salaam Remi (as Salaam Remi Gibbs), Olu Dara, Muddy Waters (as McKinley Morganfield), Melvin London (as Melvin R. London) and Bo Diddley (as Ellas McDaniels)
Performed by Nas feat. Olu Dara
Courtesy of Columbia Records
By arrangement with Sony Music Entertainment

User Reviews

A great blend of genres (each done well) - shame about the final 30 mins

If you want to go in to watching this film without seeing the trailer, then don't read any reviews - including this one. There are no spoilers beyond what the trailer shows.

I make that opening claim because if you hadn't seen the trailer, you wouldn't know of the dual-genre nature of Overlord. The genre shift to full-blown 'zombies-but-not-quite' action comes after 75 minutes of truly brilliant wartime drama with some moderate scares. The opening scenes of the paratroopers entrance to the war-torn French countryside is a particular highlight for its chaotic, intense and disorientating depiction of what it must've been like for those who did the deed for real in WW2.

The horror element begins to build early on but is never an indication of the upcoming genre shift (if you've not seen the trailer, at least) until the point (From Dusk to Dawn style) where it's made clear that we're not in Kansas anymore. The only bummer I can think of is the film falls into the trap of a predictable final 30 minutes. With all the enjoyment had before then, it's so disappointing to feel let down at the last hurdle.

The soundtrack is immense, the cinematography is brooding without being dark (a style which works for both of the film's genres), and the CGI special effects are affectingly convincing. Don't expect great things from the script (which includes several awful one-liner comebacks), but I think this film will go down as one of the great zombie films of recent years, and may even be noted for its even better turn as a war film.

Best quote: "What is this?!" - "Our greatest achievement. With it, we create super-Nazis; a thousand year army and it's thousand year soldiers."