Format: DVD from NetFlix on rockin’ flatscreen.
War movies are an interesting genre of film. When they are made during the course of a war, they are almost always propaganda affairs. After the war, they tend to focus more on stories from the war, whether these show things in a positive or negative light. Post-war films are often more character-driven or history-driven, which I find a lot more interesting than films that are morale-based. Battleground, I think, tries to be something based at least in part on character but is really much more about a historical event. We’re concerned with a group of soldiers certainly and while these soldiers are to be presented to us as individuals, they really aren’t. Each has a quirk that identifies him from the others, but we’re far more concerned with the fate of the battle.
It’s December, 1944 and Private Jim Layton (Marshall Thompson) has been assigned as a replacement into the 101st Airborne near Bastogne in Belgium. The men of the Screaming Eagles, all battle-tested, are less than welcoming to someone who hasn’t braved the same sort of combat they have. As Layton arrives, PFC Holley (Van Johnson) returns after recovering from a minor wound. The 101st is thrown immediately into battle despite being promised leave in Paris. Instead, this is the beginning of the Battle of the Bulge, and the German forces are advancing through the Ardennes right into Bastogne, putting the men of our chosen division directly into the firing line.
