Customer Reviews

The Fallen

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The Fallen was very good for a low budget movie. It focuses on the
fragile relationship between an Italian unit and German Unit on the
Gothic Line. It is a little confusing to follow the plot in the
beginning but once the movie got going I could not walk away from it.
The equipment and uniforms were correct and the acting was very good
(For the struggling actors in this movie they really put there all
into it. Watch the making of the fallen, none of the actors are not
professionals so they have regular jobs. One actor is even a
professional dog walker in real life and another works in a deli. The
acting they do in this movie is definitely on a professional caliber).
The fallen is a definite must see.

First of all I'm from the Netherlands wich sets me in a different perpective than the American viewer. Holland was invaded during WW2 and a lot of hatred toward the former "enemy" still excists. Second I'm a re-enactor portraying a common german soldier of the Wehrmacht. As an re-enactor I tend to look different to warmovies than the average viewer. I can see the difference between early and late type uniforms both German and Allied. I know what kind of material was used during the different stages of the war both German and Allied. This film tries very hard to show the real "life" of the common soldier during this war. Occasionnaly it succeeds in this effort, but on the other hand it sometimes misses the point. The fighting between the German and Italian soldiers should be explained. Not very much people know that the Germans concidered the Italians as second rate troops. The scenes between the German and Italian officer could be used to enlighten this but they fail to do so. The very last scene is a bit of a dissapointment, all that smoke coming from the Lieutenants uniform when he collapses after beeing shot. Its not realistic. Some of the scenes are just there and there is no beginning and no end. I miss the point completely why they are there. The scene with the American scoutcar is such a scene. What trhe heck were those Italian machinegunners thinking when they openend up fire on that thing. Why did,nt they send for help? Also the scene with the German halftrack is one big questionmark. The scene with the attack on the convoy is terrible. I've never seen that many factoryfresh, clean and undamaged vehicles without dust or bulletmarks during that stage of the war. One moment you see a gang of awkward Italian bandits plundering this convoy the other moment, out of nowhere the might of the German Army pops up and there is not a shot fired. Hardly the common German tactic when they encountered a group of Partisans who just massacerd a friendly convoy. In the real war they would have shoot first and ask the questions later. I also fail to see why it took so many years to "shoot" this film. My opinion about the film is that the makers tried to make a movie that has a mix of "Saving Private Ryan" and "Cross of Iron" but they somehow lose it in amateuristic filming. I know it was a low budget film and it has a different style of showing things and I can tell the makers put in a lot of efford to show the life of a common soldier but it sadly turns out to be a victim of that same low budget.

the Fallen is a film I never thought could be made, a WW 2 independent film. A small budget period war movie? Exactly, but this one had high hopes and was very ambitious without trying to be an action driven film. The problems with this film wasn't the production or the look of the film. The Idea was pretty cool, a story told from three different perspectives. One told from the Germans, one told from the American side and one told from the Italian side, and you can add another side which was the Italians that fought on the side of the Germans.

I liked the concept and how the actors spoke in their native tongue. All these things would have worked better if the characters were a bit more fleshed out. In any war film you know someone is going to get shot, blown up before it's all said and done. When you don't really care or feel connected to any of the characters than your really not going to get the full war movie experience. The story was paced slow with brief moments of action which I'm sure had to do with the small budget. With a war film you really want it hardcore, gritty, and real; this one was none of the above. Nothing real resonated in this film and you knew you were watching a film and actors the entire time.

There were some nice shots and directing, the uniforms and setting was spot on for the Italian countryside and everything looked like it came from that era. The film makers did a wonderful job in that aspect. The movie was trying to say something and give all the sides but didn't focus enough on the real meat of any of these stories for me to get emotional invested in this film. It's a nice film for a small independent feature and did well at some film festivals. Looking at this on a broader scale it just won't hold up to many, many other well made war films. I salute the director for his ambitious attempt at something different, i wish i would have like it more.

The movie is excellent. It describes the morale soldiers up kept during the war and the integrity of their leaders. The Germans fought till the death with honor, and the Americans triumphed with glory. Italy was a German occupied territory and with an internal revolution between the armend forces and the Gueriilas, which opposed Germany. Great weapons!

As others have said, this isn't Saving Private Ryan by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not as bad as some reviewers have stated. Looking at their other reviews, it looks like many of them are younger guys who ususally buy sci-fi flicks or electronics. If you're into stuff like Halo 3, I can see where you might find this movie boring.

I'm a WWII reenactor and collector of military vehicles. I have relatives who were in the Luftwaffe during the war, so the era of the Third Reich has always been a big field of study for me. I've collected militaria, primarily WWII uniforms and weapons, for thirty-five years, so that's who I am. Now, on to the movie.

Yes, this is a low budget movie and it reflects that. The story line could definitely have been better, the soundtrack could have been MUCH better, and the special effects are not overly impressive - as one person stated, the small charges they used to simulate bullet hits are downright explosive! However, if you go into this movie realizing it's a low budget ITALIAN movie (it definitely has a foreign flavor) AND you are a serious WWII movie guy, then this movie's worth the buy. Here's why.

To me, it was worth the purchase price just to see an unusual topic approached with a good deal of historical accuracy. The actions may not be 100% correct throughout, but the equipment, uniforms, and vehicles are very nice. Here's some interesting stuff I liked: the main Feldwebel has a unique jacket made of zeltbahn material, the Italian uniforms and field gear are spot-on perfect, the mixture of German uniforms is great, the Americans are wearing a mix of M43 and M41 jackets, some have leggings, some have double buckle boots - all very typical of late 1944 northern Italy. There's a lot of nice weapondry - a scoped G43 rifle, Carcano carbines, an MG42, an MG34, MP40s, a working MP44, Thompsons, BARs, Garands, Mausers, M1 carbines, double barrel shotguns (partisans) and even a water cooled Browning .30. The military vehicles are a bit too clean, but I suspect these are owned by European reenactors and they just didn't want to get them too messy. On the plus side, there's some decent footage of a replica German 8-wheeled recon panzer, which is something I've not seen in any other flick.

To sum it up, yes, it could've been better. But, it's not a bad little movie. For the money, I would seriously recommend this one if you're interested in the war in Europe.

It is interesting that two of the other reviewers of this film are from New York City, gave this bad movie glowing ratings and that both of them have not submitted any other Amazon reviews. Friends of the director, perhaps? This movie had such potential, too. The northern Italian front has been woefully neglected in modern WWII films. I can not totally pan this movie as much as I want to because of several reasons: 1) I'm Italian, 2) My mother grew up in northern Italy during the war with a German squad occupying their house and this movie may have given me a tiny glimpse of ordinary Italian life at that time 3) The uniforms, wepons and equipment and sets did look superb 4) I liked the subject matter 5) It potrayed people as real on all sides and not caricatures 6) The German officers and Rossini were well acted parts.
Other than that this movie stunk. And what on God's green earth was that stupid music all about??? I looked for an option on the DVD setup to shut off the music but it was sadly lacking. The music was totally out of place - it was like I was watching one movie but listening to another one - totally distracting. The sound was horrible, too - terrible sound effects and maybe it was just me but most of the speaking seemed dubbed or just out of synch or something. Most of the acting was overdone, too - particulary the Americans and Italian soldiers. The infantry assault techinques during the few firefights were unrealistic, too. The story took a while to get started and after about 75 minutes things do come together. Overall, I would say if you are a WWII film buff watch this but otherwise pass. To the cast and crew: better luck next time. To Ari Taub - get a better sound mixer, get better music, get better actors and you might have something because the direction and editing was actually not too bad.

THE FALLEN is a really impressive World War II film. What's best about it is that it presents the war from THREE opposing sides; American, German, and Italian. I haven't seen that in any other war film. It's not preachy and it lets YOU decide what you think is right.

The characters are well deliniated and you really care about them and their crises. The acting is superb on all counts. The director has managed to convey the horror of war and still keep you interested in the everyday routines that the soldiers experience.

The stories weave in and out from the Americans to the Germans to the Italians, and back, all the while making it all work together effectively.

I would highly recommend THE FALLEN to any history or war buff, and to anyone who is interested in how differently other cultures view the same situations.

In summary: this film is a waste of your time and money.

I believe this so much that I will SEND you my copy to prove it. Just write mgardner68 at my juno.com account. Seriously - this film is simply not worth becoming a part of any collection.

I understand that the film is an independant effort, and I applaud the attempt to make such a film. I will give credit to the uniforms, equipment and scenery. An effective try, but not enough to save the film.

The acting, especially from the Americans, Italians and locals (and that one pitiful German soldier) was very sub-par. Ooh, that only leaves the German officer and, at times, the Italian officer. Too bad. The actors would have done themselves a service by not acting at all. None of the interaction came across as authentic... it all seemed over acted and forced.

The sound track was completely distracting and inappropriate. It made the film laughable, not believable. No soundtrack would have been a value add for this film.

The story was too (tooooooooo) busy and scattered, losing focus easily and as a result losing the viewer in the tangle that was simply too much for an indy film to attempt to portay with ample realism.

The battle scenes, without proper choreography and effects, should not have been attempted. It is implausible that trained US GI's would make such a haphazard, uncoordinated frontal assault such as the one depicted in the final scene. I've read too many personal narratives from WWII, seen too many well thought out film scenes using actual veteran consultants to plan it, to believe the battle scenes in this film. A smart indy director/writer knows what to/what not to attempt. These battle scenes were overambitious with the resources at hand.

Finally, a word of caution when purchasing films on Amazon based on reading reviews. I read the reviews. I bought this film because there were more "well written" reviews as opposed to several "poorly written/worded" reviews. I was suckered. Some of the well written reviews may very well have been from people related to the film makers. Shame on them.

A good film, regardless of being an indy production or not, can stand on its own merit. Without bogus reviews, this film cannot. Do not waste 1 hour and 50 minutes of your time.

Ari Taub's film shows World War II in the eyes of American, German and Italian soldiers all pitted against each other on the Gothic Line. One gets to feel compassion for all these young men who are in the wrong place at the wrong time. We have the Americans who have come to liberate Italy from its German occupiers. The Germans are faced with certain defeat but we get to meet some interesting and caring characters who in a peace time situation might become very close friends. The film does not have any really big battle scenes on special effects, so if anyone is expecting this, they will be disappointed but the realism and attention to detail and characters is really good.

Mr. Taub finds a unique way to show the futility of war.

As with most independent features, shot with an ultra low budget, I ordered the DVD of the Fallen with lower expectations than I would have of a Hollywood war movie. However I was pleasantly surprised and impressed by the film as it was unlike most conventional war movies, which tend to tell the historical aspect of the war. What this film achieves is to bring the war down to a personal level for the audience. This is done through sensational acting from the whole cast and excellent directing from Ari Taub, who chose to tell the story in both German and Italian, shying away from the commercial idea of using only English (so that American's don't have to read the subtitles). I normally dont like war movies, but this was really interesting. Not your typical shoot em up, big explosions, good guy vs. bad guy film. This film had a lot of heart and the director has created a very refreshing and truthful film that I would recommend anybody to go and see.