The Battle of the Bulge - Bulging with action

‘Battle of the Bulge’ tells the story of the American army’s final months of World War II.  Just when they think that they’ve got the Germans beat and are trying to rest before the final attack on Germany and Berlin, a warmongering Panza tank commander is given an entire battalion of the formidable machines with which to wage a counter attack on the Americans.

The first thing you’ll notice about ‘The Battle of the Bulge’ is that a substantial amount of screen time is dedicated to the Germans, namely the tank commander Colonel Hessler.  We see a lot of the film from his point of view, not that many people will be able to relate to the way that he only wants to keep the war going forever, simply so he can continue to fight forever.  However, it’s nice to have a ‘face of the enemy’ in a World War II film, rather than just having the Allies fighting endless waves of faceless Germans.

However, even with Colonel Hessler occupying one of the main roles, the bulk of the film is – obviously – about the Americans and an (equally idealistic) Colonel Kiley, who is the only person who predicts the impending German counterattack.  Unfortunately for his colleagues, he’s labelled ‘paranoid’ and no one heeds his warnings until they’re too late.  These are the two main performances and they’re played as well as you’d expect.  Hessler is the more memorable character, but then that’s because we always remember the ‘baddie!’ But, besides them, Telly Savalis and Charles Bronson are also worth a mention.

What follows are some pretty epic – and memorable – tank battles between the Americans and German battalions.  And the battles are particularly memorable, not to mention the general carnage to the local population caused by the constant battles.

It’s worth noting that the film shouldn’t be taken as a ‘historical document’ – the closing statement on screen states that to condense as much information as possible, places and characters have been 'generalised.' But, the bottom line is that if you’re into your war movies, you should enjoy this.  If you’re not, it probably won’t change your mind on the subject matter. 

8/10 The Force is definitely strong with this one