Scheldt 44' - coming to Netflix

[Steel God]

I tried watching it this morning, got about half way through and gave up.  The acting is just okay, but the story is just slow and boring.  I certainly wouldn’t call it a “war movie” as it isn’t presenting any grand overview of the battle.  It’s just a drama set during the war, and dramas should be, well, dramatic.  This plods along and you really don’t get interested in these people at all.  Bit of a fail in my opinion.

Gent:

Of course, “The Forgotten Battle” is not a war movie.

The title - “The Forgotten Battle” has nothing to do with a war movie.

The airborne/ glider operation depicted does not play a critical role in later scenes. Certainly, not a war movie.

The climatic battle scene, when the Canadian soldiers launch a strike across the dam, has nothing to do with a war movie.

The pivotal scene when the resistance fighter delivers the tidal charts to the Canadian officers so the Allies can stage a flanking maneuver against the entrenched Germans on the dam, has nothing to do with a war movie.

German and Canadian soldiers playing a deadly “cat-and-mouse” game in a flooded village has nothing to do with a war movie.

Certainly "drama," but not a war movie.

Geez that’s an awful lot of typing to say you agree with me.

[Tempest5]

I watched it. After 20 minutes I found myself pushing the red dot at bottom of NETFLIX screen to watch the action scenes.
Left it and went back pondering my single player moves in Scheldt ‘44 Antwerp scenario (recently pulled the trigger on that PZC)

[Kool Kat]

I tried watching it this morning, got about half way through and gave up.  The acting is just okay, but the story is just slow and boring.  I certainly wouldn’t call it a “war movie” as it isn’t presenting any grand overview of the battle.  It’s just a drama set during the war, and dramas should be, well, dramatic.  This plods along and you really don’t get interested in these people at all.  Bit of a fail in my opinion.

Gent:

Of course, “The Forgotten Battle” is not a war movie.

The title - “The Forgotten Battle” has nothing to do with a war movie.

The airborne/ glider operation depicted does not play a critical role in later scenes. Certainly, not a war movie.

The climatic battle scene, when the Canadian soldiers launch a strike across the dam, has nothing to do with a war movie.

The pivotal scene when the resistance fighter delivers the tidal charts to the Canadian officers so the Allies can stage a flanking maneuver against the entrenched Germans on the dam, has nothing to do with a war movie.

German and Canadian soldiers playing a deadly “cat-and-mouse” game in a flooded village has nothing to do with a war movie.

Certainly "drama," but not a war movie.

Geez that’s an awful lot of typing to say you agree with me.

[Kool Kat]

I tried watching it this morning, got about half way through and gave up.  The acting is just okay, but the story is just slow and boring.  I certainly wouldn’t call it a “war movie” as it isn’t presenting any grand overview of the battle.  It’s just a drama set during the war, and dramas should be, well, dramatic.  This plods along and you really don’t get interested in these people at all.  Bit of a fail in my opinion.

Gent:

Of course, “The Forgotten Battle” is not a war movie.

The title - “The Forgotten Battle” has nothing to do with a war movie.

The airborne/ glider operation depicted does not play a critical role in later scenes. Certainly, not a war movie.

The climatic battle scene, when the Canadian soldiers launch a strike across the dam, has nothing to do with a war movie.

The pivotal scene when the resistance fighter delivers the tidal charts to the Canadian officers so the Allies can stage a flanking maneuver against the entrenched Germans on the dam, has nothing to do with a war movie.

German and Canadian soldiers playing a deadly “cat-and-mouse” game in a flooded village has nothing to do with a war movie.

Certainly "drama," but not a war movie.

Geez that’s an awful lot of typing to say you agree with me.

My apologies for my inappropriate post.

[Andrea G]

Just seen it, while me and Kilo have just started to play Scheldt; a solid drama, staged during the war, realistic I would say.
Much more than the mini-series "The Liberator", also on Netflix, which tells the story of a company from the Thunderbirds Division (45th if I am not mistaken); which is really nice graphically, being a mix of live action and cartoonization (much like Linklater's "Waking Live"); but the script could have been done in the 50s for a John Wayne film, and there are John Wayne's film that are more realistic that this (sufficient to say that a hit by a 50mm mortar destroys a PzIII).

[ComradeP]

Finally saw the movie today, after missing it in on the big screen.

It's a more personal war movie than the movies before the 1990's or so. The three different-but-related storylines are perhaps not always exciting, but well done.

In many war movies, there's little reflection on war's effect on civilian life and that is done well in this movie.

I actually liked that it was "slow" at times. You don't go from one action scene to the next. It also suits the slow campaign to clear the banks of the Scheldt for those that know the history.

The gore felt "real" and not overdone. The "clean" war movies where a lot of people die but nobody bleeds or loses a limb are a bit comical in that regard. The subject is horrible, but the horrible side is rarely shown.

The action was perhaps not always stellar, but that didn't really bother me. None of the main characters really have much of an influence on the greater scheme of things, so making them look a bit out of place and their movements a little "off" actually works well.

[Mike Prucha]

Finally got around to watching this. I enjoyed it - I liked the landscapes, attention to detail with costumes, etc, and thought the "prologue" combat scene on the Eastern front was well-done.

I have a few historic nitpicks that I feel compelled mentioned, plus a few fun details that I enjoyed:

1. It is true that Allied aircraft came under fire from the Vlissingen batteries on their way to Arnhem, but I am not certain if any were actually shot down here. There were some gliders downed far behind enemy lines and pilots and paratroopers who made their way back in September and October, so while the glider going down on Schouwen-Duiveland is fictionalized it is not totally unreasonable.

2. Schouwen-Duivenland was garrisoned by elements of Armenische-Infanterie-Bataillon 812 (in addition to the coastal artillery).  The German soldiers patrolling the island probably should have worn the sleeve patch of the Armenian legion and had names other than "Fritz." I suppose the patrol could have come from Heeres-Kust-Artillerie-Abteilung 1231.

3. The resistance photo of a German Flak position  shows a 10.5cm FlaK 38 - these were exactly the guns employed by the Marine-Flak battalion and I liked this attention to detail (though I question how a civilian got that close to the flak emplacement).

4. There are two scenes in which German infantry enter a bakery in Middelburg and order white bread. This is a clearly a nod to the 70. I.D.'s nickname "White Bread Division." It was a little detail that made me smile

5. I like the attention to detail with vehicle markings and divisional insignia - 70. I.D., 52nd Lowland, & and 2nd Canadian Infantry Division were all correct.

6. I am bit skeptical as to whether the glider pilot would have been issued a Canadian uniform and incorporated into a Canadian infantry unit after his arduous journey and escape from occupied territory. Given the Canadian manpower crisis, I suppose it's possible.

7. The Walcheren causeway was principally defended by Festungs-Stamm-Truppen LXXXIX. This regiment was mostly manned by middle aged conscripts in their 40s & 50s - some older German soldiers might have been a nice touch, they all looked pretty young to me.

8.  The route across the Sloe was discovered by sappers from the 52nd Lowland's 202nd Field Company. While the Dutch resistance may have passed on intelligence about a passable route across Sloe (according to G.J. van Ojen's De Binnenlandse Strijdkrachten, they did, though I think this is disputed) the account in the movie is entirely fictionalized and importance of Dutch resistance reports is exaggerated.

9. The Battle for Walcheren Causeway was compressed quite a bit and Canadians are erroneously depicted in the final assault. The scene presumably shows the assault by the Canadian Black Watch on October 31st, but there is no reference to the second attempt by the Calgary Highlanders and Régiment de Maisonneuve on November 1st, nor their relief by the 1st Battalion, Glasgow Highlanders on November 2nd. Contrary to the depiction in the movie, German positions on the Causeway did not immediately disintegrate after the 6th Cameronians crossed the Sloe on November 3rd. It took a day of hard fighting for the Cameronians to link up with the Glasgow Highlanders at the base of the causeway, and only then did German resistance start to crumble.

-Mike P

[Mr Grumpy]

Anyone interested in this campaign to open the port of Antwerp to supplies will enjoy this YouTube video even if it just shows you the terrain the battles were fought over.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--vWGOObIVc

[HirooOnoda]

I tried watching it this morning, got about half way through and gave up.  The acting is just okay, but the story is just slow and boring.  I certainly wouldn’t call it a “war movie” as it isn’t presenting any grand overview of the battle.  It’s just a drama set during the war, and dramas should be, well, dramatic.  This plods along and you really don’t get interested in these people at all.  Bit of a fail in my opinion.

Most "war" movies are like that for two reasons:

1.  Placating women audiences.

2. Placating feminist males.

Let's face it; war movies-like this one-sell their "combat" scenes to placate a feminist society

[Plain Ian]

Finally got around to watching this. I enjoyed it - I liked the landscapes, attention to detail with costumes, etc, and thought the "prologue" combat scene on the Eastern front was well-done.

I have a few historic nitpicks that I feel compelled mentioned, plus a few fun details that I enjoyed:

1. It is true that Allied aircraft came under fire from the Vlissingen batteries on their way to Arnhem, but I am not certain if any were actually shot down here. There were some gliders downed far behind enemy lines and pilots and paratroopers who made their way back in September and October, so while the glider going down on Schouwen-Duiveland is fictionalized it is not totally unreasonable.

-Mike P

Well that clears up the problem I had about the film. I couldn't understand why a glider flying to Arnhem would end up near Walcheren? I assume the gliders started in England?

The causeway battle was a typical PzC assault. The attacking player forgot to fire his artillery first to Disrupt the defender before he assaulted.......then remembered to fire it at the end after the assault failed!