Writer & director Justin Lee's low-budget, loquacious, World War II epic "Alone We Fight" set against the background of the fireworks in the blood-splattered Battle of Hürtgen Forest suffers from slow-pacing and one incredibly stupid moment when our heroes neglect to blow up a light armored German vehicle in the woods. A bearded Corbin Bernsen shows up in a cameo as Colonel Bradley Armstrong and provides audiences with the basics that our heroes are up against the enemy. Afterward, he disappears. Nothing wrong with his brief appearance, but Johnny Messner is woefully wasted in a nothing role as Captain Hank Kedry who shows up near the ending as a Sherman tank commander. Meanwhile, Sergeant Gregory Falcone (Aidan Bristow of "American Mummy"),Private Michael 'Boston' O'Reilly (Matthew James McCarthy of "A Reckoning"),and Private Benjamin Archer (Philip Nathanael of "Hard Sun") are all who remains of the American Rangers. When Colonel Armstrong warns them that the Germans are poised to strike the aid station, kill the wounded, and rape the two female medics, Sergeant Falcone volunteers to lead a mission into enemy-occupied terrain to blow up a fuel depot which will halt the German advance. Sadly, the low-budget stands out, with less than thirty actors and actresses. The leafy, green forest conceals most of everything, and we are never given the perspective from the enemy's viewpoint. They are just ruthless, SS Nazis, and all they do is kill, kill, and kill. Our heroes-initially a quartet-are captured at the outset of the action, and these notorious SS troops force them to dig their own graves. One of the four refuses to comply to their murderous demands, and the surviving three turn the tables on the Germans and kill them. After this promising opening scene, director Justin Lee allows the action to slack as the survivors make it back to an aid station and recuperate and learn about the terrible prospects awaiting them and their friends if they don't counterattack. The basic outline of Lee's screenplay isn't bad, but he has this awful problem of dragging things out. Although we come to sympathize with the Rangers, we know that the formulaic War Movie clichés are going to lock down the action. Literally, nothing surprising happens during this respectable, 91-minute shoot'em up. Predictably, you can guess which of the intrepid three is going to die, and then the Germans settle down to whittle the other two down. Our heroes blow up the meager fuel depot and use a light attack vehicle as cover for their depredations. Unfortunately, they neglected to disable the attack vehicle, and the Germans pursue them in it as our heroes flee for their lives. In real life, I don't think that hardened, combat seasoned soldiers like these guys would have overlook the hazards that the light attack vehicle would present. Mind you, I struggle to keep up with these low-budget World War II movies, and I wonder if anybody advised Lee about some of the incidents in the action. However, if this movie excites you, then you should watch some episodes of the ABC-TV series "Combat" because the squad in that revered series faced similar perils on a weekly basis with greater realism. Altogether, "Alone We Fight" isn't abysmal, or as abysmal as another recent low-budget W.W. 2 outing entitled "Wunderland" which takes place during the Battle of the Bulge. Of course, "Alone We Fight" never gives us a genuine picture of the hardships that American G.I.s confronted when their absent-minded commanders plunged them into action in the Hürtgen Forest. Performances are competent as is "A Reckoning's" lenser Justin Janowitz's cinematography.

If you are stickler for cultural accuracy, you likely will not appreciate this film. The concept of the modern therapeutic culture did not exist in in 1944. There was no Prozac or Paxil and no one other than Hollywood starlets and upper middle class Manhattan socialites had a therapist. Now please, don't get me wrong. I in no way wish to diminish the emotional stress or trauma of combat veterans. Not at all. Never. But this film is a seemingly endless group therapy session between Army Rangers while in a combat setting, a more improbable scenario than which I cannot imagine and which is best exemplified by a scene in which Rangers who have volunteered for a seeming suicide mission, facing an outflanking German counteroffensive, sit loading rifle magazines at a desultory pace, discussing, with no urgency, their fears and motivations. These are the ways in which modern, non-military men would behave. But in this film, such men are transported back to 1944 for a field group therapy session. Not my cup of tea.

The movie had potential. Other than Benson the actors are unknowns, but they showed promise. The story was basic but doable. The two technical consultants should refund their salaries, it was that bad. If this had been done by a college level fine arts student it would be lauded as a good effort. But its not. Its a waste of time, money and talent. Its too obviously a low budget film. Other reviewers have pointed out errors in weather, and lack of dirt on equipment and people. I have been a casual student of war fof quite some time, and before this i have never seen German troops wearing bandanas to hide their faces. Maybe it makes sense for the sniper, but not for anyone else. Unless the producer only had one person qualified to play the German part, and they had to hide his face.