Wunderland (2018) Online

I don't write reviews generally but, this time, I think it needs to be said.

This film is poor, so so poor, and in the interests of giving a reason why, I shall point out all the issues here in:

1. Continuity- Scene 2 ( 2 soldiers walking in 6-8 inches of snow which cracks so loudly that it makes dialog difficult to hear) the problem is not the audio but the fact that 2-3 minutes later there is no snow on the ground. this left me feeling like I was watching a poor 2nd rate B movie. The fact the a two hundred and twenty second rate SFX program was used to add snow to a scene bereft of snow is utterly laughable.

2. The mix and match composition of the German units is an offense to Military advisors everywhere. There were Panzer Grenadier troops mixed in with leibstandarden troops (never happen), the half track commander was wearing Cavalry/Armored piping but the 1/2 track was traditionally crewed by infanteers, he also looked like a geography teacher and not a harden member of the SS Panzergroupen.

3. The American MP at the first check point was armed with a German MP40, this was frowned up on by regular units and they did use the enemy weapons when it was called for but you would never find a sentient of military law carrying one, laughable and poorly researched. I thought this was a double cross and expected him to open fire on the yanks as soon as their backs were turned. shame this didn't happen as i wouldn't of wasted 1:30 hours watching this rubbish.

4. Same scene as the MP; Lt Cappa approaches the check point and is given a steer by the dodgy MP toward his own company positions. Cappa approaches the position from the front which means: a, the MP is in front of the forward friendly positions (not a good place to be) b, Cappa has the tactical awareness of a cabbage (more than possible) or c, the military advisor was sick on the day of shooting.

5. They are at the cutting edge of the Battle of The Bulge, they were heavily shelled for days and were subject to intense Sniper fire yet: The trees are all standing and undamaged and the cast amble around the scenes like Snipers hadn't been invented yet!

6.Capt Daniels sites his Command Post on the front line, NO NO NO. its further back and contained in the overlapping arcs of fire provided by the company fox holes. Jerry would of captured that in 1/2 hour using just his boy scouts and a asthmatic, over weight, child minder

7. CGI Tanks, all incorrectly referred to as Tigers ( most were panthers, and other variants but were referred to as Tigers) they floated in to view, fired without noise and advanced without out infantry support. Panzerfaust cannot stop a Tiger VI but it did in this film! ( more on Panzerfaust later)

8. No development of relationship between protagonists. Sgt Rock attempts humor in every line and it misses the mark so much. He was working with a script designed for a School drama group and fails to draw a single laugh from me, in fact, he comes across as bitter and satirical. He wasn't trying to do either of these things.

9. No back story for any character leaving me not caring whether they lived or died, not cheering them on and not caring. I wish they had died so I didn't have to sit though this tripe.

10. 7.62 MM rounds from a BAR could penetrate a half track but a Panzerfaust could not! really! I just watch it knock out a Tiger VI but it cant penetrate a lightly armored 1/2 track. poorly advised yet again.

11. Berenger, Sad to see a icon of 80/90's movies stoop so low as to demand a pay check for being associated with this drivel. Things must be bad if the anti hero of Platoon is doing War films of this ilk, I will gladly pay him never to do this again.

12. Setting: I could be anywhere, it didn't feel like war torn Belgium, it didn't feel like sentries were freezing to death standing up and it didn't feel exciting.

13. Acting: Wooden, Dialog was poor, script was poor, screen presence was poor, CGI poor

14. Cappa steals a vehicle from the GERMANS to get back to his own lines, ITS A FRIGGING AMERICAN JEEP!

15. the final advance was a frigging joke, you have a MG with hitting power at 3/4 of a mile and yet you wait until the blood thirsties are 6" away before opening fire. you deserve being overrun Luke and sent to Colditz

In short the director and main "actor" Luke Schuetzle has not produced a fitting memorial to the brave men who gave all in the forests around Bastogne. He has missed the point, wasted a chance to create a hell of a story and failed to deliver the hybrid of 'Band of Brothers' and 'Saving Private Ryan' which he tried to. Instead he gave us a project that he should never of been lead actor for, which he has forced to its poor conclusion and which he has spoilt with his over zealous efforts. It's a shame because Warpigs was quite good really. This , however, is terrible.

Stay behind the camera luke, direct by all means but don't write scripts, don't do the casting, DO spend money on SFX, learn your subject and most of all think about who your doing this for. its not me, its not you, its not your studio, its not your financial backers....its for the heros of The Bulge.

The honors at the end were in poor taste considering that you had just made a very poor representation of their final hours. Although it was the most interesting part of the whole film.

The whole thing should be taken out into the snow and shot in the back, buried in a unmarked grave and found 100 years later, put on display in a museum as 'artistic failing circa 2017' then relegated to the walls of the disabled toilets in a gastro pub.

the.end

This is my first review ever..

Came into this movie not expecting much and attracted that Tom was in it. But boy should I have lower my expectations even further. Yes uniforms/wardrobe props look good. But not to blame the acting too much, they did what they could but with director and writer not making it easier for them.. the conversations the clichés of platoon life is laughable, the combat strategies and the nonexistent will to live given the positioning of germans and response to an ambush... Well next time maybe the director should do something that does not contain any kind of group dynamic as he struggles to make it seem real, seen lots of movies with bad acting but still the content made it better, in Wunderland its the opposite.

Fake snow, no snow,bad acting, this is one of the worst movies I have EVER watched and I'm74. Its also my first review but I felt that I must warn those tempted.DONT! The review that says the 1hr 11mins that this film wastes is gone forever is spot on. Zero stars

I went into this movie not expecting much and boy was I right the acting is terrible and really ruins this movie, the uniforms where good but don't expect much more than that. Don't let the other comments fool you it is a extravagant disaster, steer well clear of this movie, it is sad to see Tom, take part in such a laughable movie. Since when did any soldier having the rank of major fight in combat like this movie attempts to show. I stopped watching 15 mins and felt at ease afterwards there are far superior movies out there that actually have a decent story and realism such as Miracle at St. Anna or Downfall.

Did anybody actually watch the final product before releasing it? One minute it's snowing (fake and computerised rings of white just going down different places on the screen - just repeated), then there's no snow and it's sunny. The film lasts 1hour & 11minutes, which is time you will never get back. The most interesting part is all the text after the credits at the end, but most people would have turned it off by then.

Wunderland..... more like wonder why I bothered.... ok.. so i'm no expert on reviews and this is my first, so forgive me if I go astray. I must agree with most of the reviews here concerning Tom Berenger.. for him to appear in this so called "movie" was a huge mistake, he must have been desperately in need of money to even consider this. First of all for this to be such an epic battle the movie in my opinion is far too short at 85 minutes (considering the whole production of this it maybe at least 60 minutes too long). I have sat through cheap budget movies before but this man o man was one of the worst. The acting was terrible and don't even get me started on the fake snow.... One minute they are walking in snow and you can see their breath and then in the next scene they are driving across a field with no snow on the ground while snow is falling. I use the word "snow" very loosely here as you can tell 100% that the falling snow is fake and is digitally input in to the scene (very badly). You also see some kind of "red flash" move across the sky in one scene which I still don't know what it was supposed to be. I have given it 2 stars only because I like Tom Berenger and he was the only reason I even looked at this movie and to see him go from movies like Sniper to this "rubbish" is a real shame....

Sorry Tom but this one was a big mistake.... I could go on and on but I think you get the point... You're wasting your time if you watch this movie.... best avoid it..

If you were expecting a modern day remake of the 60's "Battle of the Bulge" movie, sadly you will be left mightily disappointed.

The movie lacked atmosphere, nor did the director manage to covey the dangers, desperation, and fear from this battle. Considering this battle was supposed to be the largest and bloodiest battle the US fought in Europe in WWII, the movie made it look very tame, and almost calm by comparison.

It also portrayed the Germans to be stupid and disorganised, if going by how the movie's unrealistic battle scenes showed the Germans fight.

I think this movie is just an insult to the soldiers who fought there.

Save your time and watch something else.

Wunderland is a film based in a time frame around the Battle of the bulge which itself was the last major German offensive campaign on the western front.

The film itself is based around a platoon defending against the German aggressors in the Ardennes Forrest in Belgium.

Directed by Steven Luke, it also stars Tom Berenger famouse for Platoon, Sniper and Born on the 4th of July - so he comes from good war movie stock - sadly his role in the film is limited, which may be a reflection on the small budget this film had, The budget must have been tiny, as you see the various troops roam around a 'could be anywhere' landscape with only several vehicles per side and some really cheap/Free(sic) special effects which is basically a snow filter layer on top of the video footage. Talking about snow and the period of the film, it is based at Christmas 1944 during one of Americas most brutal battles where they lost around 20,000 American soldiers, and the ice and snow had a tremendously huge impact on this period, foxholes could not be dug, tanks and traks struggled to traverse the land, infantry were frozen, malnurished and struggled to fight - not of this was strongly represented in this film, and for those looking for a casual war film you will have already stopped watching as the filtered snow effect was something you would see on a youtube amateur video rather than a historic war film depicting a story of bravery.

That being said, and armed with some historical knowledge I enjoyed the film - despite the actual footage being terribly short- and I would encourage people to watch it with an open mind and after doing some research.

Once the film has ended there is something on the scroll that 99% of people will never see - following the credits and lasting around 10 minutes, there are around 8-12 written stories of bravery of individual soldiers accomplishing Acts of bravery, and valour way beyond any call of duty and it is these historical, war and battle winning acts that make the film, and its evident on reflection the writer and director tried to use these examples in the storytelling of the film. I do wish the memorial stories had been voiced over and were added chronologically, but reading these certainly invoked a lot of emotion and its commendable that these untold stories are brought to light.

On a side note, the memorial stories would make a great 2hr chronological anthology film about the battles in the Ardennes -any budding director out that feeling enthused to make a film like that - please add me to the cast!

A film worth watching with an open mind, let down by a crippling budget 7/10

Why is it that Tom Berenger, insists on doing movies that are terrible. When I was growing up I use to watch sniper 1,2,3, all of which are amazing but for some reason he does awful movies now, I mean it must be the money. Anyways its really sad to see him go down this path the good ole days are gone now we are forced to sit or lay down on the ground, while these people make up the history of the war to fit their own ego.

If you want a decent reflection of Battle of the Bulge, watch Band of Brothers ep 6 and 7, or even the 1965 movie "Battle of the Bulge.

This one is so bad that it should be used as a model for directors on how *not* to make a war movie. Unlimited shooting, even though there's no indication anyone has more than a few magazines. Muzzle flashes without sound. Soldiers on both sides strolling along the front lines, chatting away while not looking for the enemy. Soldiers attacking on both sides, standing upright in large, tight groups, only at a brisk walk...until the shooting starts when they stop and kneel to shoot back. The waiting until the enemy is just a few meters away before they open up...

Just pathetic, and maddening, when you consider that after so many good WWII movies setting the bar so high, why this? ...Why?!

I only continued to watch it. So that I could laugh. Acting terrible, graphics terrible, realism terrible, and ENDING THAT MADE ME WANT TO PUKE. Spoiler Alert: ending fades to black. There's nothing,

Some redeeming qualities but not many. The cinematography and sound track were pretty decent, the dialog and acting turned this into a titanic. The actual story of of the battle of the bulge is compelling and powerful and carries this film with moments of drama interrupted by high school level acting. It is shame to see such a great story totally butchard and degraded. I tried to give this film a fair shot but when an SS officer openly shares his faith with his prisoner as a sign of human commonality I just lost it. Not to say that men of faith could hide in the SS, his open and free expression exposed the director's and writer's naiveté explaining the childish dialog and directing.

When one watches this movie you need to keep in mind that not all war movies are the same and the focus of the movie depends on who made the movie, how it was made and who is watching it? Make sense...of course not but in a nutshell keep an open mind. Is it about war? Yes some of it is. It is about bonding and camaraderie? Yes of course, it highlights how officer have to make tough decisions in very stressful and violent situations. I enjoyed the movie and being ex military in the 3rd Infantry Division you do tend to pick things out BUT I could do that in just about any military movie I have seen especially from WWII to date.

Without being too specific I spotted armor and infantry tactical strategies which confused me a bit but other than that I did enjoy this movie. War is ugly and this movie does not miss that point.

Tom Berenger was excellent and it was nice to see him back in a military role. This movie is for sure worth the rental!

This isn't Saving Private Ryan so if that's what you're looking for then avoid it. It's a low budget period film set during the Battle of the Bulge. Overall it's a decent production. The uniforms, sets and attention to period detail are outstanding for a film of its budget. The acting is on par with any low budget film. No Oscar winning performances here but they do their best. It was great to see Tom Berenger as the Colonel. His scenes aren't extensive but he delivers on those that he has. CG is pretty shaky, but again, on par with what you'd expect from a film like this. Overall it's a decent movie made on the cheap.

This is the worst WWII film i ever wached. Bad directing, bad acting, horrible CGI, sound ...meh, not worth commenting., conversations are...hmmm,..on the level of elementary school play

this contains spoilers...but read them, so i can save you time not watching this horror...

Flop 1 : Even in first scene , when US platoon "ambushes" elite SS troops at like 5 m away?? from that distance they should smell them, not tat they didnt see officer running from silider to solider giving orders.. same continues to whole movie..like US column, US general comes in jeep, and germasn suddenly attack from few meters away...

Next flop is a tank scene... some freak red laser shooting'?? (i think they wanted to show AT gun firing, but they forgot to put in sound..) and there commes the floating tiger tank..

nex flop...meh..whole movie is an flop...

dont watch it, except you have fetish on bad mouvies...

I didn't last but a few minutes into the movie before I stopped watching. As the second GI joins the first one, (who was watching the German artillery crew in action), he swung the muzzle of his Thompson Submachinegun toward the enemy. Lo and behold - at the end of his Thompson's barrel is a 'blank adapter' with a gas vent in it. This is used for firing blank ammunition out of guns. Not real live ammo. If he tried to fire real bullets out of that submachinegun he would have blown the barrel up. So, this was a major error in accuracy and realism.

Don't waste your time. Its not even worth reviewing.....trust me.....Avoid.

I get that this is a low-budget attempt at depicting a topic that has been very well done in the past (Battle of the Bulge, Band of Brothers). I don't get "why this story"? It didn't add anything to any previous Battle of the Bulge film or insight. The uniforms may have been true to the period, but they were far from true to the battle... not a stain, not a spot on them, it really detracts from the believably of the film. They all look like they just stepped out of the local dry cleaners. The Battle of the Bulge went on for 5 weeks. They slept in fox holes, and endured rain and snow. There was nowhere to get your uniform pressed and cleaned.

The battle scenes were horrendous, people just walking around like nothing is happening even when their being shot at. No one takes cover, no one shows any urgency. Wounds are unrealistic as well, and there is no real "story". The viewer is supposed to assume they know everything about the famous battle. Character buildup was also extremely thin. It's been a week since I saw this movie, and I can't remember a single character's name.

Effects... bad, but no worse than USS Indianapolis. The bigger issue is it seemed like an excuse to rent a few WWII German artillery, and drive it around in the forest. All that could be forgiven if there was any plot or story, but there just wasn't. Seemed like a college film project, at best.

What a diabolical movie, there must be a whole twenty sentances spoken during the entire tedious 90 or so minutes. If you like the sound of gunfire accompanying absolutely no story then this is the film for you! Personally I'd rather watch paint dry.

I want to leave everything else aside, but what completely threw me off was the amateur look of snowfall, tracers and in general special effects :(

I could go on for another 2 pages about story, characters and drama, but there is no point...

I just loved the tiger tanks hovering above the snow. didnt know they have hovercraft tigers in the day... Worst effects ever. Lousy acting. Very inaccurate location and tactics.. Tom shouldve stopped after sniper 2....

One american bullet kills three Germans at once - and so goes on for several dozen minutes.

Okay so They did a decent job on uniforms but Who cares! If You dont have a good story. You feel like the conversations and situation is forced than You dont have anything! Ive seen low budget no budget films have them so this is no excuse especially if They are going to portray Our Veterans. If You can make it feel natural than You got no buisness in cinema! They should of just taken the budget ad gave it as a gift to Tom B cause He is a BA no matter what. Its a sad play when You bring in a pipe hitter like Tom B cause You know Your film is horrible. They would of been better of picking names out of a hat to run this production. I pray that no one gave money out of Their own pocket to fund this. I watched it twice to be fair and it gets a 1 both times. I will spare You My pain dont waste Your time or Your Money!

Is it just me or does all of these bad reviews not make since? Clearly None of them watched the movie. Obviously none of them know anything about the battle of the Bulge.

Wunderland Depicts the opening moments of the Battle of the Bulge. Following Lt. Gene Cappa and his soldiers of the 2nd Infantry Division as they receive orders to hold the line in order to buy as much time for allied armies to retreat and regroup.

Great movie. Powerful and emotional scenes. Tom Berenger was excellent. They even featured original and REAL US Sherman tanks, halftracks, jeep and a GERMAN Hetzer tank and Halftracks-- Pretty cool.

If you like historically accurate war movies, you will enjoy this one.

There is a lot to like about this production. The setting, the uniforms, the equip both filmed and shot is very impressive. Watching is easy and enjoyable. The Story has a tone I love for this history period.