Saints and Soliders: The Void

★★★★★ 4/5

(7.5)

7.9

The German war machine is in retreat. Two American M 18 tank destroyers are sent to root out a die hard group of Nazis holed up in the Harz Mountains.

Audio: English
Subtitles: English
Starring: Adam Gregory, Timothy S. Shoemaker, Michael Todd Behrens
Director: Ryan Little
Genre: Action, Drama, War

Other titles like The Best Two Years (2004)

Saints and Soliders: The Void

Supporting actors: Ben Urie , David Morgan , Nate Harward , Brenden Whitney , Jeff Birk , Joel Bishop , K. Danor Gerald , Matthew Meese , Alex Boye , Allan Groves
Producers: Adam Abel , Gil Aglaure
Film: Go Films, Medal of Honor Productions LLC
Devices: Available to watch on supported devices

Reviews

The movie isn't as bad as I expected from a low budget film (and it shows it's low budget). The acting isn't half bad, but it's not the greatest either. Some of the dialogue is cheesy and feels out of place sometime. The plot and story are interesting though. 2 US tank destroyers are caught in an ambush by 3 Wehrmacht tanks in a no-man's land area. The German ambush had previously caught 2 trucks transferring liberated POWs and the only survivors are one of the drivers (who is an African-American) and a British captain. Now they must all fight together to take out the Germans, before an unsuspecting US General, on his way for an inspection, as well as any other Allied forces are caught by the Germans. The story focuses a lot on racial disputes in the US army at that time. You have the African-American sergeant who is the most experienced of the lot, trying to take charge of the situation, while 2 men from the tank crews are bigoted against him. The British captain goes on to mostly fight by himself as he's trying to avenge the death of his fellow prisoners. All in all, some of the characters are interesting. The delivery of the message it wants to convey is kinda blunt towards the end, but it's still worth the watch. The movie is more focused on action than previous films in the Saints and Soldiers series. 6/10

There is always some controversies, when it comes to low budget and Indie films, about the right way to rate them in comparison with regular productions. Somebody feels that since you must judge the overall result, if it is manifestly lower than a similar film made by some Major, you have to state it. Plain and simple. Some others think that since it's obvious that they cannot meet bigger productions standards, you have to appreciate the good things they show (if any) and be happy with it. I don't know where to stand but I'm more inclined towards this second party, at least for the present movie. I found this film entertaining and even if they had just four tanks, two trucks, one house and one tent, they had very good dialogues and did an overall good job. All the gear looked stunningly brand new and this may be the way things looked back in 1944, I don't know, surely it appeared to be a precise artistic choice which I won't judge. If you would compare it to a major production its correct rate would be 4. If you ask yourself what would anybody be able to do with the same stuff, then I think it deserves an 8.

This movie, while not horrible, is obviously low budget. That said, the Saints and Soldiers series do an admirable job of creating realism with excellent props, especially when considering the low budget. The acting, for the most part is campy, preachy, and over the top. A few of the guys do fine jobs, but most could be much better. But let's be honest, where this movie shines is in getting to watch two beautifully preserved M18 Hellcats and a Pz.III in action. Which brings up one minor gripe; In WWII, armored vehicles were nearly unrecognizable due to the amount of crap they had on them. From backpacks, to wooden ammo and ration crates, to tarps, to sandbag and log armor, etc. These vehicles looked like they just rumbled off the showroom floor. But all in all, I gave it a 7. For WWII armor buffs, you won't find a better movie out there that features Buick's beautiful tank destroyer, which was well loved by it's crews. For those who like fast, light US armor, also check out The Bridge at Remagen, for some incredibly fun M24 Chaffee action.

As has been said...yes it's a low budget film (explosions/FX etc lack realism)...however, that being said it shows a different side of WWII & (as I assume) some of the extras are perhaps re-enactment enthusiasts, a lot of the uniforms & equipment is pretty much spot on (for a change) although mostly all (including the tanks) are in a lovely new condition - not worn & battle-hardened at all. There are a few plot holes & some acting is a little wooden / obvious & characters frustratingly lack a little 'get up & go' with each other, but it's not a bad film all in all, good to see some tank vs tank & anti-tank battles, as well as a bit of humanity thrown in between Axis & Allied troops/civilians. Well worth a watch.

For a viewer with interests in WW2 and it's weaponry, this movie was not too bad. For anyone looking for another Saving Private Ryan, look elsewhere. Both of the S and S movies have been fairly decent. The first was more dialog than action and this one leaned more toward the action. At least until it became kind of preachy about racial harmony, etc... The part I liked best about this series is the accuracy of the era the creators have, well, created. All of the vehicles and weapons are period accurate. They did a great job with the props. The 'cats' (how many times did the actors say Hellcat in this movie?) were awesome and the fact that they seemed to have gotten an early model Panzer Type 3 is really cool. What I did not like was when the movie became a lesson for potential WW2 hobbyists. All the talk about the M18 caliber and ammo types got a little bit educational when people just want to see it shoot. Also, the panzerfaust would easily cut through the armor of a Panzer 3 from pretty much any angle. So, for a movie that seems to pride themselves on accurate depictions that wars weaponry, the shot with the panzerfaust was a bit of a stretch. Still, I am a huge WW2 buff and gave the movie a 7.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Saints and Soldiers trilogy, these are low budget WW2 movies, set on the Western Front, the first was in late 1944, during The Battle of The Bulge, the second was set in the South of France during Operation Anvil and the 3rd, this one is set in 1945 in Germany and the plot isn't that much different from the bigger budgeted 'Fury' - A group of two American Hellcat Tank Destroyers are to scout an area known as 'The Void' (I can't find any reference to this area in history, but here the context is that its Indian country) meanwhile a group of troopers being transported by the Redball Express, driven by none other than Jesse Owens himself is ambushed by a squadron of dated German Mark III Panzers, an English Agent is in the group who make their escape - soon the Hellcats arrive and its a question of who can outsmart who in the skirmish that follows. If you look through my other reviews you will see I like all kinds of movies but I am something of a WW2 buff and its always interesting to see these films, clearly made with love and care. Little here tries to put as much as he can in every shot to increase Production Value and it extra shots have been added to make the place feel more like Germany / Austria and less like Utah where it was filmed. For the most part this works, along with a heavy de- saturation of color in the edit suite, making you feel like the film is almost black and white and giving it the appropriate vintage feel. I recently also reviewed Allies and its easy to compare these two films, probably both having similar budgets and using resources from Tank Collectors and re-inactors. Allies is probably the superior of the two movies, but SAS - The Void is not without its great moments of action and tension. Some of the actors are good too but sadly this makes the weaker performances stand out all the more and these aren't helped by some very over stated dialogue. Little needs to team up with a good writer next time but also trust in his best actors to deliver more emotion with less words on some key scenes. Here and there dialogue is forced to explain things too much, but never the less what you have here is actually a great little film. Its well researched and feels bigger than it actually is, there is nice sense of scale and battle in the climax. Its biggest flaw is that its very hard to make a film shot in the States actually feel like Europe unless you can drop in some blue screen shots of European Towns or Villages (or Alternatively build one as they did in Fury) still with the obvious restraints of budget you have to commend Little's effort because it tries really hard with every shot to make the location feel European. I think this is a great film, with good attention to detail that is let down by some aspects that were clearly beyond the control or means of the production financially but with stronger writing it could have been a stronger film still. Worth watching and I look forward to Little's next film War Pigs, which has some big names in the cast - he has earned his shot to make a bigger movie, that is for sure.

This film illustrates the brilliance of the nascent Saints and Soldiers franchise and after watching The Void, you'll pray that more installments are coming. The first few scenes have some clumsy, cheesy dialogue that tries to develop the characters. That's on the director's shoulders. But stick around--the real character development and some quality acting comes once the shells and bullets start to fly. This is a compelling plot--an African American soldier is, through no fault of his own, thrown in with a couple of tank crews with a few men who don't want him around. I won't spoil a thing. If you can get through the first 20 minutes or so, then prepare for very good war story that shows what all men are made of in a foxhole. The score is fantastic, too. This doesn't rise past 8/10 because of the cheesy stuff early on and some improbable scenes during firefights (plenty of those, too). We can only hope that the S&S rights owners have many more such fine films in development.

I can't remember to have seen a bad WW2 Movie, bad sadly that changed with this Movie. This isn't much about the low Budget, which iam OK with, it's the Dialogs and the very bad Acting. Specially the racial Disputes don't seem Real. You simply don't believe the Actors their racial hate and disregard. Its actually so bad that the hole topic is in great danger to become a laughing-stock and thats a shame. But at the end the hole story looks like that. Nothing makes really sense or fit together, you simply don't believe anyone of them and their behavior is simply unrealistic. Also the German translations are often definitely off (mostly not much but still). So no neither the script or the acting works out here. Low Budget or not how hard can it be to write some believable lines, cmon guys who write this piece of processed Food ? I still give that Movie 3 Stars because its trying and I've seen worse so i know i can get worse and i need abit room to the bottom.

For those looking for a massive budget film like Fury, this is not it. It has some very good Hellcats and Pzs and it was a real good show of how to take down a tank. I enjoyed the movie for the most part, but there were some pet peeves that got to me. Everyone on the American's side not using a sub-machine gun seems to be using an M1 Carbine or maybe an M1 Garand. If they were fighting on the front lines, someone would have been using a M1903 Springfield since it was the primary weapon given to those on the front until 1944. It's nothing major, but a little peeve I had that does nothing to detract from the rest of the movie. Another thing that sort of ground my gears was how slow the Hellcat seemed to move at all times. It was the fastest tank of WWII and one of the most maneuverable (the turret was painstakingly slow though and they kept that), so Hellcat drivers would drive like mad to get shots at the German tanks' weaker side and rear armor. They would not try to actively go head- to-head against any tank due to the fact that 1-inch armor is not very protective and so moving was its only means of surviving. Add into that that the 76mm cannon on the Hellcat was very finicky about penetrating the front of the Panzers and Tigers, they tried to avoid frontal assaults as much as possible. The later Panthers were impossible for a Hellcat to penetrate from the front because their armor was simply too thick so that meant having to move for side/rear shots. All in all, these are just my personal pet peeves and I find the movie to be very good and beyond my expectations.

I get that it was low budget, but it appears they still had a lot to work with. Budget won't fix lousy dialogue and plot holes. 40mins still trying to figure out what 'the objective' is. I get that people just want to survive 'war', but that's about all it was. Take "Saving Private Ryan", for instance. There was a mission and a clear goal. This movie? YAWN There's no point even illustrating the instances of 'ridiculous' in this film. I wish I could criticize the actual story, but honestly this was the worse movie I've seen this year, and likely a top 10 all time worst. Such is the case when you have a writer, director, and producer that are all the same person - he never had to put it through the 'BS' test. Lousy. A waste of 40mins.

War films are astronomically expensive to produce so I actually admire what this film company was able to do with limited resources. I am well aware that many historical films often veer from historical accuracy regarding the events and personages they portray in the name of "artistic license." I also get that the filmmaker was attempting to stress the discrimination faced by African Americans in a segregated military, however, deciding to make up a totally fictitious account of four-time Olympic Gold Medalist Jesse Owens is not the way to achieve this goal. Jess Owens spent the war years working as a liaison for a national fitness program sponsored by the Office of Civilian Defense and for the Ford Motor Company overseeing relations with black employees. Owens never served in the military in any capacity much less as the commander of a Hellcat Tank receiving the Silver Star as the script would have you believe. In a film that was striving for realism this was about as believable as F.D.R. piloting a B17 over Berlin. There literally hundreds upon hundreds of African-American soldiers who served in tank divisions as well as around 6,000 black soldiers assigned as truck drivers in the "Red-Ball Express." How difficult would it have been to do a little research and create a character based upon the experiences of some of these men? It would have made for a far more plausible film. This film really did have a lot of potential. A credible script would have made it a pretty decent movie.

07/13/2018 Poor dialog from below average actors. Zero excitement, zero suspense, lackluster storyline. Brand new tanks (no dirt/no wear/zero battle scars), as well the trucks, the uniforms, helmets, weapons etc. No unshaved faces, no beards, forever clean clothes. As war movies go, this is a complete FAIL. I do NOT recommend that you waste 2 hours of your life/movie watching time on this film. Bon Appetit

I liked the previous Saints and Soldiers movies. As long as the combat is realistic and the plot good I am not to worried about special effects. This movie was one long sermon on how racist Whites are. I can understand introducing the idea but devoting an entire film to the concept got old really quickly. Every time you thought the plot was going to get going in came yet another sermon. I managed to watch the whole movie but barely. If I want to be preached at I'll go to church not watch a war movie. I do not care much about people's skin color and I think every living American is abundantly aware of the prejudice in America prior to the 60s. No need to go on and on about it until you start rooting for the Germans just to shut the guy up.

I do agree that it's on the "preachy" side though, not over the top. BTW: I know that it's an old post (2014) but the review by agedapocolypse... or whatever his name is, is preposterous. The 1903 Springfield was hardly known outside of the Marines past 1943 and this film took place in last days of the ETO -- April 1945. The 1903 would have only be used as a snipers rifle by then. As for the Panther comment, this guy's again shows that he's a legend in his own mind in the this is not a Panther (Mk V) old PZKW III and was rightly explained as being from a tank school since Panzer Mk III were removed from front-line service or converted to other vehicles (SPG's, Stug's or panzerjagers) by 1944) The movie is correct is this explanation.

If you come into Saints and Soldiers: The Void and watch it for what it is, overall you will be pleased. (1)The Plot/Dialogue: From beginning to end, the story definitely has direction, as you'd be pressed to find a scene where the narrative feels like it has stalled or is not moving along. Character development is somewhat lacking at the start, but towards the end I feel that Little does a decent job of filling holes. Ben Urie as Lt. Goss and K. Danor Gerald as Jesse Owens do commendable jobs and perform their roles at very respectable levels. Where lines and script may have been cheesy or written poorly, the superb acting of these two cast members definitely cover it up. In total, there are many parts where there could have been extra speech, or could have been rewritten, but nothing too bad that would deter you from watching the film. The "whole concept" from start to finish was nicely done. (2)Scenery/Setting: As always, Little does a magnificent job at taking the low budget and what little he has to work with and turning in a masterpiece backdrop. Everything from the prop guns, to the tanks, to the uniforms were period-correct and had a real, authentic look and feel. In my opinion, the explosions and special effects may not rival those on the big screen, but they were never anywhere close to looking fake. The blue/gray tint from editing really gives an old war-time look, which also adds to the realism. The only knock I have is some of the props would have benefited from a little dirt, as sometimes they looked to new and not battle-torn, but nonetheless impressive. Final Thought:Ryan Little has proved once again that he deserves a shot to direct a bigger budget film, albeit with a better script writer, and more well-paid actors. The scenery was outstanding and the special effects were done very well for the budget. If only there were deeper-voiced actors that seemed more battle-tested and a better dialogue for the script, I may have given this movie a 10/10. Not a game-changer, but a credible war movie that does not dishonor the genre.