Saints and Soldiers (2003) on Netflix

PG-1320031h 30mAction Adventure Drama

Corporal Nathan 'Deacon' Greer and medic Steven Gould survive the Malmedy massacre and flee into the Belgian woods with two soldiers. RAF pilot Oberon Winley holds intelligence the Allies need.

Netflix3.8/5
IMDb6.6/1022,135 votes
Rotten Tomatoes66%

Trailer

Plot summary

In mid-December 1944, German forces push through the Ardennes Forest in Belgium in the offensive that becomes known as the Battle of the Bulge. Troops open fire on unarmed American prisoners in what is called the Malmedy massacre. Corporal Nathan 'Deacon' Greer and medic Steven Gould survive and reach the woods, where they join Shirl Kendrick and Deacon's friend Gordon Gunderson. The four come upon Oberon Winley, a British flight sergeant carrying intelligence meant for the Allies. The Allied lines lie about twenty miles away. With few weapons and no food, the group sets out through the frozen forest, where German troops and a winter storm stand between them and the Allied lines.

Cast

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Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Saints and Soldiers (2003)

Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.

The film was shot in January for the snow, but when there was not enough of it the crew laid down potato flakes instead, and the budget was so tight that the actors performed their own stunts in freezing temperatures and period clothing.
To pass Utah off as the Ardennes, the crew angled every camera set-up to keep the Wasatch mountains out of frame across the 30-day shoot in Utah, Wasatch and Salt Lake counties.
The filmmakers scouted locations before there was a script and built the plot around whichever places and props they could actually get, then interviewed World War II veterans to shape the story and characters.
Because Kirby Heyborne was known for Latter-day Saint films, Little and Abel had him grow a mustache, dye his hair, adopt a British accent and smoke on screen. A non-smoker, he practiced with herbal cigarettes, and with no dialect coach he learned the accent by watching other films.
The film puts men of the 101st Airborne at the Malmedy massacre, but the division was in SHAEF reserve then, did not reach the front until 18 December, a day after the massacre, and was sent to Bastogne. Most of the real victims came from the 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion.