| | | Heroes Are Measured By What They Do.
Features: DVD, Pan and Scan (TV Format), Widescreen, Dolby Digital (5.1), English, French, Spanish, Subtitled, Behind the Scenes Footage, Commentary
Fourth generation war hero Col. William McNamara is imprisoned in a brutal German POW camp. Still, as the camp's highest-ranking American officer, he commands his fellow inmates, keeping a sense of honor alive in a place where honor is easy to destroy, all under the dangerous, ever-watchful eye of SS Major Wilhelm Visser. Never giving up the fight to win the war, McNamara is silently planning, waiting for his moment to strike back at the enemy. A murder in the camp gives him the chance to set a risky plan in motion. With a court martial to keep Visser and the Germans distracted, McNamara orchestrates a cunning scheme to escape and destroy a nearby munitions plant, enlisting the unwitting help of young Lt. Tommy Hart. Together with his men, McNamara uses a hero's resolve to carry out his mission, ultimately forced to weigh the value of his life against the good of his country.
Editor's Note
Director Gregory Hoblit's debut feature was the tricky courtroom drama PRIMAL FEAR. With his fourth feature, HART'S WAR, Hoblit is back with another. This time the court is inside a WWII prisoner-of-war camp. The defendant is Lieutenant Lincoln Scott (Terrence Howard), a black officer accused of killing a racist sergeant (Cole Hauser). Scott's lawyer is Lieutenant Tommy Hart (Colin Farrell), a second-year law student at Yale. A U.S. senator's son, Hart was having a relatively easy war until he was captured, interrogated, and sent to Stalag VI. The camp commandant is the urbane, charming, and ruthless SS Major Visser (compellingly played by Rumanian actor Marcel Iures). The ranking American officer at the camp is Colonel William McNamara (Bruce Willis), and Hart is soon in conflict with him. When Scott is accused of murder, McNamara insists that the prisoners should hold a court martial, and he appoints Hart counsel for the defense. At the court martial, Hart finds his client is being railroaded, although he gets help from unexpected quarters. Intricately plotted by scriptwriters Billy Ray and Terry George, and filmed by Hoblit with his accustomed attention to detail, HART'S WAR is a devious and absorbing courtroom/POW drama.
| Features | Scene Selection | | Audio: English Mono | | Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | | Photo Gallery | | Theatrical Trailer | | Interactive Menus | | Audio Commentary With Bruce Willis, The Director And Writer | | Audio Commentary With The Producer | | Deleted Scenes With Director's Commentary |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: MGM |
| Release Date: 5/12/2009 |
| Running Time: 125 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2002 | | Catalog ID: 109110 | | UPC: 00027616877284 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English, French Dubbed, Portuguese Dubbed, Spanish Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | 2.35:1 |
| Cast & Crew
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| | Professional Reviews | Entertainment Weekly
"...[A] stolid and earnest military courtroom drama..." 02/15/2002 p.42-3Total Film
"...Farrell wins sympathy through his somber, thoughtful deliberations, a generously underplaying Willis brings gravitas, and Marcel Lures' commandant, Colonel Visser is a surprisingly rounded creation..." 05/01/2002 p.97 Chicago Sun-Times
"...Absorbing....What makes it more intriguing is the sense that something else is going on underneath the action..." 02/15/2002 p.33 Chicago Sun-Times 8 of 10
The movie worked for me right up to the final scene, and then it caved in. Bowing to ancient and outdated convention, director Gregory Hoblit and writers Billy Ray and Terry George put the plot through an awkward U-turn so that Willis can end up as a hero. How and why he does so is ingenious, yes, but the ending gives the impression it is a solution when it is only a remedy. And I would have liked it better if the far-off bugle had been playing under a black character at the end and not a white one. It's as if the movie forgot its own anger. - Roger Ebert
James Berardinelli's ReelViews 8 of 10
Hart's War works uncommonly well because of the effective manner in which it blends together its various elements: the WW2 prison camp setting, the courtroom aspects, and the issues of honor, racism, and redemption. This is one of those war movies that focuses on human interaction rather than battle and action sequences (there are a few of those, but not many), and it's all the stronger because of it. In terms of presenting a story that is both intelligent and involving, Hart's War is considerably better than the average fare movie-goers are subjected to during the month of February. - James Berardinelli
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