The 12th Man [DVD]

Well, I can't understand it when people criticize a film simply for being in the Original Languages, in this case Norwegian and German rather than English because while it may be a struggle for some of the more uneducated reviewers here, it adds to the authenticity of the film. Why do so many British people EXPECT when they go abroad that Foreign Nationals in THEIR OWN country should speak English rather than the British learn a little of the language of the country THEY are visiting? Twelve Norwegians on a mission, discovered by a German Patrol Boat after a suspicious Norwegian felt it necessary to 'grass up' his countrymen. They scuttle their boat by blowing it up with the tons of TNT on board, Eleven are captured, one of whom is summarily executed and one, Jan Baalsrud (Thomas Gullestad) escapes - to a fashion. He is supported by the ordinary Norwegian peoples who help him try to reach neutral Sweden but not before he suffers from frostbite, gangrene, hunger and a general breakdown in health. He is protected by so many selfless Norwegians who put their own lives on the line at every step. Gullestad lost a tremendous amount of weight during the making of this TRUE STORY. Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays Gestapo Head Kurt Stage a Nazi fanatic who has never lost a single person allegedly involved in an action against the Germans. Gudrun Gronvoll (Marie Blokhus) protects Baalsrud and undoubtedly begins to have 'feelings' for him. The acting was very convincing down to the smallest role. Director Harald Zwart did a good job, the Cinematography was wonderful and the costumes of the time but the make up I thought was exceptional.

Don't expect too many firefights, though there are a few....this is not exactly The Heroes Of Telemark because the mission is a dead loss right from the start. It's more of a survival against the elements story. Think of it as Scott Of The Antarctic being pursued by the Jerries as well ok. Anyone interested in WW2 should enjoy it. Not the sort of film you would watch often, but certainly worth viewing at least once. Two things made me ponder though...firstly, does Jonathan Rees Meyer really speak German or is he just learning the lines as an actor.....and why were they carrying a top secret briefcase on the boat containing ALL the mission objectives and personnel involved. That just doesn't make any credible sense in a wartime setting...though it did happen at least twice in real life campaigns once at Arnhem in September 44 and again in late 42 on the Eastern Front near Stalingrad.

What a great movie. A little know true story from WW2 .after a failed anti -Nazi sabotage mission. Norwegian resistance fighter Jan Baalsrud is on run from evil Gestapo officer kurt stage. With his comrades dead. He's on his own trying to survive. Thankfully the locals rick everything to help him. What I liked was great acting from all the cast. Showing a little bit what Jan went through. Also no one is talking in English like some war movie's do. Makes it more real if they speak in their own language.

One man's fight to survive the Norwegian winter and a personal fight against German occupation. Against the odds the 12th man proves his ability to survive in harsh weather conditions and out wit the German SS stationed in the area. This is a film which is not for the faint hearted but is a strong moving and gritty adaption of a true story. Well worth watching and more than deserves it's five star rating.

Good film. However, it is good for educational purposes, but it should be used with care. No one would disagree that such organisations should ever come back, therefore, if younger viewers were to watch it, adult/s should be with them. It is a film which needs care on who views it.

Based on a real happening and obviously those involved with saving this guy from the Nazis and collaborators were brave. Most of the film rests on watching this guy somehow continue to survive when abandoned for long periods of time in the cold on his own. Unfortunately I started to find things rather tedious. If this had been a fictional war story I'd have marked it lower but I couldn't bring myself to be unkind to the obviously heroic effort of most of the people involved to get this man to safety.

I'd seen a trailer for “The 12th Man” - it looked good, I thought, and it was a true story, I was told, so I bought a DVD of the film. Based around an incredible WWII commando mission in Nazi occupied Norway, the film does a good job of depicting the people (mainly civilians) that were involved. This is no short film, it couldn't be, if it is to give even a hint of a feeling of what went on and of the time that it took, but the two-hour-ten-minute film has too much repetition and too little variation to the story. With the exception of clothes that look too clean and ironed (having just come straight from the wardrobe department) to be believable as clothes worn by those involved (especially the German soldiers), with that ever-present problem of period dramas aside, everything else looks pretty convincing. Allegedly, lead actor Thomas Gullestad who plays Jan Baalsrud lost 33lbs in eight weeks for the role (that's over half-a-pound a day) and ended up with frost damage after being exposed to minus thirty degrees centigrade temperatures. Also lead Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Myers had to learn his German lines in two months and he doesn't normally speak German. So plenty of commitment from some of the actors, but as the really impressive thing about the story is that it actually happened, and once you are aware of that (and one is told at the start of the film what the outcome is) there is then a danger of the film becoming tedious. The audience is presented with a number of on screen statements saying that Jan Baalsrud has been in “this location” for “x” amount of time so that it doesn't become even more tedious. I think a good film has been made given the constraints of the story (since a great deal of the time there was very little happening other than waiting and a bit more waiting), but if you know the story then a two-hour film needs more happening in it to make more “entertaining” (as the trailer had suggested) and less “documentary-esque”. I know not to give too much significance to trailers when I watch them, but the trailer I saw for this film suggested a different film than the one I watched. Jan Baalsrud's story and that of the civilians involved is a story that deserves to be told, and I applaud all those involved for having made the film. (Three-and-a-half stars out of five.) On the DVD (ASIN: B07KH1FH1L) “The 12th Man” (2 hours 10 minutes) Scene Selection Set Up: 5.2 Surround, 2.1 Stereo English Subtitles are available, they are embedded and are not optional.

The cover says "Where Dunkirk meets the Revenant" and I would have to agree with this, though it also has similarities to Danny Boyle's 127 Hours. A moving and completely immersive film. You're on the edge of your seat wondering what's going to happen next. I was worried that the subtitles would detract from the experience, but in some ways they enhance it. It's not particularly dialogue-heavy, but is very easy to follow and you don't miss a thing visually either. Beautifully filmed with some excellent performances from the supporting cast. It really is a heartwarming story of the tremendous sacrifice the Norwegians gave in order to survive the occupation. How this film hasn't received many international awards I do not know. All I can suggest is that you buy it. It's 130 minutes you won't regret spending. Just keep a cushion handy to hide behind when Jan is performing surgery on himself and turn the heating up, because it's all set in the snow and you'll be feeling chilly by the end!

The 12th man centres around the only member of a sabotage team of Norwegian patriots who survives an ambush by the Waffen SS. Without a network of resistance fighters to help him in his escape, he must rely on his own resources & the aid of civilians whom he meets, to cross the Arctic wasteland in order to escape to Sweden and eventually, make his way back to the Royal Navy in Britain. The journey takes over three months to accomplish & he undergoes harrowing physical hardships in order to stay ahead of a cruel & relentless Gestapo officer. Although he is lauded as a hero after the war, all of the men who were captured & the courageous civilians were all heroes. The film includes good English dubbing and subtitles.

DVD wil gewoon niet opstarten..... er zitten krassen op

La película es buenísima pero la edición no lleva subtítulos ni en ingles ni en español

Histoire atypique de la guerre. Intéressant

Revivre le passé, et n'ai rien revecu!