Remember those terrible war movies your grandmother forced you to watch 25 or so years ago on your old VHS recorder? "The Fallen" is just a bad executed remake of those movies! The story is terrible, the direction is terrible, the editing is terrible, the music is terrible, and all together make an unbearable nightmare.It is also terribly slow! Very slow! I tried to sleep while watching it but I couldn't do it because I had nightmares of it.Please don't watch this movie! It is THAT bad! Ten lines is a lot so I don't know what else to say.Press the eject button NOW and you wont regret it!

I rented this film based on my general enthusiasm for movies covering the stark subject of war. This was a very different film than any other WW2 film I've seen, and I think for the better. As we can probably assume with all fairness, not every soldier or unit in Europe during this conflict was fighting at the front. "The Fallen" depicts an several facets of participants toward the close of the war: An American supply unit that generally behaves as if their simply waiting out the war--they know their place (in the rear with the gear) and some of the individuals are even taking advantage of it; A small and reluctant Italian regiment brought in to support a equally small, but cocky German unit; Italian "partisans" who as members of the communist party operate as guerrillas; and Italian civilians, some of whom are a bit shadowy in their activities.The uniqueness of the historical situation in this region during the war provides that distinct difference between this film and others in the genre. It's not one huge battlefield scene after another or a storming the beaches extravaganza. There's no massive divisions. These units are the forgotten groups of soldiers from their respective armies, two of which were in their last days. Their importance in the grand scheme of the war is minor as the story told here is more common.While some characters are a little cliché, others are more unique... particularly toward the second half of the film. They really do develop, change, and become something different than they started as.After watching the special features "making-of" documentary on the DVD, it's amazing the movie ever happened. None of the actors were the professionals you'd expect. Hell, one of them does character work for birthday parties. Another works at a fish market. I strongly suggest anyone who rents this film watches the making-of as you'll have a much greater level of appreciation for what went into the movie.Overall, I thought it was a decent film for what it is. I think you have to take into consideration the level of experience each actor and staff member possessed at the time. This isn't a Hollywood production by any means. But it was indeed an awesome effort by amateurs that does an excellent job of looking far bigger than it was. I have to give the makers and participants of "The Fallen" a lot of credit for their efforts.

Ari Taub takes on an immense project of independently shooting a war film set during WWII. Despite the numerous industry warnings against doing period films, Ari pulls it off with an engaging film, good characters, and an impressive production design. The production design for this film is stellar. The Italian actors are fantastic creating very engaging and likable characters. I should note here that this film is in three languages (Italian, German and English) and I applaud Ari maintaining this aspect to his story instead of making everyone speak English. The story is good, faithful to the large ensemble genre of post-WWII war film dramas. If anything, this film proves that Ari Taub is a capable, resourceful and ambitious director with a bright future and ability to deliver above expectation and means. "The Fallen" is worth a view and praise for everything accomplished by the cast, crew, and producers making this independent film.

Outstanding film, you must see it, and when you do, keep in mind that this is Ari Taub's first feature film. Where many directors would attempt something much less difficult for their first feature, Taub took on a major challenge by going back in time, and making it oh so believable. The uniforms, the weapons, the scenery, the music . PERFECT. The acting is superb, you probably will not recognize one face, but I'll bet you see them again. I understand that the movie recently won the best picture award ( audience choice ) at the Milan Film Festival. Congratulations Ari, I,m anxious to see what your next project will be.