Review: Nazi Dawn

Official synopsis:
A dark and ghostly wartime secret is about to be uncovered when a battle between good and evil breaks out aboard a WWII-era battleship in Nazi Dawn, set for release through Revolver Entertainment on August 30th 2010.

When the SS Lane Victory, reactivated and deployed in the Persian Gulf for black-op interrogations, falls radio silent, an elite Marine task force are sent to apprehend the terrorists. Led by Col. John Willets (Lance Henriksen), the team find one survivor, John’s son Colin (Gary Stretch).
But as the soldiers search for the men responsible for the bloody butchery of the ship’s crew, they soon discover a more devious enemy than any of them had ever imagined and all hell breaks loose as they become locked in brutal battle to the death…

Hey Twat-fans, I must apologise for the lateness of this review (Wez at Strike Media sent me the preview disk weeks ago -- sorry Wez), indeed this is one of about five reviews I need to do before they become irrelevant! It’s not laziness my fellow Filmtwats, just extreme busyness -- so much so Glenn and I haven’t even been able to do a podcast this month, I’m starting to forget what he actually looks like! Anyways, apology over, on with the show…

Lance Henriksen is famed for his roles as likeable android, Bishop in Aliens and Frank Black in Millenium, but was last seen on the big screen in Jennifer’s Body (yup, the one with Megan Fox) reduced to an uncredited role as a “passing motorist”. The man is actually a good actor (with a voice far deeper than it should be for his weathered exterior), but he clearly has an inability to refuse any role that is offered to him. Not that he shouldn’t be in Nazi Dawn, I’m just surprised that the script would call for him. His character is days away from retirement, yet he is still deemed fit to lead a unit into an unknown and potentially deadly situation. Hmm, I’m all for equal rights, but this is a stretch.

Listen, Nazi Dawn is never going to win any awards for greatness, nor should it, but it is an enjoyable outing never the less. Not only have you got a group of stereotypical marines, you also have the lovable engine room man and the cook, a couple of Ghostbusters (true story) and not to mention the haunted ship itself! Some of the dialogue is horrendous “I’m the good cop, he’s the bad cop” (bad cop hits prisoner), there is a completely unnecessary, albeit brief, shower scene (female of course) which is lifted directly out of the book “movie clichés” under the heading: “how to get over a traumatic event using only a mirror and a shower” and a complete over use of stock footage, but from the opening of the film I was hooked!

The first half/two thirds tries to build tension and suspense, but unfortunately delivers neither however the third act really does pick up the pace, in terms of both action and story, and I genuinely didn’t see the ending coming. Surprisingly the direction, the cinematography and the editing at times show glimmers of excellence, but then sadly reverts back to auto pilot, and plays safe. Curiously the film is not listed anywhere on IMDB -- surely not a good sign -- I even have a friend who’s short film is listed on IMDB!

Ok, I may not have bigged this film up a great deal and if I was to score the film by the sum of its parts (with the exception of the ever brilliant Lance Henricksen) then it would be a low score. BUT I actually really enjoyed it and didn’t move for the duration of the film. Good all round (not quite family) fun.

**1/2 Stars (Two and a half out of five)

Nazi Dawn is released today on DVD and is available to buy here.

Keep an eye out though as we will hopefully have a few copies to give away in the next week, but until then, here is the trailer for you to check out.