Deathwatch (2002 film): Difference between revisions

Set during [[World War OneI]], a group of British soldiers "go over the top" in an assault against German lines. However, in the middle of the battle, a mysterious fog descends upon the battlefield and the night suddenly turns into day. Hours later, they finally stumble upon the German trenches only to find a mere 3 German soldiers, petrified and pointing their guns down their own trenches. The British soldiers call for them to surrender, but the Germans are more scared of something in the trench than them. After murdering two of them and torturing the third, the British troops begin exploring the trench, only to find the bodies of more Germans, seemingly killed by friendly fire. Even stranger, the trenches seem to lead nowhere, simply doubling back on themselves. With a prisoner babbling about demons, impenetrable fog, and a broken radio, they quickly form a defensive position and wait for reinforcements that never come.

Though their radio can't send messages, it can still RECIEVE''receive'' them. High command seems rather sure that the attack failed and there were no survivors....

* [[Anachronism Stew]] : Not very overt, but there are some inconsistencies. In one scene, Charlie picks up and wields a [[wikipedia:MP 18|Bergmann MP 18]] SMG - unless the film is set in 1918, this early example of a machine pistol can't possibly be found on the front, since the Germans only started using it in the last year of the war. The Lee-Enfield rifles wielded by the soldiers are also a later, WWII-era version of the model (the WWI version being harder to come by). But the most obvious example by far is the surprisingly small radio receiver they find and repair. No country had military or civilian radios that small and advanced during WWI. It would fit better in the 1920s.

** Regards the SMLE, the [[WW 1]] version (the No.1 [[Mk III]]MkIII or [[Mk III]]MkIII*) is not difficult to come by at all: the Australians went on making them until after World War 2.

** Actually, the Bergman was first fielded by 1916 in small numbers.

* [[Ax Crazy]] / [[Blood Knight]] : Quinn (Andy Serkis) is about as Axe Crazy as a character can get.

* [[Captain Smooth and Sergeant Rough]] : Jennings and Tate fit this, but it's subverted by Tate being somewhat more sympathetic and [[A Father to His Men]] than Jennings.

* [[Daylight Horror]] : Most of the movie, but the night scenes are almost equally long as the day ones and the daylight itself is consistently gloomy.

* [[Death by Sex]]: {{spoiler|Starinski, almost. But only with himself.}}

* [[Fog of Doom]]: Hey, it's [[World War OneI]]. Fog of Doom is already all over the damn place.

* [[Officer and a Gentleman]] : Averted by Jennings and Tate, both of them enormous [[Jerkass|JerkAsses]]es. This trope is also [[Double Subversion|double subverted]] by Tate, since he's oficially [[[[Sergeant Rock]] |a sergeant]] and acts pretty jerky, but shows some signs of being a [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]].

* [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]] : Unabashedly cynical in it'sits portrayal of [[The Squad]], whose members are mostly [[Humans Are BastardsJerkass|bastards]] at best and [[Ax Crazy|violent]] [[Sociopathic Soldier|psychos]] at worst. Needless to say, the image of the [[Iron Woobie|tragic]] [[Stiff Upper Lip|yet cheerful]] "Tommies" seen in British [[World War OneI]] propaganda [[Deconstruction|gets completely shattered]]...

** [[Upper Class Twit]] / [[The Neidermeyer]] : Captain Jennings. Particularly [[Narm|narmynarm]]y when he definitely [[Go Mad From the Isolation|goes off his nut]].

* [[World War OneI]] : The setting is the western front, presumably in the later stages of the war (cca 1917). And it's as muddy and [[Mordor|grim]] as ever...

[[Category:Deathwatch (2002 film){{PAGENAME}}]]