This takes place in a POW camp during WWII, and follows the events that transpire after a few black enlisted men are captured and put among the white prisoners. This has a well-written script, lines are great and well-delivered, the plot is interesting, engaging and develops quite nicely throughout. The editing and cinematography have some inspired moments, and are always marvelous. This is rather exciting and entertaining.

I haven't read the novel, nor did I realize that this was based upon one until I watched it. This is the third of Hoblit's films I've seen, the other two being Frequency and Primal Fear, both of which I find to be excellent. Thus, in comparison, this is a little less impressive. I wouldn't call it poor, however. It certainly has a point to it, something to say, and it communicates it fairly well. The message is good, too.

The performances are impeccable, Willis does as well as we expect, Farrell makes reasonable use of his chance at doing a role that can prove he can do more than project his "bad boy" persona onto the screen, and Howard shines. This meeting and conflict between the experienced master and the up-and-coming student is further infused with the clever juxtaposition of that relationship being not only of their characters – but of the actors, as well.

The DVD comes with two informational, compelling and amusing commentaries: one by Gregory Hoblit, writer Billy Ray and Bruce Willis, and one by producer David Foster, 10 minutes of good deleted scenes with or without director commentary and several photo galleries. There is relatively infrequent strong violence and language. I recommend this to any fan of dramas, and who enjoy movies that deal with history. 7/10

This film has its moments. But, to buy into it, you have to suspend any knowledge about WW2, Nazi POW stockades or likely situations. The action focuses on Willis as the brooding leading officer in a POW camp, Colin Farrell is the law student pressed into becoming a defender for a Black Pilot wrongly accused of murder. What transpires is a Machiavellian game with the Commandant, well played by Rumanian Actor, Marcel Iures, with plots and subplots, motifs and counterplots. But, it really does not go anywhere. There are some nice twists at the end but the ending before the final credits I found to be cheesy and unsatisfying (I've always found it irritating to switch to an ending narrative when there was none to introduce the story). Viewers who like Willis will not be disappointed and Colin Farrell is sure to delight the ladies with his Irish good looks, dark "little boy" eyes and expressions. Cole Hauser, back from getting eaten by an alien in Pitch Black, makes a wonderful sleazy villain but the rest of the cast seems to walk through their parts. Also, Look for Joe Spano from NYPD in a bit part in the opening, but don't expect a lot from the rest of the show.

This is a film in desperate search of a genre. It starts off as a classic WW2 thriller, with German ambushes in a snowy landscape and plenty of twists and turns within a short time. It moves into POW camp territory, with varying factions vying for power in a prison territory. Not content to stay there, HART'S WAR then turns into a murder mystery (with added racial commentary) before finally setting on its path as a courtroom drama for the rest of the running time.

The veering from genre to genre gives the film a bit of a disjointed feel, but for the most part I could forgive that because I found this to be an entertaining movie. Colin Farrell, back when he was making an effort to break into stardom and teamed up with bigger actors (Bruce Willis in this, Tom Cruise in MINORITY REPORT), doesn't put a foot wrong and Willis has the liberty to steal all of his scenes as the gruff, grizzled colonel. I've always liked Terrence Howard, too, and he bags a meaty role here.

The film isn't always engaging. Some of it, those cross-over bits inbetween the various genre bits, are rather dull, and there are a few too many CGI warplanes for my liking. But come the end, I was caught up in the story and the characters were the thing that kept me watching, especially as the latter moral dilemma plays out. Okay, so the excruciatingly sentimental ending (yes, it's as bad as the end of LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING) is way over the top, but until then HART'S WAR does its job and makes a refreshing change of pace from the usual wartime heroics.