Weak story is counterbalanced by the originality of its main character. Would have loved to see this with a sharper script and bigger budget.

Stands out from the multitude of war films by introducing a main character whose only priority is to stay alive. Screw 'brothers in arms', heroism and nationalism. As the plot evolves it becomes more cliched and the battle scenes are rather weak. Still, better than you would expect from a TV movie.

A watchable film that's awash with futility.

when trumpets fade is a phenomenal war movie that was overlooked by the general public for two very important reasons. first, both saving private ryan and the thin red line both came out in the same year. secondly, this movie was a made for tv movie released only on hbo. it slipped by and no one noticed. that's why it's important to laud this movie as the ground breaker it was, not everyone who fought was a hero, but it doesn't make this story any less compelling or worthy of being told.

Introduces an anti-hero as the main character, which is quite refreshing instead of the mandatory proud war heroes we always see in these kinds of movies. Some strange choices in music and has it's cheesy moments, but still very entertaining and most importantly, a different look at WWII.