THE MONUMENTS MEN is based on the true story of an unlikely group of soldiers in the final days of World War II were given the task of finding and rescuing stolen art masterpieces from the Nazis who stole them.   They soon find themselves in a race against time before the Germans carry out their orders to destroy the priceless art as the Monuments Men led by Frank Stokes (George Clooney) search for the stolen Madonna and Child, and the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (by Van Eyck).  The cast includes Matt Damon, John Goodman, Bill Murray, and Cate Blanchett.  It is a fun World War 2 film that focuses on the other side of the war as you see the efforts of a few trying to save the stolen art so future generations in those countries could enjoy it once the war was over. George Clooney has crafted a movie that I could watch again and even watch a few moments in passing while channel surfing.   I loved the chemistry between the members of the Monuments Men and the time that Matt Damon’s character took to get Claire to trust him so they could find where the Nazis had moved the stolen art to.

 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Two deleted scenes which are only on the blu-ray and were cut for pacing reasons.

 

Four featurettes:

IN THEIR OWN WORDS- Hear from the real Monuments Men- Harry Ettinger, James A. Reeds, William Kelly, and Anne Oliver Bow- a unit that started with a dozen people and grew to 354

GEORGE CLOONEY’S MISSION (Blu-ray)- all about George Clooney’s approach to directing and acting in the movie in addition to how they shot so quickly due to lots of preplanning (and George figuring out the shots he wanted to shoot instead of doing lots of coverage).

MARSHALLING THE TROOPS- a fetaurette on the cast of the movie

A WOMAN AMONGST MOUNMENTS MEN (Blu-ray)- focus on Rose Valland, the woman that Claire (Cate Blanchett) was based on.

 

Previews for other releases from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment including POMPEII, A FIGHTING MAN, STALINGRAD, and GAMBIT

 

FINAL ANALYSIS:  THE MONUMENTS MEN is an enjoyable World War 2 movie with great character chemistry that showed what also was at stake as a group of men were trying to recover art stolen by the Nazis.

 

This review is ©5-20-2014 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com

 

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