''Age of Heroes'' is a 2011 British

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war fi ...

directed by Adrian Vitoria. The film is based on the real-life events of the formation of

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., a ...

's 30 Commando unit during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The film was released in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in 2011.

Plot

The film follows the exploits of Corporal Bob Rains (

Danny Dyer Danial John Dyer (born 24 July 1977) is an English actor and presenter. Dyer's breakthrough role was as Moff in ''Human Traffic'', with other notable roles as Mick Carter in EastEnders, Billy the Limpet in '' Mean Machine'' and as Tommy Johns ...

) as he is inducted into the newly formed 30 Commando unit in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, after being freed from a war prison for cowardice and striking an officer during operations in France. Rains and the rest of the platoon are put through intensive training under the watchful eye of Major Jack Jones (

Sean Bean Sean Bean (born Shaun Mark Bean on 17 April 1959) is an English actor. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Bean made his professional debut in a theatre production of ''Romeo and Juliet'' in 1983. Retaining his Yorkshire ac ...

), where their skills and endurance are pushed to the limit as they prepare for their first highly classified and dangerous mission: to parachute into

occupied Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until the ...

and capture new

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

technology from the Germans which could change the outcome of the war.The mission objective bears much resemblance to

Operation Biting Operation Biting, also known as the Bruneval Raid, was a British Combined Operations raid on a German coastal radar installation at Bruneval in northern France, during the Second World War, on the night . Several of these installations were id ...

. The newly formed band of brothers are joined in their task by Norwegian immigrant Steinar Mortensen (

Aksel Hennie Aksel Hennie (born 29 October 1975) is a Norwegian actor, director, and screenwriter. He is best known for his roles in the films '' Headhunters'' (2011), ''Hercules'' (2014), and '' The Martian'' (2015). Early life Hennie was born in the Lambert ...

), now a

US Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

Lieutenant with vital knowledge of the terrain, and beautiful spy Jensen (

Izabella Miko Izabella Miko (born Izabella Anna Mikołajczak; 21 January 1981) is a Polish actress, dancer, film producer, and environmental activist. She is best known for starring in the film ''Coyote Ugly'' and the music videos "Mr. Brightside" and "Miss ...

). All their lethal commando skills are put to the test as they attempt to escape fierce gun battles and attain the German radar technology. Their plan is thrown into crisis when their extraction is delayed and they must fight their way to the border of neutral Sweden. With the Germans desperate to hunt them down and stop them, the commandos realise how important their mission is to the war effort. After a long trek in the snow, the commandos try to resupply by returning to a previously visited farm. Its inhabitants had been shot by German units for aiding the British commandos. To make things worse, the Germans catch up with them at the farm, bringing Corporal Brightling (

Stephen Walters Stephen Walters (born 22 May 1973) is an English actor. A regular in British television and film, he has played a wide range and variety of character roles in both drama and comedy. Walters is most commonly associated with unpredictable, compl ...

), who was captured alive during the earlier fire fight. The Germans urge the commandos' surrender in exchange for the life of their captured comrade. The commandos refuse, and instead open fire on the Germans. Jensen and radar specialist Roger Rollright ( John Dagleish) are ordered to make a run for the Swedish border, while the rest of the commandos provide cover for them. Major Jones realizes that there are too many German soldiers pouring into the fire fight. He orders Rains and Steinar to run for the border, while two others stay to cover them. Those who remain at the farm are last seen firing on and suppressing the Germans. The Germans catch up to Rains and Steinar retreating; Steinar is shot and killed. Out of ammunition, and with three enemy soldiers advancing on him, Rains prepares to cut his own throat. But before doing so, Jensen and Rollright kill the three Germans, thus enabling them to escape overland to Sweden. The last scene shows the two surviving team members and Jensen standing on a hill looking down into a snow-covered valley that leads to Sweden.

Cast

as Major Jack Jones *

as Corporal Bob Rains *

as Liv Jensen *

James D'Arcy James D'Arcy (born Simon Richard D'Arcy; 24 August 1975) is an English actor and film director. He is known for his portrayals of Howard Stark's butler, Edwin Jarvis, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe television series '' Agent Carter'' and the ...

as Lieutenant Commander

* John Dagleish as Flight Sergeant Roger Rollright *

William Houston William Churchill Houston ( 1746 – August 12, 1788), a Founding Father of the United States, was a teacher, lawyer and statesman. Houston served as a delegate representing New Jersey in both the Continental Congress and Constitutional Conventi ...

as Sergeant MacKenzie *

as Lieutenant Steinar Mortensen *

Guy Burnet Guy Burnet (born 8 August 1983) is a British theatre, film and television actor. Early life Burnet was born in London, England. He attended Holland Park School where his interest in drama first developed, taking an A level in the subject. Bef ...

as Riley *

as Corporal Syd Brightling * Sebastian Street as RMP Colonel Archer *

Daniel Brocklebank Daniel Brocklebank (born 21 December 1979) is a British actor, best known for portraying the roles of Ivan Jones in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'' (2005–2006), and Billy Mayhew in ITV's other long-running soap ''Coronation Street'' (2014 ...

as RMP Sergeant Hamilton *

Rosie Fellner Rosie Fellner is an English-Irish actress and producer. She began her career on the cult TV show ''The Fast Show'' and received attention for her portrayal of Joei Harkness in the series ''The Alan Clarke Diaries''. Her other work includes ''T ...

as Sophie Holbrook *

Christian Rubeck Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

as Hauptsturmführer Model * Eric Madsen as Scharführer Teichman * Lee Jerrum as Dobson * Ewan Ross as Gable * Tom Luke Taylor as Tom

Production

''Age of Heroes'' was shot on location in Norway and in the county of

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, United Kingdom. They include the disused Gravesend Civil Defence Bunker, the former Connaught Barracks near

Fort Burgoyne Fort Burgoyne, originally known as Castle Hill Fort, was built in the 1860s as one of the Palmerston forts around Dover in southeast England. It was built to a polygonal system with detached eastern and western redoubts, to guard the high ground ...

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

, as well as near the village of

Pluckley Pluckley is a village and civil parish in the Ashford (borough), Ashford district of Kent, England. The civil parish includes the nucleated village, adjacent hamlet of Pluckley Thorne. Geography The landscape of the area itself is the edge of a ...

Release

''Age of Heroes'' was released in cinemas in the United Kingdom on 20 May 2011. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the United Kingdom on 13 June 2011.

Reception

The film received generally mixed to negative reviews from critics, with criticism mostly focusing on Dyer's performance and the effects of its low budget. It holds critical score on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on reviews, with an average rating of .

Footnotes

References

External links

*
KCL Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Age Of Heroes 2010s historical adventure films 2010s war adventure films 2011 films British historical adventure films British war adventure films Western Front of World War II films Works about Ian Fleming World War II films based on actual events Films shot in Norway Films shot in Kent British World War II films 2010s English-language films 2010s British films