Charging forward on blu-ray from the nice folks at Shout Factory comes The Asylum-produced World War II war drama Assault on Hill 400, based on the true story of the U.S. 2nd Ranger Battalion who held Hill 400 from five German counterattacks through the month of December during the Battle of Hürtgen Forest in 1944. The hill was seen as a highly prized strategic position which the 2nd Ranger Battalion had captured from the 980th Grenadier Regiment of the 272nd Volksgrenadier Division. The film begins with Generals Weaver (William Baldwin) and Cota (Michael Madsen) giving the siege mission to the battalion, impressing upon them the grave importance of their success. Along for the ride is war photographer Anderson, played by Eric Roberts, who is always there to impart advice and give the perspective of someone who has seen it all.

It’s interesting that I think this might actually be the first film based on the taking of Hill 400 (the film When Trumpets Fade was about other incidents during the Battle of Hürtgen Forest but wasn’t focused on Hill 400), but the reason could be because, despite the bravery of those who fought in this battle against overwhelming odds, it was seen as a German victory and was overshadowed by the Battle of the Bulge which happened soon after. Regardless, I have to say that Assault on Hill 400 really doesn’t do the battle justice in my opinion. The fact that this is coming from The Asylum means that it’s going to be cheap and shoddy like everything they do. This is most apparent during Baldwin’s and Madsen’s scenes which were obviously shot in a day with Baldwin and Madsen propped up in ill-fitting wardrobe and delivering their lines as stilted as possible. It wouldn’t surprise me if there were cue cards just off camera. It just reeked of a paycheck gig. Eric Roberts on the other hand, who has definitely phoned in some performances over the years (quite literally I think in A Talking Cat!?), actually shows up and gives a decent performance. While not reaching the heights of career highlights like Star 80, Runaway Train or even The Dark Knight, Roberts is still to be commended for at least giving it a try and being a professional. While the film does muster up some decent combat scenes, Saving Private Ryan this ain’t. The directing in general feels very pedestrian and the lighting is overblown and cheap-looking for much of the film. Not surprisingly, this is directed by Christopher Douglas-Olen Ray, son of infamous schlock director Fred Olen Ray (Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers, Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfold, etc.). I guess the family dynasty is alive and well. The script is passable in places but also fairly clichéd. It’s obvious that The Asylum just wanted to shovel out something to video fairly quickly to cater to the war movie buff who’ll eat up any random thing.

At least with Shout on board, the video and audio mastering is being given the proper treatment. The transfer itself looks very clean with well-balanced levels and few if any imperfections. The DTS-HD 5.1 audio track also has nice separation and not surprisingly comes across best during the combat scenes. A quite nice presentation from Shout in general. On the Extras front though, we’ve only got a trailer and an image gallery (does anyone even look at these?).

Assault on Hill 400 overall just feels very cheap with much of the “action” taking place in the woods which is always a cost saver. Still, I can see those aforementioned war buffs being at least vaguely satisfied with this, particularly since it appears to be the only film covering this particular conflict of WWII.