Saints and Soldiers: The Void

Saints and Soldiers: The Void is the third installment in the Saints and Soldiers franchise, following Saints and Soldiers and Saints and Soldiers: Airborne Creed. In some countries the film is called Saints and Soldiers: Battle of the Tanks.

Plot

In May 1945, remnants of the German Army fought on in the Harz mountains, nicknamed "The Void" by American troops. An American M18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer "The Avenging Angel", fires on a German prison and liberates the prisoners held there, including Lieutenant Goss (Ben Urie.) The next day the prisoners are to be transported to the rear by Sergeant Jesse Owens (K. Danor Gerald) and Private Perry (Alex Boye). Owens is not respected by some of the white soldiers because he is an African-American, and rumors have spread that he had once assaulted a white officer with an axe.

Captain Briton McConkie orders Sergeant John Atwood, commander of the Angel, and Max Whitaker, to take their respective tanks to clear the roads of any Germans to protect Owens' and Perry's convoy. The two tanks travel along the roads, with some tension arising between Private Daniel Barlow (Matt Meese) and Rodney Mitchell, who is religious. Corporal Carey Simms (Adam Gregory) stops the arguments.

Goss, who is riding in Owens' truck, has disturbing flashbacks of a brutal German commander who killed his comrades and captured Goss. Goss then is offered to ride up front with Owens, and he is sympathetic over his unfair treatment because of his race. The convoy comes across a fake body in the road, and then a hidden German tank fires, destroying Perry's truck, killing everyone inside. The Germans open fire at Owens' truck, and he and Goss manage to escape. The two run into the Angel and the other tank, and Simms and Barlow continue to criticize Owens.

Atwood and Goss travel back to the trucks, where they spot the German tank. Simms discovers they are too far away from base to contact them, so Atwood and Whitaker decide to destroy the tank themselves. Atwood lets Owens ride up front with Mitchell, while he takes the gunner position and Barlow is in charge of the ammunition. They create a diversion by letting the Germans see them while Whitaker takes his tank and fires at it. He manages to immobilize it, but the two Allied tanks are ambushed by two other hidden Nazi tanks. The Germans destroy Whitaker's tank, who escapes seriously injured, while the rest of his squad has been killed. Atwood is shot and killed by pursuing German troops, while the rest escape.

Goss, who had stayed behind, finds Whitaker, who gives him his weapon. Goss finds the surviving crew of the Angel, who are debating who should take command now that Atwood is dead. Goss and Mitchell suggest Owens take command, since he is a Sergeant and has previous experience with tanks, but Simms assumes command by justifying that it is a segregated army. He forces Barlow into the gunner position, despite having lacked experience, and begins to grill Owens once more. Owens reveals his father fought in World War I and was awarded by France, but not by the United States. When he requested respect, he was lynched by his town. Owens then explains that although African-Americans do so much for America, they never get the respect the deserve.

After this moment, Barlow spots a German tank that had snuck up on them, and he and Mitchell drive the Angel behind an abandoned mill while Simms and Owens take cover. Goss leaves to cover for the four troops. The two other Nazi tanks begin advancing toward the Angel, while the one Whitaker shot is repaired. Owens, Goss and Simms catch up to Barlow and Mitchell, and decide to stay behind the mill while the Germans plan to lure them out. Owens finds a radio wire and gives it to Simms, who manages to contact base with it. He informs them that Atwood is dead and they are trapped by the three German tanks. Captain McConkie orders reinforcements for the Angel.

Owens convinces Simms to join him in taking a nearby cannon to destroy the tanks before they can pursue them any further, and Goss leaves to cause more distractions. The two manage to get the cannon, but miss the tank as it fires at them. Goss infiltrates one of the Nazi tanks and kills all its passengers. Barlow and Mitchell destroy another tank but the Angel's gun gets hit and disabled, causing the two to flee. The German commander who had captured Goss before gathers troops to seek out the group on foot. Owens and Simms go into an old house and discover Germans planning for battle. After engaging in a brief firefight, the two clear the room and plan on what to do with the third tank, which has been repaired and operating.

Before doing so, Owens confesses that he did actually attack a white officer, in retaliation for forcing Owens' squad into a suicide mission that left everyone but him dead. Simms begins to understand why Owens is the way he is. Meanwhile, Goss encounters the commander and his squad and is wounded, but the commander is shot and killed by his own soldier in revenge for killing his comrade. The soldiers surrender to Goss.

After Barlow holds off an attacking squad of Germans, Simms has him light rags on fire to make it look as if the Angel is in bad shape. Mitchell then drives the tank in range of the Nazis, while Owens prepares for a kill shot that he may not survive. Simms knows this and provides cover fire for him, but eventually has to jump out a window when Germans throw a grenade at him. Owens fires a missile right up through the bottom of the German tank, destroying it, but causes debris to rain down on him. Reinforcements arrive, and Owens has survived. Goss and Whitaker, who both survived their wounds and are taken to medical care. Owens is told by a commander that Simms has looked up to him, and sees him as an example, mirroring the relationship between Nathan Greer and Steven Gould in the first film. Barlow and Mitchell reconcile from their previous arguments, and Simms and Owens befriend one another.

Cast

External links

• Saints and Soldiers: Airborne Creed on IMDb