Age of Heroes

The recently completed film based on the true story of a team of Second World War British commandos created by James Bond author Ian Fleming is to be released by Metrodome in UK cinemas on May 20 and then on DVD and Blu-ray on June 13. The action packed thriller reveals the heroic adventures of a special unit of the British Army called the 30 Commando.

‘Age of Heroes’, the new World War II adventure directed by Adrian Vitoria, is the first of the trio film series about British Special forces. The other two films in the series to follow will be titled ‘Age of Honour’ and ‘Age of Glory’.

The movie stars Sean Bean (Lord of the Rings, Golden Eye) as Captain Jones, Danny Dyer (The Business, The Football Factory) as Corporal Bob Rains, and Izabella Miko. Bean already popular with 007 fans played villainous Alec Trevelyan opposite Pierce Brosnan’s in the Goldeneye. He is also an accomplished TV and stage actor, played ‘Macbeth’ alongside Samantha Bond on London stage in 2002. Bean has also played the hero in ITV’s popular long play ‘Sharpe’.

Another Brithis actor James D’Arcy, also has a key role, who plays Ian Fleming. The official review for the film states that it is ‘based on the true story of the formation of James Bond creator Ian Fleming’s 30 Commando, the plot of the story tells about the recruitment of a unique but talented soldier Corporal Rains in the new unit by Captain Jones. This special commando force undertakes the most dangerous and demanding missions assigned by the British military. Shot mainly in the tough snowy terrain of the mountains of Norway, the main action involves the commando unit to carry out a daring attack on a top secret, heavily guarded German radar station. The success of this mission was to result in a major change in the course of the war.

Some 20 former British soldiers (who actually once served in the SAS or other secret service units) were included in the team of stuntmen extras recruited for the fight scenes of the movie. These special services ex men were arranged by Andy Macnab, a former SAS operative and author of ‘Bravo Two Zero’, who also imparted the essential military input to the new production. He played Macnab in the ITV film version of the now famous account of a real-life SAS operation that went badly wrong during the first Gulf War. Adrian Vitoria, the director of ‘Age of Heroes’, keen to have everything appear as authentic as possible in the new movie, prior to the making of the film in Norway persuaded several of the actors to train with former British soldiers for a number of weeks.

However, the production did have its interludes and not everything went according to plan, as many of the cast and crew were down with a vomiting virus in April, which forced a temporary halt to the production. The Icelandic volcanic ash crisis also threatened at one point to seriously disrupt proceedings, despite the brief setbacks it’s a mission accomplished, delayed by half a year.