Comments on: How Close to the Actual History is the Amazing Movie The 12th Man https://taylorholmes.com/2018/05/12/how-close-to-the-actual-history-is-the-amazing-movie-the-12th-man/ Movies, Books & TV for people who like to think.. Tue, 30 Sep 2025 19:54:08 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Ricky Adams https://taylorholmes.com/2018/05/12/how-close-to-the-actual-history-is-the-amazing-movie-the-12th-man/#comment-1187694 Sat, 23 Mar 2024 21:15:02 +0000 https://taylorholmes.com/?p=16046#comment-1187694 Really good movie, exceptional man.

]]> By: Taylor Holmes https://taylorholmes.com/2018/05/12/how-close-to-the-actual-history-is-the-amazing-movie-the-12th-man/#comment-1168382 Wed, 21 Sep 2022 17:05:15 +0000 https://taylorholmes.com/?p=16046#comment-1168382 In reply to Natalie Normann.

Great comment – and I think your whole country deserves credit for this amazing story. Really fantastic history lesson here. Loved it.

]]> By: Natalie Normann https://taylorholmes.com/2018/05/12/how-close-to-the-actual-history-is-the-amazing-movie-the-12th-man/#comment-1168295 Mon, 19 Sep 2022 20:50:18 +0000 https://taylorholmes.com/?p=16046#comment-1168295 Hi Taylor. Thank you for your great review. As a Norwegian, I can tell you that Jan Baalsruuds story is one we all know. We all saw the movie ‘Nine lives’ from 1957, based on David Howarth’s book ‘We die alone’ in school, probably more than once. I think this new film did Jan justice. How he could surive is just beyond belief, but he did. So for us, Jan and all the people who helped him, are true heroes. I think Harald Zwart and his team did a wonderful job.

]]> By: Steph https://taylorholmes.com/2018/05/12/how-close-to-the-actual-history-is-the-amazing-movie-the-12th-man/#comment-1165265 Sat, 18 Jun 2022 20:27:18 +0000 https://taylorholmes.com/?p=16046#comment-1165265 Ordinary people. Extraordinary bravery, fearlessness and compassion. Beautifully executed. Mankind’s ability to overcome adversity.

]]> By: David https://taylorholmes.com/2018/05/12/how-close-to-the-actual-history-is-the-amazing-movie-the-12th-man/#comment-1151480 Sun, 09 Jan 2022 11:32:38 +0000 https://taylorholmes.com/?p=16046#comment-1151480 Answering previous questions I believe Jan was just (just!) a story of hope for the Norwegian people nothing strategic. Also, the papers handed over at the end was his report of what happened, I believe all such reports at the time would be top secret. On the movie itself I found it an awe inspiring tale, never will there be a generation of such selflessness and endeavour. I am in awe of these people and just know I would not have made the grade.

]]> By: scott https://taylorholmes.com/2018/05/12/how-close-to-the-actual-history-is-the-amazing-movie-the-12th-man/#comment-1136691 Mon, 27 Sep 2021 05:50:39 +0000 https://taylorholmes.com/?p=16046#comment-1136691 fair review .. but I was hoping for more of a detailed ‘unbelievable event to unbelievable event’ fact check

ie:
-Jan swam in 0° water for 20 minutes (true?)
-Jan dug himself out and walked x miles to safety (true ?)
-he walked up to the farm as German soldiers were still there and they failed to notice (have to believe that’s artistic license > from here on=)
-he saw the top of Stuge’s hat while hiding under the hay? ()
-sled parts hidden as part of boat (true?)
-reindeer dragging him .. in a herd !
-shot gun to scare said ‘Rudolf’ to drag him ?
– survived machine gun barrage as he crossed the border ?

maybe a few of my “” happened .. and wouldn’t I love to know ‼️

I know, I’m a critical viewer that attempts to suspend disbelief, but sometimes it’s a tad overwhelming …!

]]> By: Baba Blacksheep https://taylorholmes.com/2018/05/12/how-close-to-the-actual-history-is-the-amazing-movie-the-12th-man/#comment-1135995 Wed, 22 Sep 2021 17:17:11 +0000 https://taylorholmes.com/?p=16046#comment-1135995 This was generally a gripping movie even if it does require you to suspend disbelief over how important one useless man can be to the Nazi regime and how manically a German officer is willing to expend his resources on this man’s capture – many months after he would normally be forgotten. I’m not good with WW2 history but maybe the Germans in Norway just had nothing better to do. It doesn’t have the level of action you’ll see in a fictional movie like The Avengers of course, but this is a true story so they’d have to be idiots to put that kind of unbelievable crap in a movie like this right? Well I don’t want to spoil it for you but the filmmakers somehow thought it was a good idea to put a true deus ex machina ending on this thing. In my opinion this just ruins the whole movie and disrespects the memory of those who lost their lives just because God never smiled on them the way he did on the guy at the end. Ugh.

]]> By: Sarah https://taylorholmes.com/2018/05/12/how-close-to-the-actual-history-is-the-amazing-movie-the-12th-man/#comment-1110403 Sun, 21 Mar 2021 03:16:13 +0000 https://taylorholmes.com/?p=16046#comment-1110403 Whoa! Just watched this. It was sooo hard to watch due to it’s intensity, but I couldn’t stop and got family members to join in. What an inspiring man Jan was and all of the people that helped him to Sweden! The movie was an excellent portrayal of the extraordinary lengths humans will go to to overcome evil. Loved it and love this blog post about it.

]]> By: Paula https://taylorholmes.com/2018/05/12/how-close-to-the-actual-history-is-the-amazing-movie-the-12th-man/#comment-1101639 Sun, 17 Jan 2021 15:07:01 +0000 https://taylorholmes.com/?p=16046#comment-1101639 I came across your exceptional review while ‘googling’ how accurate the movie is compared to actual events. You explained it all very well. Jan was a human being who was heroic, and I appreciate that he was portrayed as such, and not as a superhero.
The 12th Man is a compelling story, with many layers of courage, love of country, defiance, and also evil. It is left to the audience to discover Jan became a symbol to the Norwegian resistance.
It would have been so ‘Hollywood’ to have Jan and Gudrun end up together, and I’m glad the movie kept to the truth.

]]>