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RECON is a feature film written and based on author Richard Bausch's best-selling novel "Peace." The story was based on a true event of Bausch's father, who was instructed to kill an Italian soldier after a recon mission. Bausch's father decided against it, and a story was born.

Writer and director Rob Port read about Bausch's book before it was released and called his agent to secure rights. "I always loved and was fascinated with World War II. My grandfather fought in the war, and so I grew up with a lot of his stories."

Port reached out to Maury Povich, who signed on immediately to support Port's direction as Executive Producer, and Rick Dugdale joined as producer.

"My grandfather fought in the war, and I always envisioned one day making a story about World War II," Dugdale said. "Looking at Rob's adaptation and the vision that he wanted to make was very much in line with the story I wanted to tell."

Povich was also moved by the story and the purpose. "After Pearl Harbor, there wasn't a soul in the United States who didn't believe that we should respond by joining the effort against Japan and Germany."

Dugdale helped get the production off the ground in British Columbia, Canada, where the film was shot in the winter, depicting severe weather conditions endured in Europe during World War II. The weather showed up as a surprise character in the film, with the production battling below zero temperatures in the mountaintops of the Canadian bush.

"Despite the cold, the scenery was beautiful," said Italian acting legend Franco Nero, who plays Angelo. It was like we were really there, not just making a movie. Hiding, wondering, cold as hell."

Visual Effects Supervisor, Peter Mattsson explains the challenge in post-production as they had to build all the jets and tanks in post.

"I've always found wartime dramas to be especially moving for me because the stakes are so high. It's always life and death," adds actor and executive producer, Alexander Ludwig. "It's always interesting to explore the humanity behind something like that."

Ludwig adds, "A lot of this film is about characters dealing with two sides of themselves and trying to find themselves through the journey."

While the storyline focuses on the men fighting the frontlines, Port also weaves in a storyline showing the impact on the wives of these military men. Christie Burke, who plays Greta, talks about her experience with working on the movie. "RECON definitely gave me immense insight into what it was like to be an unarmed, vulnerable woman during World War II," she says. "But even that doesn't (allow me to) fully grasp what these women went through."

Production Designer Tink took a big picture approach to setting up the camp, creating depth with placement of the tents nestled between the mountain landscape. The production also tried to hone in on specific details that would help set the story in World War II Europe. "There was a lot of research for what the regiments were in Monte Cassino at that time - their vehicles, their wardrobe, the graphics, and the equipment that they had," Tink said.

Sound designer Ken Skoglund's approach with sound design was to create an emotional claustrophobic feeling that played throughout the movie as an undercurrent to continue the suspense throughout the storyline. "Anything can happen at any time, they don't know who is the enemy, who is the friend."

Bausch is thrilled seeing his book come to life on screen. "I think it's a stunning piece of work," he said. "Every single frame of it is beautiful, I could not have been happier. There are sections of it where I think it's going beyond the book."

"The story explores the themes I find most important in life - morality, friendship, love, life and death. And I just wanted to honor Richard's work." Port added, "The most important is morality because without it, it's like being lost in the woods without a compass."