I was looking forward to seeing this film as I am a big fan of WWII movies but this film was a big letdown. It is hard to know where to start and whether I should waste any more time commenting on a film that has already wasted nearly 3 hours of my life.
What we have here is what seems to be a buddy movie. A group of friends having a whale of a time on holiday in Europe during WWII. I know that sounds ridiculous but thats how the movie feels. The starkness and harsh reality of war is not what you see in this movie, war almost seems like fun. Of course not for the minor characters who keep ending up dead but for the principal characters it is all just a laugh.
The dialogues is terrible and full of clichés. I know many war movies are riddled with clichés but its not just that. The dialogues is just absurd at times. And all the characters are just walking clichés, especially the European characters. The Italians are typically over the top. Children and old grandmothers are sweet and innocent. These are just a couple of examples.
All the sub-plots in the film are completely ridiculous. Children for some reason seem to be attracted to Lee Marvin's character like he is the kiddy snatcher from chitty chitty bang bang bearing gifts of sweeties. Germans fall out of line by telling their commanding officers how much they hate Hitler until their predictable execution. The whole ridiculous birth scene inside a tank is done in very bad taste. Then you have a young Hitler youth who has killed some American G.I's and then has his trousers pulled down and spanked.
The beach scene when the Americans arrive in North Africa is probably the most ridiculous scene I have ever seen in a war movie. They start off fighting the French Vichy soldiers and as soon as the Vichy commander is killed the french troops surrender and then run over to embrace the Americans.
As you have seen I have mostly just tried to state things as they actually happen and not give my personal opinion. You don't need to give opinions to show how absurd this film is, just stating what happens illustrates enough.
Also there seem to be many homosexual innuendos in the film. Nothing wrong with that but they are very bizarre. I could go on and on here, I could talk about the terrible acting, the stupid plot and the historical inaccuracies but I will save it.
If you like to hear things go BANG ! and see a bit of blood and guts then this is the movie for you. If however you want a movie with just a little substance to it then please do yourself a favour and avoid this awful movie.
I know my review might be a little incoherent in style but I just wanted to quickly get this off my chest before going to bed. This is the first time I have written a review and that is because I have never felt so strongly about a films shortcomings as much as I did for this film.
I know the director Fuller served in WWII, but that doesn't prove anything. I respect his bravery in serving his country during WWII but as a director I have no respect for him. This is simply one of the worst films I have ever seen.
What we have here is what seems to be a buddy movie. A group of friends having a whale of a time on holiday in Europe during WWII. I know that sounds ridiculous but thats how the movie feels. The starkness and harsh reality of war is not what you see in this movie, war almost seems like fun. Of course not for the minor characters who keep ending up dead but for the principal characters it is all just a laugh.
The dialogues is terrible and full of clichés. I know many war movies are riddled with clichés but its not just that. The dialogues is just absurd at times. And all the characters are just walking clichés, especially the European characters. The Italians are typically over the top. Children and old grandmothers are sweet and innocent. These are just a couple of examples.
All the sub-plots in the film are completely ridiculous. Children for some reason seem to be attracted to Lee Marvin's character like he is the kiddy snatcher from chitty chitty bang bang bearing gifts of sweeties. Germans fall out of line by telling their commanding officers how much they hate Hitler until their predictable execution. The whole ridiculous birth scene inside a tank is done in very bad taste. Then you have a young Hitler youth who has killed some American G.I's and then has his trousers pulled down and spanked.
The beach scene when the Americans arrive in North Africa is probably the most ridiculous scene I have ever seen in a war movie. They start off fighting the French Vichy soldiers and as soon as the Vichy commander is killed the french troops surrender and then run over to embrace the Americans.
As you have seen I have mostly just tried to state things as they actually happen and not give my personal opinion. You don't need to give opinions to show how absurd this film is, just stating what happens illustrates enough.
Also there seem to be many homosexual innuendos in the film. Nothing wrong with that but they are very bizarre. I could go on and on here, I could talk about the terrible acting, the stupid plot and the historical inaccuracies but I will save it.
If you like to hear things go BANG ! and see a bit of blood and guts then this is the movie for you. If however you want a movie with just a little substance to it then please do yourself a favour and avoid this awful movie.
I know my review might be a little incoherent in style but I just wanted to quickly get this off my chest before going to bed. This is the first time I have written a review and that is because I have never felt so strongly about a films shortcomings as much as I did for this film.
I know the director Fuller served in WWII, but that doesn't prove anything. I respect his bravery in serving his country during WWII but as a director I have no respect for him. This is simply one of the worst films I have ever seen.
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