BATTLE OF THE COMMANDOS (1969)
DIRECTOR:
Umberto Lenzi
CAST:
Jack Palance, Thomas Hunter, Roberto Undari, Wolfgang Preiss, Helmut Schneider, Diana Lorys, Guido Lollobrigida, Franco Fantasia, Aldo Sambrell, Bruno Corazzari, Curd Jurgens.
REVIEW:
Whether you’re a fan of low-budget Italian cinema or war films, you’ve doubtlessly heard the name of director Umberto Lenzi. If you haven’t, I would suggest seeking out at least one of his films, because he has an original and unique style, vital for understanding both genres. If you like low-budget Italian movies or war films, then “Battle of the Commandos” will be a real treat, even though it is probably one of the worst films I’ve ever seen – regardless of genre. This is unfortunate, because his first effort, “Desert Commandos” (released in 1967) showed marvelous potential.
Lenzi’s second war film is, for all intents and purposes, a combination of three classic war movies: the indestructible artillery and impossible mission theme of “The Guns of Navarone”; the rivalry between Allied and Axis extremists, not to mention the central steam engine of “The Train”; and the now-familiar anti-hero characters of “The Dirty Dozen”.
The story focuses on a band of British ex-cons, who are recruited by Scottish Colonel MacPherson (Jack Palance, “Attack”) to clear a path for British commandos through a minefield off the Normandy coast on the night of June 4th, 1944. When the commando force is ambushed by a German PT Boat, MacPherson becomes obsessed with taking on their mission: destroy a huge railroad gun which threatens the imminent Allied landings, which happens to be commanded by his nemesis, Colonel Ackerman (Wolfgang Preiss, “Von Ryan's Express”), much to the dismay of his “unit”.
Lenzi is essentially working from three pre-established stories, so he doesn’t take much time to develop his story. This is a fast-paced movie about a bunch of guys on the run, racing against the clock to complete their mission. The characters are never really fleshed out, but for a low-budget action film, they’ve got more dimensionality than we’ve come to expect.
Palance never makes a very convincing leader. At his best, he tries to be human, but always returns to being a tough bully. He’s got a mission and will stop at nothing to accomplish it, even though it means the death of just about everyone under his command. On one hand, he has a responsibility to save Allied lives by destroying the railroad gun, but his real goal is always, clearly, personal prejudice, and it’s not admirable.
What’s more admirable are the attitudes of his men: Guido Lollobrigida (“Commando Attack”) is one of the ex-cons, who realizes the error of his ways and is now willing to fight because his duty is to his country. Helmut Schneider (“The Dirty Heroes”) is excellent in a very under-developed part of a humanitarian, who can’t agree with MacPherson but goes along because he’s a concentration camp survivor and wants vengeance. Thomas Hunter (“Anzio”) is fun to watch as an American captain who got conned into the mission because of his specialty in demolitions. At first, he’s a coward who wants to be back at a desk job chasing girls, but proves his courage under fire more than once. Roberto Undari and Bruno Corazzari are the rebels of the group, who are constantly bickering with MacPherson, but always stick with him because they know he is their only chance for surviving behind enemy territory. That’s where the depth hits rock bottom. Every time men threaten to abandon the mission, MacPherson simply yells and threatens to shoot them, and the discussion is over. There’s not much moral drama to be explored, and once the point is made, it’s dropped and Lenzi moves on to more important things.
Don’t let me mislead you – this is an action movie and is not meant to be anything more, but substance and character are necessary to make the action have an impact. On the action level alone, Lenzi fails miserably – though not as badly as he would years later in the infamous “Bridge to Hell”. Working with a low budget this time around, Lenzi and his production crew obviously couldn’t afford much in the way of pyrotechnics or extras, and as director, Lenzi tries to cover this up – and doesn’t do a very good job. The many combat scenes consist of skirmishes between small bands of men, a dozen or so at the most, and consist mainly of quick zoom-ins, frequent cutting and rapid shift of focus. This is often confusing and dizzying, and makes the action move far too quickly. It’s too much information thrown out too fast, and looks pretty pathetic on top of that.
The limits of the budget are also obvious in the sets. There are not many interiors, and when we do go inside a house or German office building, they’re shabbily furnished. Lenzi keeps his focus on the actors so that you don’t notice right away that their surroundings don’t look too convincing. Many exteriors - particularly near the end of the picture – are set in southern France, but were obviously shot in Spain. Instead of forests or lush fields, we see desolate sand mounds and bare, rocky hills all over the place. As far as costumes and props go, Lenzi also fails to make his movie look authentic. Most of the Germans wear uniforms of artillery troops, often with ill-fitting jackets or helmets. They are armed primarily with Beretta submachine guns, a weapon developed by the Italians. Finally, Miniature work is below-par, too, but fortunately this flaw is limited to a single shot during the climax.
On the plus side, Armando Travajoli provides an energetic score which adds to the tension and fast pace. This film is always moving, and there is never a wasted moment: every action, every line, every glance contributes to the story. That is the glue holding this mess together. Lenzi does manage to execute the finale quite well, too. The German train yard looks quite bustling and official, and the battle between the Allied commandos and German soldiers on the train is tense and nail-biting. It’s a pity that Lenzi has to ruin this victorious spirit by throwing in a muddled anti-war statement for the film’s conclusion.
“Battle of the Commandos” is a satisfying action yarn, but offers little besides some enjoyable, pulpy 90 minutes of pure adventure. Despite poor execution, the familiar supporting cast of Italian and German character-actors offers some good turns and provide enough energy to keep the film moving through the final scenes.
SGT. SLAUGHTER'S RATING:
2 Bullets
