KILL ROMMEL! (1969)
DIRECTOR: Alfonso Brescia
CAST: Anton Diffring, Carl Parker, Ugo Adinolfi, John Bartha, Giuseppe Castellano, Luciano Catenacci and Renato Romano.
REVIEW: Brash American Lt. Morris (Carl Parker) joins a British commando unit led by authoritative Capt. Morris (Anton Diffring) The two hate eachother and must cooperate on a mission to KILL ROMMEL!
Well, it's not as exciting as it seems. Alfonso Brescia can get a great cast and a decent crew together and work really hard -- and the result is always a piece of trash.
The movie rips off BATTLE OF EL ALAMEIN whenever possible, from men planting fake maps of minefields to German war conferences that are based virtually shot-for-shot. The movie really has little to do with killing Rommel, as the first twenty minutes doesn't matter too much to the rest of the film. The subplot involving Diffring's wife (Pamela Tudor from SUICIDE COMMANDO) only lasts about five minutes. Once the men embark to kill Rommel, but they predictably get the wrong guy and must set off toward their own lines.
The acting is so bad, especially on the part of Carl Parker (who's appeared in a mere 4 films), that the whole third act -- a trek across barren desert to friendly lines -- never comes across as desperate. To top it all off, Brescia and his writing crew try to throw in some antiwar sentiment in the last five minutes and fail miserably, leaving the audience with a very unsatisfying ending.
At least I kept my eyes open for one thing -- familiar actors. This film has a ton of memorable faces! Ugo Adinolfi (THE BATTLE OF EL ALAMEIN) has a small part as a British Colonel, Who isn't really important at all; Giuseppe Castellano (BATTLE FORCE) and Renato Romano (THE WAR DEVILS) have medium-sized roles as British commandos. Even Tom Felleghy (HORNETS' NEST) has a minor part as a British General, and watch quickly for Luciano Catenacci as an Italian soldier who's truck gets heisted by the commandos.
There are a few good action sequences (but nearly enough). The one with a carload of Brit commandos shooting up an Arab village is well-shot and tightly edited, making for some very tense action.
The Chinese VCD is of reasonably good quality. The credits are presented in 2.35:1 widescreen, and the rest of the movie is fullscreen 1.33:1. The print is free of damage but panning shots are a little blurry and the image is often far too bright. There are obligatory Chinese subtitles.
All in all, a pretty dull and worthless flick with nothing to offer except a few familiar actors.
SGT. SLAUGHTER'S RATING: 2 Bullets
