Battles of WWII - 4 Movies

Rating:
Summary: You Get What You Pay For
Review: I just picked up the Brentwood / BCI Eclipse pack of BATTLES OF WWII today. This 2-disc set is a mixed bag, including: FIVE FOR HELL, THE BATTLE OF EL ALAMEIN, THE BATTLE OF THE LAST PANZER and HITLER'S SS: PORTRAIT IN EVIL

First of all, these movies are all relatively rare to find on videocassette, and it's a wonder they were released on DVD. The quality is below-par, but good enough for a budget DVD release and better than I expected on 2 of the movies, and average for the other two.

FIVE FOR HELL stars Gianni Garko and Klaus Kinski. The film is a rather zany look at commandos fighting the Nazis. It is obviously mastered from the LP-mode Video Treasures videocassette released in the late 1980s. There's one minor video glitch that I spotted, and the disc cuts off before the ending music finishes. There is still the problem of some German-language scenes in German with Italian subtitles, rather than English dubbing. However, the colors look pretty good (for a DVD mastered from an LP tape) and the sound is acceptable 2.0 Mono.

THE BATTLE OF THE LAST PANZER is an ultra low-budget war movie starring Guy Madison and Stelvio Rossi. Filmed in Spain, the movie follows a German tank back to friendly lines. While the movie is terrible as far as acting, dubbing and props go, the DVD is the best of the bunch. It is a solid transfer (also from a videotape) It's a little soft, but the colors are accurate and the print was in top notch condition. Again, decent 2.0 Mono sound.

THE BATTLE OF EL ALAMEIN stars Michael Rennie, George Hilton, Frederick Stafford and Robert Hossein. The film focuses on the important battle from the Italian, German and English points of view. The disc is a pretty bad transfer. It looks equal to the awful Congress videotape, except the entire movie is intact. (The Congress tape cuts 15 minutes of footage). The colors are awful and the print is full of holes, scratches, etc. Stick with the Marengo Films disc.

HITLER'S SS looks as bad as EL ALAMEIN. I have seen fine copies of this on TV - especially on Fox Movie Channel.

The set only cost me $10.00 Each disc contains two films, so at $2.50 a DVD I think you get a good deal. Nobody else is likely to release these movies on DVD in the near future.

Rating:
Summary: Average Military Movies
Review: I totally agree with the first reviewer in the sense that you truly get what you pay for in this set. With the set being so inexpensive (I paid $5.99 for it at a Best Buy store in CA) I have very, few complaints. All movies are full-screen.

THE BATTLE OF EL ALAMEIN - Italian production, English dubbed. I actually enjoyed this picture the most because it had the most action. Compared to the rest of the collection, the military battles are based on a larger, tactical scale. Since this is an Italian production, the movie is very pro-Italian as it sympathizes the Italian brigade that is practically abandoned by the German army during General Romell's retreat.

FIVE FOR HELL - Italian production, English dubbed. Reminesent of many popular "mission" war movies in the 70's FIVE FOR HELL is the story of a US commando unit sent deep into enemy lines. I have to admit, I never saw commandos that bring a trampoline set with them, but they use it resourcefully. They use it to the point that the movie starts to look a little ridiculous as US commandos fight Nazis while doing flips and sumer-saults like some kind of traveling circus. The comical music which is played constantly during the movie gets annoying at times. The part that confused me the most was when the US commandos used Nazi uniforms for most of the mission, but when they got closer to their objective in the final scenes, they switched back to their American uniforms???

THE LAST PANZER - I really thought this was the worst movie of the group. Like most war movies, German tanks are actually American tanks painted with German colors, but the opening scene confused me a bit because the Germans and Americans were fighting each other with the same kind of tanks (American Pattons). The rest of the movie is about a single, surviving Panzer going back to German lines with a somewhat, disgruntled tank crew. I guess the only thing I really liked about this movie was the sexy actress, Erna Schurer who plays a French civilian who falls in love with the Panzer commander. It looked awkward seeing her ride inside a tank with four desperate looking German soldiers.

HITLER'S SS - British production. Although this movie contained the least violence, I found it to be the most interesting, but I had to keep in mind that this is a British interpretation German Nazis. Fans of the TV series "The Odd Couple" may recognize actor Tony Randall who plays a minor role as a German comedian for a traveling singer act. The movie follows the life of two German brothers that slowly become absorbed into the German Nazi power during its rise prior to World War II. One brother joins the elite SS as an assistant to a key figure, while the more trouble brother (because of his political, personal beliefs) is sent to the Eastern front. A third, younger brother eventually joins the Hitler Youth. It's a tragic movie from the German family's point of view, as the brothers' bond to each other continues to decade while the Nazi party begins to unravel.

Rating:
Summary: Average Military Movies
Review: I totally agree with the first reviewer in the sense that you truly get what you pay for in this set. With the set being so inexpensive (I paid $5.99 for it at a Best Buy store in CA) I have very, few complaints. All movies are full-screen.

THE BATTLE OF EL ALAMEIN - Italian production, English dubbed. I actually enjoyed this picture the most because it had the most action. Compared to the rest of the collection, the military battles are based on a larger, tactical scale. Since this is an Italian production, the movie is very pro-Italian as it sympathizes the Italian brigade that is practically abandoned by the German army during General Romell's retreat.

FIVE FOR HELL - Italian production, English dubbed. Reminesent of many popular "mission" war movies in the 70's FIVE FOR HELL is the story of a US commando unit sent deep into enemy lines. I have to admit, I never saw commandos that bring a trampoline set with them, but they use it resourcefully. They use it to the point that the movie starts to look a little ridiculous as US commandos fight Nazis while doing flips and sumer-saults like some kind of traveling circus. The comical music which is played constantly during the movie gets annoying at times. The part that confused me the most was when the US commandos used Nazi uniforms for most of the mission, but when they got closer to their objective in the final scenes, they switched back to their American uniforms???

THE LAST PANZER - I really thought this was the worst movie of the group. Like most war movies, German tanks are actually American tanks painted with German colors, but the opening scene confused me a bit because the Germans and Americans were fighting each other with the same kind of tanks (American Pattons). The rest of the movie is about a single, surviving Panzer going back to German lines with a somewhat, disgruntled tank crew. I guess the only thing I really liked about this movie was the sexy actress, Erna Schurer who plays a French civilian who falls in love with the Panzer commander. It looked awkward seeing her ride inside a tank with four desperate looking German soldiers.

HITLER'S SS - British production. Although this movie contained the least violence, I found it to be the most interesting, but I had to keep in mind that this is a British interpretation German Nazis. Fans of the TV series "The Odd Couple" may recognize actor Tony Randall who plays a minor role as a German comedian for a traveling singer act. The movie follows the life of two German brothers that slowly become absorbed into the German Nazi power during its rise prior to World War II. One brother joins the elite SS as an assistant to a key figure, while the more trouble brother (because of his political, personal beliefs) is sent to the Eastern front. A third, younger brother eventually joins the Hitler Youth. It's a tragic movie from the German family's point of view, as the brothers' bond to each other continues to decade while the Nazi party begins to unravel.