Sgt. Sullivan of the US Army has trained a platoon of Italian-American misfits for a dangerous North African mission. They must pose as Italians to infiltrate the Italian/German ranks. His authority is suddenly undermined by the inexperienced Captain Valli, who takes command of his troop for the duration of the mission. When the soldiers are thrust into action, Sullivan and Valli struggle to work together to achieve their objective. They will be forced to put their differences aside to lead their "green" young troops to victory, but how can they coexist in the brutality of war?
J**.
Old Skool Combat! Tension & Great Cast
My main reason for checking this out was Lee Van Cleef ("The Best of the Bad"). However, this film really succeeds like the Spaghetti Westerns of the time (hence Van Cleef). There is serious drama & tension between the 2 main charachters that kept me glued to this film. Aside from that, the action is good & has a good plot.'Commandos' takes a few detours, but they blend into the storyline to keep continuity without so much 'linearity'. Another thig it did which I liked was that it portrayed pretty much everyone without trying to make us sympathize with men whose main purpose in the war was to fight in comabt & ultimately kill (except for the Hooker, Adriana...the gorgeous Marilu Tolu!). Each of the sides (U.S., Italians & Nazis) was kind of equally portrayed as soldiers just doing their jobs, who would fight for their comrades. This wasn't a typical 'rah-rah' pro-American 'We Won!' kind of film. Again, it was like a Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Western set in WWII North Africa. It was dark, UNsympathetic & didn't glorify the death & destruction. The end of the film was a good testament to that.Being made in 1970, it is easy for us to laugh at the deficiencies in this film, namely that there was no attempt to incorporate Italian & German language into the action (as most films of today would take pains to do). Back then, it was just untderstood that everyone spoke English with perhaps a slight accent! LOL. However, given that the film had a lot going on, sometimes it just has to be 'understood' that everyone understands each other's language. THis aspect of the film did, at times, add to the difficulty of trying to figure out who was who. More cnnfusion came about because most of the characters were incognito as Italian soldiers, everyone wore very similar khakis, all looked Italian-American (except for Van Cleef &a few of the Nazis).And, as a goofy kind of unanswered plot question...which shouldn't really have anything to do with the end of the story is 'what happened to the lovely Adriana?In the end, though, this is a film worth watching if you're in the mood for something more honest than today's 'over-engineered' films which contort to mean more than they are. If you dig 'real-men in combat' or Spaghetti Weterns, I think this is for you....especially if you are a fan of Lee van Cleef.
A**S
and very average at best. What sets Commandos apart from the rest is ...
Most Italian war movies of the '60s & '70s were about some commando squad mission, as is this one, and very average at best. What sets Commandos apart from the rest is a good, building tension throughout the film that makes for more than the usual "will they reach the objective and shoot it out" vibe. The performances are all good, as is most of the technical aspects, except the model plane at the beginning, which is sub-standard even for a giant monster movie. My one question is whatever happened to the prostitute.
G**8
Decent war movie with some humanity thrown in
Lot of action and interesting plot.
C**A
Four Stars
Good war movie.Loved the ending.
E**B
Pass the time
Good enough to pass time but don't expect a great film
R**K
Three Stars
Just ok
R**R
Four Stars
good movie
M**S
dont rent it
n at all
G**S
Besser als die deutsche DVD-Fassung ... aber auch nicht der große Wurf
"Himmelfahrtskommando El Alamein" ist ein ungewöhnlicher Kriegsfilm mit einem total gegen den Strich (aber hervorragend!) besetzten Joachim Fuchsberger. Leider ist die deutsche DVD zum einen stark geschnitten (alte deutsche Kinofassung, in der zahlreiche Szenen mit Lee van Cleef und Joachim Fuchsberger fehlen), zum anderen ist insbesondere die Tonqualität unter aller Kanone. Daher hoffte ich, mit der französischen Fassung besser zu fahren. Teilweise ist dies auch zutreffend. Viele der in der deutschen Fassung fehlenden Szenen mit Lee van Cleef sind enthalten. Die fehlenden Szenen aus dem deutschen Lager fehlen leider auch hier. Zu meinem Leidwesen hat der Verleih auf eine US- oder deutsche Tonspur verzichtet. Es gibt "nur" die französische Synchronsition zu bewundern, allerdings wahlweise mit englischen Untertiteln. Für Fans des Films eine gute und günstige Anschaffung, aber leider immer noch nicht die vollständige Fassung.
H**E
Impeccable.
Impeccable. Merci !
M**E
c est un tres beau film de guerre avec lee van cliff
j ai bien aimer ce grand film de guerre avec lee van cliff je me suis regalé en regardent ce film merci
B**S
commandos
- I was aware of the existence of this movie, but never saw it before.- The story or plot is good, but 5 minutes of action in the beginning and 5 minutes of action at the end, where everyone dies.- I find that the time in between without action is to long.- Sometimes bad image quality, or something wrong with my eyes.
G**5
De la bolognaise dans le désert
Film de guerre spaghetti, avec plein de sauce sanglante, l'immense Lee Van Cleef, un scénar classique mais qui réserve de sacrées surprises (la fin, surtout).Pas loin de "Too late the heroes" et de "play dirty" (mais en troisième position quand même)