In the North African desert , there World War II was just ending , appearing a German tank commanded by Gen. Ernst Beimler (Lloyd Bridges gives a mesmerizing acting) and along the way gun down most of British soldiers around . Then , there are two survivors of a down plane and the revenge-minded General carries on his own war , no matter what the cost to himself . Two airmen survive and return to a relentless manhunt . Beimler's war is about to begin from a settlement on the hot desert Sahara . An Encounter Against Death...In the Realities of a damaged American fighter plane that is unable to take off and being mercelessly pursued by a Nazi Tank . An unique look at the African campaigns' experience sympathetically told for both sides . You can escape from everything but justice. The Cause: freedom. The enemy: The world's deadliest fighting revenger. There is no room in a tank for a conscience. War brings out the beast in every man.
Thrilling and exciting screenplay concerning an obsessive General with an eagerly determination to seek vendetta on two fliers , even after he learns the war in North Africa has just ended , while the desperate and wounded allied pilots of a crippled airplane attempt to evade and destroy a pursuing Nazi tank . The tyrannical and increasingly unstable tank commander General Beimler pushes the moral boundaries of the tank drivers to the limits , with almost dire consequences . Interesting and moving script , saddling some nice action scenes at the ending , when it takes place a relentless final confrontation between the plane and tank , specially in the last reel . Sensational acting by Lloyd Bridges as the stubborn General who gunned down all around and seeks revenge when his garrison is defeated by the British under command of General Montgomery . However , his extreme obsession with desire for vengeance upon the Americans isn't believable , but the moments that click make the movie more than worthwhile . This character about an avenger who seeks revenge on those who previously vanquished him bears remarkable resemblance to ¨Captain Ahab's Moby Dick'¨ by Herman Melville and following a similar premise to ¨Murphy's War¨(1971) by Peter Yates and subsequent ¨The Beast of War¨(1988) by Kevin Reynolds . Filmmaker Rich delivers a professional direction , as he really had a talent for directing actors and getting the most out of them and with special mention for Lloyd Bridges .Other important players appearing and providing nice interpretations are the following ones : Roy Thinnes, Eric Braeden , the future comedian actor/director Dennis Dugan , and Doug McClure as a good-tempered flyer,
It contains magnificent color cinematography on location in desert and barren outdoors. Adequate as well as stirring musical score by Mooney and Milton Rosen. The motion picture was compelling and splendidly directed by under-rated producer and filmmaker of the 1960s and 1970s movies called David Lowell Rich . He was a prolific television director, an expert at made-for-TV movies in the 1970's and worked briefly at Columbia during the late 50's. Rich directed a lot of TV films and movies,
such as : Northeast of Seoul , Bolt , A lovely way to die, Chu Chu and the Philly Flash , School for Girls , The Sex symbol, The Chadwick Family , Runaway , Convicted and many others . In the 1960s he directed episodes of several cult TV shows including Mission Impossible , and one episode of The Twilight Zone . In the 1970s he got caught up in the disaster movie craze by putting out atleast five disaster films, four for TV , such as : The Concorde...Airport '79 and Horror At 37,000 Feet (1973) combined a flight disaster with supernatural events and wonderful over-acting from William Shatner, most of them failed at boxoffice . However, all the above films, including The Concorde...Airport '79, are fun to watch and , unlike some other films of the disaster genre, were never tiring . Rating : 7.5/10 . Better than average warlike film . Worthwhile watching .
