vic-thorn

I am proud to have served in the Parachute Regiment and over a period of 12 years was operational in Northern Ireland for 8 of them. I make no comparison to the war in Iraq, although considering the number of soldiers and police killed by bomb and bullet, I can see many similarities. What I can say is that the Paratrooper of my day 1970 on is exactly the same as the paratroopers portrayed in this film and of course those before us, we stand on the shoulders of giants. You may ask what defines a British Paratrooper, incredibly fit, well trained and with an optimistic confidence second to none, plus of course one final element, one which is at the heart and soul of their existence, humour. This has been a factor for British soldiers for many years, that even in the darkest of situations, the jokes will flow, the laughs will be heard and we fight on, with the Paras it is even more so. I have lost many brothers through bombs and bullets and never a day comes to mind when I do not think of them. I have tried to watch this film on Numerous occasions and although the start is slow as soon as things start to happen, I break. Goddamn it! I know how it ends and yet I cannot face it, these actors who portray my brothers, do it so well, that I find my empathy crashing in on me and I weep, I want to be there, I want to help. Maybe one day I will be able to see it through, but not yet. For sheer realism the representation of a British Paratrooper's psyche, this cannot be beaten. Utrinque Paratus always.

Now don't get me wrong, I have always been an avid fan of Terence Hill and Bud Spencer, but this is a film that does not fit their talents. What made the two so popular was their chemistry on screen, with either playing the idiot at times but it works. That is not the case here, which is a great pity, this film could have been so much more, so what was wrong? Palli lost his way, he could not make his mind up whether this film was going to be a comedy or a drama, unfortunately because of this the film suffers. I have seen Hill play austere parts before, but always there are moments that have shown his humanity and his humour. This movie lacks this, in fact i felt uncomfortable with the character, who seemed to show no appreciation for his crew or the risks they ran for him and even the 20 second speech at the end of the film did little to change that. Bud Spencer, like Terence Hill is an accomplished comedy actor and I firmly believe that he was not comfortable playing this role. His lines could have just as easily been read from a newspaper and his interaction with Hill during negotiations were lacklustre and dull. The reason I have given this film 5 is that it did have some saving graces, mainly the characters that were the crew. Each had special skills, which did interest me and of course George martin who saved the movie from being a complete dirge. Had Hill's character been more like the swashbuckling Errol Flynn type and had there been more interaction between Hill and Spencer, this could have been a great movie.