The Rat Patrol

When one thinks of the chaotic whirlwind that was the 1960s, the mind usually drifts toward the psychedelic kaleidoscope of Haight-Ashbury or the smoky dives of Greenwich Village. But in 1966, while the rest of the world was busy getting high and railing against The Man, a renegade quartet of war-hardened ruffians burst onto our television screens in The Rat Patrol.

This wasn't just another WWII drama. No, it was a blazing, gas-guzzling, Nazi-smashing fever dream that could only come from the minds of TV producers high on the fumes of gasoline and heroism. Each episode a manic burst of courage, camaraderie, and pure unadulterated action. Picture this: four men in jeeps, tearing through the North African desert like a band of berserk jackrabbits, with every dune concealing danger, death, and the occasional explosive twist.

The lead man, Sergeant Sam Troy, with his chiseled jaw and unflinching eyes, became a beacon of rugged American masculinity. This wasn't your clean-cut war hero - Troy was gritty, raw, and ready to bite the head off a snake if it meant getting his men through the next firefight. His compatriots - Moffitt, Tully, and Hitchcock - each brought their own flavor of madness to the mix. Together, they were less a squad and more a sandstorm of vengeance, hell-bent on dismantling the Nazi war machine one ambush at a time.

Cinematography? Don't get me started. The desert landscapes were captured in such stark, unflinching detail that you could almost feel the grit in your teeth. Every explosion rattled the screen, and the chase scenes - oh, those magnificent chases - were pure, adrenaline-soaked poetry.

And the sound design, a symphony of gunfire, roaring engines, and the occasional witty quip, was the perfect backdrop for this visual assault. You didn't just watch The Rat Patrol; you were thrust into the chaos, with bullets whizzing past your ears and the hot desert wind stinging your face.

The Rat Patrol wasn't just a TV series; it was a cultural bullet, a reminder that in the face of tyranny, a handful of determined men could wreak absolute havoc. In a time when the world seemed to be losing its mind, this show was a glorious, unabashed celebration of courage and tenacity.

Here's to The Rat Patrol, a series that didn't just march to the beat of its own drum - it drove a jeep over it, guns blazing, middle fingers raised. An absolute must-watch for anyone who appreciates the beautiful, chaotic mess that is guerilla warfare on primetime TV.

**9/10 - A rollicking ride through the sands of time, with a shot of adrenaline and a chaser of gunpowder.**

To disagree with a previous post, The Rat Patrol was filmed in color. As a mater of fact, the tag before the show aired showed a background of the two jeeps roaring through the desert with The Rat Patrol -- In Color superimposed on the shot. Being that it was filmed in 1966-1968, color was one of the selling points of the series -- hence all those wonderful shots of military half tracks and trucks blowing up in huge fireballs. (Combat was aired in black and white. ) As for the show itself, it wasn't so bad. Sure, some of the scripts were kind of escapist. However, there were several episodes that were well done. One involved Sergeant Jack Moffitt (Gary Raymond) coming to grips with the death of his brother; other episode teamed the Rat Patrol up with the Germans a couple of times. Once they had to save a little girl who fell into a well, and another time Americans and Germans had to fend off an Arab tribe attacking them in some kind of old ruins in the middle of the desert.

Anyway, point being the show was escapist, but is still on the air today. WGN in Chicago airs the show sometimes and other outlets air it, too.

I remember watching this show on the air in the 60's as a child. It was a highlight of the week. There are comments made that this show is not very authentic. Of course it is not authentic. It is just for entertainment. It has the same qualities as a Western where the hero shoots all the bad guys using the gun that shoots 100 rounds without reloading. I laughed so hard when I saw the episode when Troy throws a tiny vile of ether at a German truck about half a block and the truck blows up. Or the times that they will karate chop someone with one blow and that person is "out". That is cartoon style but who cares. It is still great entertainment.

I hate it when people take a show like Rat Patrol, and try to show how smart they are when it comes to being a critic. It wasn't intended to win awards, or be a dramatic masterpiece. One of these reviews used the term escapism, like that single fact makes this show a disgrace. Well, that happens to be why I love this show, and many others from the the 50's, 60's, and 70's. This was before the loosely used term "reality TV", was even close to being thought of. I like to turn on the TV and be entertained by a simple show, that knows it's there to entertain me and take me away for awhile.As a kid I used to stay up until mid-night in the late 70's to watch Rat Patrol. I grew up in the D/FW(Texas) area, and this used to come on after the local Saturday Night Wrestling. And I had a little 13in. black&white TV. I loved it. And now I have both sets of DVD's and I'm over joyed that it's in color! So long live the Rat Patrol!!!

I am a child of the seventies having grown up in and around the time and as a kid I can remember this being on in the afternoon and played on Saturday afternoon's. Two of my earliest best friends in this world were named Korey and Coy and we would watch this with great enthusiasm being only age 7 to 9 years old. My father at the time owned a jeep and after the show aired we would go outside and play the Rat Patrol. I always seemed to pick Tully to play because he always drove the jeep and we would spend an hour or two just making up our own adventures as we went along. My memories of this are quite strong when I still watch this series as it reflects a time when I had no worries in the world. I am not a violent person because of this series even for all the explosions and gun play it just makes feel good to watch it and because of that it truly is one of my favorite series of all time.