Commandos

(1968) Commandos DUBBED SPAGHETTI WAR

Co-written and directed by Armando Crispino During WWII when Mussolini was in power and still had an army, a group of Italian Americans are selected to partake a dangerous mission whereas they were to take over a fort guarded by Italian soldiers working alongside with the Nazis, and then wait for more US armed soldiers to show up! Lee Van Cleef also stars as the troubled captain.

One of the major problems with Spaghetti Westerns and Spaghetti War films has a lot to do with it's budget, and this one is no exception, whereas Sergio Leone makes scenes look very theatrically credible with it's close- ups and camera angles- this film lacks common sense with a lack of charisma leading to predictable results.

Who would of thought that a low budget Italian/U.S. war drama with no big stars would be one of the best films of 1968? Certainly not me. I saw "Commandos" on the budget video shelf in a closeout store. The price was right ($.99) and it said "Letterboxed Edition" on it. So I figured, it's less than the price of a rental, so why not?

What surprised me is what an exciting and thoughtful film this was. In an era of glamourized war films (The syrupy "McConnell Story" and ludricous "Sands of Iwo Jima" come to mind), a gritty film like "Commandos" is a real pleasure indeed.

It stars Lee Van Cleef, who you may remember from "A Few Dollars More" and "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly." He was sort of the Harvey Keitel of that time, an actor who took risks and made unconventional films for the time. This is one of his very best performances. How many actors other than Lee Marvin would take such a risky role? He is heroic, but not by choice.

The plot is not really important. It's your standard search and decease mission film that's been used many times before and after. What makes "Commandos" special is its' focus on two things: mind boggling action sequences and characterizations.

I would like to make everyone aware that for a budget video copy, the video transfer is excellent. The colors are vibrant, the sound is exceptional and the full CinemaScope image (2.35:1)is very revealing in its' compositions. Front Row Entertainment has made this one in a series of films that include "Zulu", the two Chinese made Bruce Lee films "Fists of Fury" and "The Chinese Connection" and the Jackie Chan epic "Drunken Master" ("Legend of Drunken Master" is the sequel)that get the full letterbox treatment. Congratulations are in order and I hope I see more in the series.

"Commandos" is one of those films that either grab you or they don't. It grabbed me. It was not destined to receive any Oscar nods, but since when does Hollywood ever honor a truly deserving film. Look at this year's winner, "Gladiator". I rest my case.

**** out of 4 stars

I too picked up Commandos in the budget bin. The movie itself was decent...acting a bit over the top from some of the players, the plot very predictable, and the ending a bit smarmy, intent on teaching us a nice lesson about the horrors of war.

The worst part of the film were the technical details. The US Army dropping paratrooper commandos behind enemy lines prior to Operation Torch (factual error... US Airborne troops were no where near ready for a raid prior to Torch). The obvious use of the 1944 M3 Grease Gun as the weapon of choice for the commandos, a weapon which didn't even see North Africa, let alone North Africa in 1942, the year before it made it to Army usage.

One can forgive the use of US Chaffee and Walker Bulldog tanks repainted in German Afrika Tan (after all, Patton did too), but too many errors upon errors crept into the movie to make it truly enjoyable. For 99 cents and a Saturday afternoon, it will serve. As a great movie, it falls far short.

As I mentioned in my board comment, I found this film to be entertaining overall and was intrigued by the portrayal of "shell shock" and the "friends vs military obligation" themes. Not to mention Mario Nascimbene's mono-chordal, analog synthesizer sound track that, while annoying at times, really does create a creepy atmosphere of suspense. Lee Van Cleef can really frighten the audience while maintaining a good guy innocence at the same time. Although the Echo Bridge DVD claims the movies are "digitally remastered" and "Enhanced 5.1 Audio", the picture and sound were drive-in quality at best. I managed to butter up the sound with my Sony Surround Receiver, but I can't help but wonder what the experience of a film like this would be like if it were truly restored with the latest in film restoration technology.

Commandos is one of those movies I remember watching on the late-late-late show back in the late 70s and early 80s. It aired frequently.

I was quite surprised to find it included in a WWII movie multipack I bought at WM. An entirely different description of Commandos was listed, so imagine my surprise when I saw it was the old Lee Van Cleef movie! This movie isn't going to win any awards. There's no historic accuracy to it at all, other than the Germans and Italians were fighting in North Africa (or the Western Desert, for our British friends). But it's still fun to watch.