The Last Escape

Probably one of the worst WWII action movies ever made...

Plot is minimal; characterization non-existent. Most of the movie seems to consist of two groups of men, both dressed in German uniforms, shooting each other with sub-machine guns.

The attack by Mosquito fighter-bombers seems to be footage lifted from the movie "633 Squadron". The Norwegian fjord looks awfully familiar, and so do some of the German anti-aircraft gunners.

Whitman, as leading man, is mind-numbingly uninspiring... like a poor man's Ronald Regan, only worse.

Avoid at all costs...

"The Last Escape" has a lot of action scaffold over very insubstantial story construction. Its derivative feel is made worse by the music, which lifts a lot of cues from "The Rat Patrol" TV series. Technical advice from a WW2 combat veteran should have been obtained and acted on.

On the plus side, director Walter Grauman coaxed decent work from his cast and camera crew. Filming among the silver firs and Norway spruces of southern Germany, instead of the ponderosa and Jeffrey pines of Idyllwild or Lake Arrowhead, was a good move. Those who like chases and shootouts in authentic locations are unlikely to be disappointed (especially if they have yet to see "Where Eagles Dare").

As the Western Allies advance into Germany in 1945, the Soviet Red Army is advancing from the East with both sides wanting to apprehend a notable rocket scientist. An American captain (Whitman) heads a special force of Allies.

"The Last Escape" is similar to "The Bridge at Remagen" and "Hornets' Nest," both released around the same time, except that this one would take 3rd place due to questionable execution and editing of the action scenes. It just comes across low-rent and quickly put-together.

Nevertheless, there's lots of action and you can't beat the authentic German locations. It fills the bill if you're in the mood for WW2 movie from the European theater. It helps that an attempt at human interest is included in the mix, particularly the inclusion of civilians that want out of Germany; and the boy. Blonde Margit Saad is a nice addition.

The ending is an interesting nod to the meeting of the Allies and the Soviets at the Elbe River near Torgau on April 25, 1945.

It runs 1 hour, 30 minutes, and was shot in Munich in southeastern Germany.

GRADE: B-

This looked the whole time like a made-for-TV movie, but apparently it's a big-screen production. It's really not a very good movie, and some elements were totally illogical, but it's completely typical for the time in which it was produced. One of the elements of which I speak is a formation of Soviet soldiers who were able to track the group of Americans and Brits whenever a regular radio receiver was turned on. This is completely impossible. It's possible to track a radio that is transmitting, and the Germans did that during the war to search for resistance cells sending signals to London, but a receiver doesn't send a signal, and how would they know that it's the receiver they were looking for?

Because of that and other things I have to give it only four stars, but because it's typical for what audiences would have been entertained by in 1970, I decided to generously add a star.

Watchable enough but very far from being a gripping all action war film. Set during the war but the blonde lady was wearing a hair style and a mini skirt very much of the time the film was made, 1968, the men's hair styles were also of 1968. The mud applied to the very obvious very clean vehicles was, as always, unconvincing as being dirt picked up as a result of normal vehicle use.

Strange to see Mike Baldwin of Coronation Street (UK) fame in a Nazi uniform but he had just a few lines. Plenty of colourful explosions to be admired, possibly too many. Worth a watch with the brain in neutral gear.