kreisbanaan

I just watched this again, after many years, and like 'Get Carter', it does not disappoint, either in the excellent performance of Caine and his co-actors, the generally solid story, or in the bleakness of the movie. Not to give too much away of the story, Caine is dropped in as a replacement officer in a rag-tag motley crew even more disparate as the Long Range Desert Group (and indeed, more in line to 'Popski's Private Army') to perform a 1-100 chance of succeeding long range sabotage action to blow up Rommel's gas supplies. Of course, everything goes tits-up right from the start, but at least they end up pulling off some stunt that attracts attention. What I particularly like about this movie is the basic grittiness of trying to wage a war in a desert, with for example Sahara (both the ones with Bogart or Belushi) just considering the water situation. Terrain and weather is as serious an enemy as 'ze Germans' in this movie.. The acting across the board is decent to excellent, with both Nigels performing excellent (I was very sorry to read that Nigel Green died only a few years later at age 47, what a bloody waste of a fine actor) and decent acting from the supporting cast. Camera work is good, although not of Sergio Leone's brilliance. I'm sorry to read that, on general, the reception at the time was neutral to negative, but I guess it was a time that WW2 movies came a dime a dozen every other year, and of course, it's not in the same league as The Battle Of Brittain' or 'A Bridge Too Far'. It's not on par with Eastwood's & Sutherland's 'Kelly's Heroes' (which I still consider a masterpiece, as opposed to all the big-budget war movies that came out at the time), but if you want to see Caine's deadpan acting in strength in a down-to-earth, solid, gritty war movie then this one will certainly be worthy of an filling an evening of your time. I give this a solid 8 out of 10. What would have made me render it worthy of more? Higher quality camera work, for one. What would have made me render it worthy of less? Alterations to the script to the tune of 'The Dirty Dozen', where too much attention is paid to backgrounds of the characters, which, in my opinion, severely distracts from the movie. The crew in 'Play Dirty' are mostly criminals as well, but the script wastes no time in trying to go in-depth on this, which is a big plus, as in the desert, as the Foreign Legion would admit as equally as either the Desert Rats or the Afrika Corps, your past means nothing, but how well you fight means everything.

Having seen this just now again, for the first time in probably 30+ years, I'd say I still like it just as well as I did when I was young.

No it's not Star Wars nor will it ever be. But it is actually a pretty decent remake of 'Seven Samurai' or 'The Magnificent Seven', with a setting in Deep Space.

Without the special effects team of George Lucas this sci-fi flick has, of course, difficulty to keep up with that level of special effects.

Think more in the league of the old 'Battlestar Gallactica' or 'Logan's Run' and you'll get the picture.

Still, the acting is decent and honest, there is a LOT of action in the movie (in fact the 2nd half is basically non-stop action), the good guys are generally unique and identifiable with, and I like quite a few little things about this movie.

I particularly like how Nestor tries to get rid of the main bad guy (not gonna spoil it tho).

This is the movie that got both James Cameron and James Horner their breaks into the big game, and that's nothing to scuff at.

This is a fun sci-fi movie to watch with a bottle of brew and a bowl of popcorn. Don't expect a miracle.

This little known gem does absolutely everything bloody brilliant, IF you know your classics! (Of course a lot of people won't..)

If you know something about colonial history, have seen movies like 'Africa Addio' (one scene is a literal remake of a scene in that one, try to spot it), have seen quite the few mercenary movies from the 70's, have seen 'Le Professionel' or anything else with Jean-Paul Belmondo, and have endured the messaging around the Falkland War....this will be a gem.

Once you've gotten back into the mindset of the mid-80's with all it's cold-war drama in the Carribean, this is an absolutely brilliant satire on those times. Every scene, especially of the second half, is always in vogue with those times.

I watched it in the 90s for the first time, and have rewatched it quite some times since. Michael Caine is perfectly suited to the role, and he brings it with great humour. Supporting cast is good, and there's always SOME joke going on.

An absolute must see for anyone who likes 80's comedies.