[.ca] Raid on Rommel (ISBN 6304843283)

For the love of all that is good do not see !:
My friend gave this DVD to me, Upon reflection I think he did it just to make me mad. Where shall I start ... tanks which for the majority of which look nothing like the actual German ones. The actor who plays Rommel looks NOTHING like him. The uniform Rommel wears does not match any recorded one I know of in Africa during WW2. Plot about as thin as an atom and much less substance to it.

Desert Version of Where Eagles Dare:
Yet another motion picture vehicle for Richard Burton to play commando and destroy the Nazi war effort in North Africa. Burton's character is very similar to the part he played in WHERE EAGLES DARE, and later reprised in THE WILD GEESE. Burton goes behind enemy lines to destroy Italian coastal artillery on the Libyan coast. The mission goes awry. Burton is forced to come up with an alternative plan that includes the destruction of the Afrika Korps fuel reserves using an ad hoc group of POWs. The primary shortcoming with RAID ON ROMMEL is that about half of the aerial and special effects footage was lifted directly from 1966's TOBRUK more blatantly than scenes were ever repeated from TORA, TORA, TORA! As both TOBRUK and RAID ON ROMMEL are Universal Releases there were very few issues as far as the studio was concerned. I will have to give credit to director Henry Hathaway and the film editor for assembling this picture from two separate films. For the most part the 1971 film flows along with the original 1966 footage. The significant breaks in in continuity occur toward the latter part of the film where uniforms, weapons and action do not match the story that has already been established. Comparing the two films, TOBRUK is a well made film with with a flimsy plot -- but the special effects are spectacular. RAID ON ROMMEL is a poor film with an okay storyline. The action scenes in RAID ON ROMMEL are great, but they belong to TOBRUK. In order to match some of the original German vehicle convoy scenes the film crew raided the Universal vehicle boneyard and fielded pretty much the same military surplus trucks and half tracks. For this I give them kudos. As an aside, you could still see some of these surplus vehicles at Universal Studios, California in the late 1980s. In addition to Burton, John Calicos costars as one of the POWs-turned-commando. War film buffs will also recognize military film regulars Karl Otto Alberty (KELLY'S HEROES, WAR AND REMEMBERENCE) and the late Wolfgang Preiss (THE LONGEST DAY, ANZIO, BATTLE OF THE COMMANDOS, THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL)as German officers. Oh well. Whether or not you see this film as a remake of TOBRUK or 1969's PLAY DIRTY, it should probably make its way into your military film collection. By the way, the California desert scenes are breathtaking.

Raid On Rommel with Sir Ricard Burton:
An explosive film Richard Burton and Star Trek villain John Colicos play British intelligence officers who attack German desert defenses in this 1971 film. The best battle scenes are toward the end of the film when Burton's character sets the base aflame with his tanks and flame-throwers. It was exciting to see him a realistic action hero. There were no Stallone like scenes with him out fighting the enemy. He was more clever and deceptive in making the Nazi's believe he was one of them. They discovered that he wasn't the man he presented himself to be far too late. He led the Nazi's to think he was treating his soldiers for Typhoid fever. John Colicos role was that of a supporting actor to Burton. It made me realize that he had a lot more talent than given credit for. I wish he had more dialogue with Burton other than taking orders and following the leader.

Okay...but not great....:
Raid on Rommel doesn't quite make it to the top-tier of WWII movies, for a number of reasons. Still the movie is interesting and might be worth seeing. The movies problems cover the complete spectrum -- editing, acting, plot, and the characterization of Rommel. I was also a little disappointed in that the action centered around a fixed gun emplacement -- with Rommel I was expecting a conflict involving mobility and mobile armor. Still, Richard Burton is always a draw. And if you like old WWII flicks it might be worth seeing.

Fair World War II Action/Adventure Film:
In 1966, Universal Studios made the film "Tobruk" starring Rock Hudson. Five years later, they made this film with Richard Burton which, for all practical purposes, is the same film. In fact, a fair amount of the action footage was lifted from "Tobruk." If you have never seen "Tobruk," you might enjoy this film; if you have seen "Tobruk," you will probably be disappointed. As far as I am aware, "Tobruk" has not been released on DVD, although I have seen it on VHS. Frankly, "Raid on Rommel" reminds me of an extended episode of the old "Rat Patrol" TV series that played in the late 1960s. It's not a terrible film, it's just not distinguished. The Goodtimes DVD is somewhat surprisingly presented in widescreen format. Goodtimes has been inconsistent with their catalog of films that they have licensed from Universal. Some of their DVDs are presented widescreen, others are not. I did not expect this film to be presented widescreen, but I did expect the mono soundtrack and that's what you get here. There are no extras save for subtitles in English, French and Spanish and 18 chapter breaks. There are a few longer passages in German that could have used subtitles but, curiously, are not.