Strangely enough ...
... I saw a movie last night that I halfway enjoyed, despite my expectations. BATTLE FORCE! aka THE LAST BATTLE from 1978. Following my trend of watching Helmut Berger movies, I managed to confirm that he was actually present in this one before I put it in. Its a modest little Italian WW2 movie that seems to be imitating "epic" WW2 movies popular at the time, like A BRIDGE TOO FAR. Unfortunately for Umberto Lenzi (hilariously credited here as 'Humphrey Longan'), he seems to think that those films' monstrous casts, meandering stories, and multiple-to-the-point-of-absurdity subplots were actual selling points, and not contributors to their demise. At least he has the sense to bring it in around 100 minutes and not the "popular" 3 hours. Good call. (Although it does still feel pretty damn long.)
Twinkling with big stars like Henry Fonda and John Huston (who more than likely also shot TENTACLES on the same hot Italian weekend in 1978), and featuring a pretty decent supporting cast with Stacy Keach (AGAIN!) and my man Helmut Berger, the movie also benefits from a pretty solid voiceover by none other than Orson Welles. Which serves to elevate the proceedings a bit higher than the modest budget would otherwise be capable of doing.
Filled to the brim with inappropriate vehicles for the time and place, it still succeeds on a dramatic level, mostly from a better than average script (featuring genuine Irony and also Poignancy!) and a pair of pretty good performances by Keach and Berger as German soldiers in the Africa Korp. The "Last Battle" of the title is an orgy of stock footage and 180-degree-rule violations, but it provides enough sense of chaos and confusion, however unintentional, to create some tension. Keach goes out like a soldier, when his position gets overrun and he chases a Brit tank on foot with a tellermine, only to be shot in the back as the tank explodes. A pretty cool ending I must say. Crotchety old Huston delivers a funny line, sitting blithely in a ditch as gunfire rattles and bombs explode, dust and debris scatters around him, and he yawns and stretches and asks his young, terrified companion if he wouldn't rather "go somewhere with some action."
Not a classic, but surprisingly enjoyable in a low-rent way, if you are a fan of anyone involved, they very thankfully don't embarrass themselves. (And by 'embarrassment,' I'm thinking of all those straight-to-video movies that Rutger Hauer has made.)
Twinkling with big stars like Henry Fonda and John Huston (who more than likely also shot TENTACLES on the same hot Italian weekend in 1978), and featuring a pretty decent supporting cast with Stacy Keach (AGAIN!) and my man Helmut Berger, the movie also benefits from a pretty solid voiceover by none other than Orson Welles. Which serves to elevate the proceedings a bit higher than the modest budget would otherwise be capable of doing.
Filled to the brim with inappropriate vehicles for the time and place, it still succeeds on a dramatic level, mostly from a better than average script (featuring genuine Irony and also Poignancy!) and a pair of pretty good performances by Keach and Berger as German soldiers in the Africa Korp. The "Last Battle" of the title is an orgy of stock footage and 180-degree-rule violations, but it provides enough sense of chaos and confusion, however unintentional, to create some tension. Keach goes out like a soldier, when his position gets overrun and he chases a Brit tank on foot with a tellermine, only to be shot in the back as the tank explodes. A pretty cool ending I must say. Crotchety old Huston delivers a funny line, sitting blithely in a ditch as gunfire rattles and bombs explode, dust and debris scatters around him, and he yawns and stretches and asks his young, terrified companion if he wouldn't rather "go somewhere with some action."
Not a classic, but surprisingly enjoyable in a low-rent way, if you are a fan of anyone involved, they very thankfully don't embarrass themselves. (And by 'embarrassment,' I'm thinking of all those straight-to-video movies that Rutger Hauer has made.)
posted by figurebuilder at 11:36 AM
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