Wow! Such a good movie.

Expected more

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

--As spoken by Lieutenant Rogers. That was the one line in "Bridge To Hell" that stuck out in this no-budget WWII action flick. I watched it one day when I was off on one of the movie channels, whose theme of the day was World War II action flicks. It was very cheesy, and the storyline was very loose, the characters all seemed like they came straight out of a comic book; and it had scenes that went nowhere. However, I found the Yugoslavian setting and the plot device of Yugoslav partisan activity during the war years very interesting, which is not something often seen by US audiences. Then again, knowing Umberto Lenzi's work, I sort of knew what to expect. So if you are looking for historical accuracy, technical accuracy, great casting and acting, and a great storyline, look elsewhere; but if you just want cartoonish combat action and lots of explosions, with the added bonus of seeing some lovely Bosnian scenery, you've come to the right place!

Some European-produced World War II thrillers are pretty good, but some emerge as altogether so conventional that only a completist would suffer watching them. Predictable but entertaining cheese with few meatballs and a modicum of sauce sums up "Make Them Die Slowly" director Umberto Lenzi's lackluster, low-budget World War II thriller "Bridge to Hell" that was lensed on location in scenic Yugoslavia. The bridges look terrific, the Germans are appropriately villainous, and firefights are inevitable. The standard-issue heroics and the tongue-in-cheek mentality qualifies "Bridge to Hell" as shallow, lightweight actioneer that follows a heroic trio deep into enemy territory. A U.S.A.A.F. pilot, Lt. Bill Rogers (Andy J. Forest of "The Kiss of the Cobra"), a former Italian pilot, Sgt. Mario 'Pazilbo' Espozi (Carlo Mucari of ""Arabella, Black Angel") and an Austrian who has deserted the Wehrmacht, Blinz (Paki Valente of "Abissinia"). constitute this fearless threesome. Indeed, they are heading for the Allied lines when they encounter a platoon of partisans who require their talents. The American and the Italian are persuaded to fly the skies in a couple of vintage, World War I, bi-planes and bomb the Germans the old fashioned way. Yes, they drop the bombs by hand, but one bi-plane is put out of commission. Lieutenant Rodgers flies against 20 German fighters and sets out to bomb a train. This juvenile, war-as-adventure nonsense adds a romantic subplot when the amorous Italian falls for the partisan babe. After the partisans agree that our heroic trio has held up their end of the bargain, the partisan chick escorts them toward Allied lines. Along the way, they loot a monastery of St. Basil's Treasure and demolish a German occupied bridge. During the bullet-riddled bridge scene, the German deserter catches a couple of bullets from his own men in a display of irony. This leaves the American and the Italian. They drop the partisan babe off with her comrades and take off in the Nazi transport truck with a locked box full of treasure. When they open up the box, guess what they find. Lenzi directs "Bridge to Hell" as if it were a Spaghetti western in olive-drab fatigues. The aerial bombardment scene resembles the Korean War epic "The Bridges at Toko-Ri," and most of writer & director Lenzi's narrative recalls "Inglorious Bastards," except the outcome is a lot rosy for the survivors. Characterization is one-dimensional and Lenzi fails to give this World War II film any relevance to the rest of the war. Arguably, the haircuts are archaic. The performances are tolerable, but the dubbing is absolutely atrocious. Happily, Lenzi keeps things clicking through this traditional, 90-minute war epic. This World War II movie is barely memorable.

Umberto Lenzi war film about three POWs who escape from a camp in Yugoslavia and end up getting hooked up with Partisans. First they put their flying skill to use flying biplanes in support of resistance actions, later the group tries to make their escape and find themselves fighting across the countryside. Good Italian war film that keeps up interest because it just keeps moving. I like that the film doesn't get bogged down. My initial reaction was that perhaps it was too rambling a film, but thinking about it afterward I found that I like it more than I thought. The bridge of the title is Nazi held bridge that the Allies have been trying to destroy and failing, but which our heroes need to cross to get home, and which they need to destroy to have any hope of actually getting away. I'm guessing the film incorporates footage from other bigger budgeted films, and while its not always perfectly matched it does help to add weight to the proceedings. Over all it's a good way to spend a night on the couch.

In the late 1980s, exploitation giant Cannon Films released a series of direct-to-video action flicks called 'Action-Adventure Theater,' which sported the endorsement of 'B' movie icon Michael Dudikoff. These four movies were cheap, zero-budget knockoffs from smaller European producers that had no chance of being widely marketed in the United States.'Un Ponte per l'inferno' AKA 'Bridge to Hell' is the lone title in this series with an historical context, set in Yugoslavia during World War II. The film was written and directed by Umberto Lenzi, whose career was in freefall at this point and would soon include more low-budget stinkers and hack television credits. Italian cult cinema fans are usually aware of Lenzi, who became a master of the giallo through such charmers as 'Orgasmo' and 'Seven Blood-Stained Orchids' while milking the war genre in 'Battle of the Commandos' and 'The Greatest Battle.' After becoming a recognized talent during the 1960s and 70s, however, Lenzi seemed to lose his mind, taking part in the deplorable 'Eaten Alive' and 'Cannibal Ferox' besides other trashy horror films.Lenzi was clearly out of options in his directorial career by the time of this film, as its cheapness is apparent from the beginning. The action takes place in Yugoslavia during the time of German occupation and focuses on three escaped POWs who are trying to reach the allied forces in Italy: Lieutenant Bill Rogers (Andy J. Forest), a U.S. air force pilot; Sergeant Mario Espozi (Carlo Mucari), an Italian soldier; and Blinz (Paki Valente), an Austrian who has deserted the Wehrmacht. With help from an Orthodox priest, the trio is led to a band of partisans who need pilots to fly their two remaining airplanes and bombard German armaments in the hillsides. The POWs meanwhile learn from nun-turned-partisan Vanya (Francesca Ferre) of priceless gold chalices that are enshrined in her order's St. Basil convent. After running two aerial missions successfully, the POWs decide amongst themselves to steal the treasure. They exchange their flying services for weapons and get help from Vanya to find the chapel, unaware of their plan.The premise of 'Bridge to Hell' is terribly weak and there is nothing in the script or production values to keep things afloat. It is all just a pretext for several lame action sequences in which a tiny partisan group fights hundreds of Germans and mows them down without breaking a sweat. Most of these sequences are badly acted and interspersed with stock footage from better-financed productions. This is obvious from how the film's characters are shown in tight locations and never integral to what is 'happening' nearby. There are times aplenty when continuity and editing skills are forgotten, leading to hilariously bad moments. The photography by adult film cinematographer Luigi Ciccarese is also overexposed and has washed-out color; it seems to have been downgraded in order for the aging stock footage to look more cohesive with Lenzi's own work.There is nothing in the plot to generate dramatic tension and the film quickly becomes a ridiculous, poorly thought-out cycle of gunfights, aerial maneuvers, and running through forests (as in trees, not Andy J.). The aerial bombardments by these POWs involve two shod biplanes that seem like relics from World War I and bombs that are thrown from the planes by hand(!). No matter how old or new the planes are, the idea of two such aircraft taking on a swarm of advanced German fighters (which the stock footage clearly shows) is ridiculous. Partisans on the ground stave off dozens of Germans with a few machine guns when in real life they wouldn't have lasted for more than two seconds. There are also crazy plot gaps such as when German attack dogs emerge from thin air and are gone as quickly as they came. Additional treats are the horrible audio quality and synthesized music by Fabio Frizzi that is pretty much a single theme repeated over and over again (like the plot). The very small pluses in this film are occasional touches of humor (Forest and Mucari bet a Rita Hayworth photo and a broken pocket watch during bombardment) and the presence of Francesca Ferre, who draws attention rather easily.One can never expect much from direct-to-video films, but it's clear that Umberto Lenzi hardly tried to make this film entertaining. Assuming he knew how cheap this movie would be, the director could have written a script that focused on character and did away with grandiose visions like 'The Greatest Battle.' But for one reason or another, Lenzi fooled himself into thinking that 'Bridge to Hell' could achieve those heights with the right amount of cleverness. This is largely why 'Bride to Hell' will stay buried in a tall mountain of 80s shlock, with little to no artistic merit.-Turkey- (0 stars out of 4)