SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

just watch it!

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Copyright 1968 by P.E.C./C.C.I. (Rome) and C.C.C. (Berlin). Dubbed English-language version released in the U.K. and Australia through 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. Not released in the U.S.A. Released in the U.K. in April 1972 in a version cut to 8,000 feet or 89 minutes. The Australian version was 20 minutes longer at 10,688 feet. IMDb tells us there is also an 82-minutes version entitled "Sullivan's Marauders".NOTES: I believe this was Fox's final "official" CinemaScope release in Australia. I know the process was labeled Cromoscope in the U.K., but in Australia Fox billed it as CinemaScope and advertised it as such. Unfortunately the 119-minute Australian version is no longer available. The following review is based on the British print.VIEWERS' GUIDE: The 119-minute version is not suitable for children. The 89-minute version is most strictly adults only.COMMENT: "Commandos" suffers from a director who insists on getting far too close to the action. True, this approach is moderately effective in the action sequences where the spectacularly staged battles are observed at such disconcertingly close range they are difficult to take in — but they are also of course uncomfortably real. Unfortunately this elephantine television handling is downright disastrous in the dialogue scenes in which the clumsily atrocious dubbing hurts the eye as well as the ear. At least Van Cleef and Kelly mouth their own lines, but the problem is compounded by verbosity. Yet despite all the talk, the plot is a little difficult to follow — what is the purpose of the mission, for instance? — and the characters remain stubbornly superficial. And in the print under review, Miss Tolo unaccountably simply disappears.

Another fantastic slice of war drama from the Italians, who were at their best filming on a tight budget in the middle of the African desert and blowing up shedloads of jeeps and tanks along the way. Following in the footsteps of dozens of similar offerings post-DIRTY DOZEN, the simplistic plot line tells of a small group of American soldiers who capture an Italian base in the middle of the desert (what for is never quite explained) and then who have to pretend to be Italians when the Germans show up looking for a good time. An excellent script with full-on characterisation, a few moral messages about the nature of war and comradeship, and heapings of suspense (realised through a monotonous but effective chordal note on the soundtrack) make for one heck of a film.The film is based on a short story by notorious exploitation producer Menahem Golan, with the script co-written (with three others) by none other than Dario Argento, who later found fame as the "Italian Hitchcock". Argento brings his trademark touch of strong characters and violent situations into the story with the direction left in the more than capable hands of genre director Armando Crispino.The cast is outstanding, with notable performances from all the major players. Lee Van Cleef handles the part of his tough sergeant as well as you would expect, and as a bonus gets extra psychological torment via some Filipino flashbacks. Jack Kelly is equally good as the determined captain who leads the group into disaster. Everyone else is perfect, especially the German actors, and there's a good turn from Giampiero Albertini (ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY WEAPON) as a loyal fighter. The action sequences are mostly saved for the finale, but what a finale it is: packed with gunfire, explosions, destruction, mayhem and death, this easily rivals much more lavish productions and is the best battle I've seen in a long time. COMMANDOS is a hard film to fault which is why I award it full marks for effort and execution.

"Autopsy" director Armando Crispino's historically inaccurate but nevertheless gripping World War II behind-enemy-lines, secret-mission thriller "Commandos" qualifies as a rugged, gritty, suspenseful combat epic. This cynical Italian produced melodrama about a group of Italian-Americans masquerading as Royal Italian infantry so they can capture an oasis on the eve of the North African campaign in early 1942 removes any traces of glamour about war. Crispino and fellow scenarists Lucio Battistrada of "Crime Boss," Stefano Strucchi, and Dario Argento of "Suspiria" drew their robust screenplay from a short story by Israel filmmaker Menahem Golan as well as a story by Don Martin of "The Storm Rider" and Teutonic producer Arthur Brauner. Brauner is a landmark German filmmaker who refurbished the "Dr. Mabuse" franchise in the early 1960s. Lee Van Cleef delivers a riveting performance as a belligerent, battle-scarred Bataan hero who survived, along with two other companions, a death-defying ordeal. He relives the horror of the experience throughout "Commandos." Van Cleef has a lot to sink his teeth into and he looms above everybody. The supporting cast is good, particularly Joachim Fuchsberger as Oberleutnant Heitzel Agen, nicknamed the professor because he studied insects at the university. Götz George shines as Oberleutnant Rudi, the type who could have excelled as dedicated Hitler Youth. The most unusual role—as it says something about the difference between the Allied armies and the Axis foe—belongs to actress Marilù Tolo who plays a prostitute named Adriana. Although she doesn't play a major part, she poses an interesting complication for our heroes. Interestingly, she points out that she can earn more money in the army camp than back home.The conceit of "Commandos" is that our heroes are descendants of genuine Italians and Sergeant Sullivan and his right-hand man Dino (Romano Puppo of "Death Rides A Horse") have spent a month training them for the mission. Sullivan has little regard for most of them, but he has nothing but sheer contempt for his superior officer, Captain Valli (Jack Kelly of "To Hell & Back") who has never baptized in combat. Sullivan and Valli get off to a bad start when Sullivan describes their objective as "some harebrained mission you made up yourself." Valli defends the mission and his knowledge. "I know this operation exactly, right down to the last detail." Sullivan criticizes Valli's shortage of experience. "You got a lot of bright ideas, Captain, but do you know what killing is—exactly—with these (makes gestures with his hands) and (brandishing a bayonet) this?" Later, Valli explains that they will parachute near their destination. They will drop two or three miles from their objective and then take an hour to march to the Italian garrison and occupy it. Arriving after dark, they encounter opposition and resort to their firepower instead of knives. Captain Valli refuses to watch Sullivan turn the raid into a massacre, and he spares the lives of Italian Lt. Tomassini (Marino Mase of "The Five Man Army") and many of his troops. Valli warns Tomassini that the lives of his men depend on his cooperation with Sullivan and him. "I mean exactly what I say so you better get that through your head." Germans from a nearby base show up for spaghetti and our heroes struggle to suppress any suspicious behavior, especially from Rudi who wants to locate his missing engineers. Sullivan kills the surviving German engineer, but the Hun shoots Sullivan's pistol. Everybody spills into the open with guns drawn. A soldier apologizes for shooting at a jackal. No sooner do the Germans leave than the Italian hatch a plan of escape.The themes of "Commandos" include the inhumanity of war, experienced versus inexperienced combatants, battlefield shock, and the duty that an officer has both to his men and the mission. The irony is that the Germans and the Italians are depicted with greater sympathy than the tough guy Americans. The German soldiers get along with each other as do the Italians, but the Americans clash, principally Sullivan and Valli. Other instances of irony occur that heighten the philosophical mindset of "Commandos." The ending summarizes the madness of war. Allied command scrubs the mission that Captain Valli has carefully orchestrated and he cannot accept this change of mind. Surprisingly, Sergeant Sullivan refuses to obey higher authority. Consequently, "Commandos" concludes with the Americans exploding the water holes and fighting the Germans with tragic results for both Sullivan and Valli.Mind you, the authenticity of the action doesn't bear close scrutiny. Most military enthusiasts will recognize the flaws immediately. For example, the Afrika Korps tanks are not the genuine vehicles. Instead, they are repainted U.S. Army Chaffee and Walker Bulldog tanks with German insignia, and the M3A1 submachine guns that the Americans tote weren't available for another year. Allowances must be made, however, and the Cold War tanks overlooked since the German tanks were long since kaput, while the "Dirty Dozen" machine guns look cool. The sun-scorched widescreen photography of "Taste of Death" lenser Benito Frattari makes this desert-locked minor war film look sprawling and the nocturnal actions scenes have a perilous, primitive quality. The strident music of composer Mario Nascimbene enhances the suspense, especially when Sullivan and his men search for a wounded German engineer who remains at large in the compound. Nascimbene makes superb use of classical music from composer Edvard Grieg, specifically "In the Hall of the Mountain King." Whatever the case, "Commandos" neither glorifies nor glamorizes combat. Fighting is a hard sweaty business. Sergeant Sullivan summarizes it succinctly to Captain Valli in an earlier scene. "Do you know what blood smells like, Captain? It's a hot smell, and it can get things messed up, too, because most men die hard."

"Commandos" was released in 1968 and has been in circulation on public domain home video (and now DVD) in the United States and abroad since the early 1980s. A great widescreen print has now surfaced on DVD, one from the Platinum Disc Corporation and another from St. Clair Vision. This is one of the easiest to find Italian war films, and it's really not too shabby, either… On the eve of the American landings in North Africa, a band of Italian-American soldiers are recruited for a special mission behind the enemy lines. They will capture and hold a vital oasis the day before the Allies land. Unfortunately, the garrison of Italian soldiers and a German Panzer unit will do anything to stop this takeover. Director Crispino is all about style, and just about everything else is disregarded here. The main conflict is between Sergeant Sullivan (Lee Van Cleef, "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly") and Captain Valli (Jack Kelly, "To Hell and Back"). Sullivan is an experienced veteran, and Valli is a rear-echelon officer who really shouldn't be in charge. Sullivan questions Valli's authority every step of the way. Unfortunately, this conflict remains shallow throughout, and the characters do little besides yell at and threaten each other. As an individual, however, Sullivan is a fleshed-out, battle-scarred veteran who's haunted by images of a failed campaign in the Pacific. Sadly, Van Cleef overacts through every scene, chewing up the scenery so much that it's hard to take him seriously. The kudos go to the supporting cast, who manage to put on a convincing show from start to finish. Joachim Fuchsburger is fabulous as Lt. Heitzel, a German professor who is now drafted as a Panzer officer. He hates the war, but does his duty for country. Heitzel's character draws sympathy from the audience is his character is naturally fleshed out over the course of a long dinner scene with Valli and Tomassini. It's very nice to see a late-1960s war film in which a German character has a sympathetic role, rather than a clichéd "evil Nazi" part which was so common in other action films produced during the era. On the other hand, Götz George is equally good as Lt. Rudi, a dedicated Hitler Youth-type. The Germans and Americans discuss culture and politics over dinner in one long scene, and this makes their face-to-face encounter during the final battle all the more moving. Finally, there's Marino Mase ("The Five Man Army") as Lt. Tomassini, who commands the Italian garrison and will stop at nothing to escape with the survivors and liberate what's rightfully his. Add to this long list some excellent small roles filled by Ivano Stacciolo, Pier Paolo Capponi, Heinz Reincke and Romano Puppo. Crispino's focus is on the action, and makes the characters just believable enough to appreciate the big, explosive proceedings. The American takeover of the Italian garrison is excellently shot and finely edited, and the climactic tank battle in the oasis is purely awesome. It's filled with great shots of people getting shot, tanks exploding, bullets kicking up puffs of dirt – there are some shots with action going on in both the background and foreground, making for interesting composition. The movie has a very realistic look and feel to it, as well. The Americans and Germans are appropriately armed and clad for the time period. The sweltering sun and dry desert are completely convincing. The oasis set is massive and Crispino makes use of every part of it. The interiors, particularly the big dining room, are well-captured with wide shots and pans. At night, the set is well-lit and the action is completely clear. "Commandos" is a well-written, well-shot and action-packed war drama with a fine supporting cast and some nail-biting combat sequences, which put it a notch above many other Italian war productions in the same vein. 7/10