Just perfect...

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Did you people see the same film I saw?

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

This film is set in WWII and the Germans in North Africa are on retreat now that the Americans have gone on the offensive. When two P-40 pilots are sent to destroy a mine field (just HOW they would do that, I have no idea), they see a small column of German vehicles. One dives to engage them and is miraculously shot down by the tank*! The second plane lands nearby to rescue the downed pilot and in doing this, the tank damages the second plane so badly it cannot fly. So, it's forced to drive about the desert avoiding the German tank...sort of like a game of cat and mouse. What's next?The one thing that startled me about the film was the casting of Lloyd Bridges as the German tank commander. His accent made him sound just like an American actor TRYING (and not succeeding in the least) in doing a German accent. Why they didn't have him play one of the pilots is beyond me. And, why they didn't have Eric Braeden (who was part of the crew) play the tank commander I do not know...especially since Braeden IS German and played a German commander in the TV series "Combat!" as well as "Rat Patrol".So apart from the difficult to believe premise and odd casting of Bridges, is the film any good? Well, it is rather entertaining watching Lloyd Bridges play a bit of a maniac! Not the least bit realistic...but fun in a kitschy way. Otherwise, no...it's not a very good film.*The German tank in the film is actually an American Sherman tank. This is because after the war, there were very few German tanks left....and there were thousands of Shermans. In fact, in most films the German tanks are American tanks and often Shermans or Walker Bulldogs sub for German tanks.

If you've seen other movies of this ilk, then you can likely predict the ending just by reading a brief synopsis of the premise before even watching it. The film has mediocre-to-average acting, with the exception of the German general who may be considered a little above average.As the movie progresses, it becomes more and more obvious that it will end with a dramatic show-down between the tank and the plane, at least one of which will only have one crew member left, because the director just seems to pass up all other opportunities to end the movie differently, and by the last 15 minutes there really is no room left for any other ending. I saw it coming from the beginning, but I was kind of disappointed. I'm not sure what I think would have been a better/more satisfying ending, but I was just hoping despite knowing better that the director would resist the temptation of doing as so many other war movies seem to, that is, making the plot eventually come down to "Moby Dick but with a submarine/ship/plane/tank/person/whatever". The German general character didn't even seem to be heading that way even though I knew that one way or another that is what would happen. He was set up more as a wise tactician and loyal soldier, and only at the very end do they pull out the "military leader obsessed to the point of madness with pursuing and destroying his enemy" trope.During the movie, the general reveals that pursuing the plane is in reality just a secondary objective en-route a secret rendezvous point in the middle of the desert in which the straggling German forces who got left behind during the retreat are to re-group and attempt to wage guerrilla warfare from behind the Allied front lines. At first I thought the general was just making it up in order to give his men hope to keep them from loosing all morale and mutinying, but then later they reveal though the British characters that this secret base does actually exist and the general really is making his way there, which gave me hope for a different ending than I was expecting. But then they sort of just set that aside and keep going on toward the inevitable dramatic showdown like I originally thought. The secret base they keep referring to, despite being made clear to really exist in the movie's universe, is never actually shown on-screen, probably due to budget limitations. I can get past that, and in fact I think not showing it may have added a special element of suspense, but it was an element of suspense I feel they squandered by not having that secret location have any bearing on the climax. The general, who throughout most of the movie is played as an expert tactician who knows how to carefully bide his time and stalk his wounded prey in order to have his cake and eat it too, suddenly turns into a crazy and unstoppable killer, despite being within just a few hours of the secret base, having more than enough supplies to get there safely, and having two now-defeated enemies whom, instead of taking prisoner as collateral and a source of information as appeared to be his original plan, he decides to just gun down while they are surrendering (one survives), having never displayed any indication before that he considered that an option.Still, even though the ending was extremely predictable and didn't really make sense from a character motivation standpoint, it was still filmed and acted well enough, and ends on a relatively satisfying cliff-hangar. Given the clearly limited budget and promotion they had, I' say they did a pretty fine job all things considered. Not a riveting masterpiece, but it's a fine little film that's worth its short hour and 15 minutes.

Death race, a.k.a. State of Division, was a made for TV movie, that for the time especially, was very well done. The German tank actually had correct markings for one used in North Africa, the P-40 was about the right series, the clothing and weapons were all pretty much correct-except for two glaring goofs. Bridge's character sported a Luger pistol, and while this is an authentic German WWl sidearm, almost no command rank officer carried one, most favored the more modern and reliable Walther P-38. The only other readily apparent wrong is the P-40 supposedly had 20mm cannons as wing guns. No Curtiss P-40 of any series (B through N) was equipped thusly from the New York factory, and the only change the British made to theirs was changing the wing and cowl mount guns to .303 Brownings instead of the standard .30 caliber U.S. I actually enjoyed this movie for the most part, as it really was very authentic, and for someone like me (a confirmed military history buff!), the closer they get it to right, the easier it is to just watch and get lost in the story. I do wish it had been made longer, so more character development could have taken place. McClure's Culpepper starts off as a 'get by' kind of guy, not really caring much about the war or any greater ideal than his next meal or shower. They really rushed his change to a 'now I see why I should care' after a day and a half spent with the Thinne's McMillan, an Eagle squadron pilot, whom he starts taking a liking too through their shared dilemma. McMillan starts to explain why he enlisted with the British, why he put himself into harms way, but never gives the reason. The final 'battle' sequence at the end is pretty exciting, but again feels rushed. The movie runs approx. 90 minutes, so overall, except for the above listed comments, I feel this is an enjoyable movie for both the WWll buff or the action/drama movie watcher.

I can still vividly remember the closing sequence to this film even after 10 years. It was just one of those movies that has stuck in my memory.I tried to recall the name of the movie on several occasions and it was only by chance that I found it on IMDB.Excellent roles played by both the late Lloyd Bridges and Doug McClure. It was unfortunate that probably this being a "TV" movie it was not listed in the obituaries of these actors. I have tried unsuccessfully over many years of hunting to find a copy of this movie.The portrayal of the increasing insane Pimler by Bridges was just brilliant. If anyone reading this review ever locates this movie, please get in touch.