Too much of everything

People are voting emotionally.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

I hadn't even heard of this movie before coming across an ex rental video copy at a thrift store in my city. Though upon sitting down to watch the movie, it soon became clear why I hadn't heard of the movie before. It certainly boasts an interesting cast - Bruce Davison, David Carradine (who gives a very lazy performance), and Oliver Reed (who only appears for about six minutes) - and for what was a limited budget the movie's production values aren't bad, at least if you aren't a nitpicker about certain World War II military details. However, the script is kind of a mess. It tries to both be funny and hard-hitting, but the two extremes do not jell. It's too serious (and violent) to be funny, and it's too goofy to be serious. Another problem is that the narrative is kind of rambling. It takes forever for the central characters to be assigned their mission, going through a number of vignettes that add little to nothing to the movie. Then when the mission starts, there is still a clear lack of focus - the characters seem kind of aimless as they go forth, lacking proper planning and preparedness. It almost seems as if the filmmakers were making things up as they went along.In the end, this is a movie that is too strange to be immediately dismissed, but at the same time it's not terribly entertaining.

You need real talent to make a movie of Sven Hassel's comrades during WWII. The talent was not there. It would also be high budget with an incredible screenplay. As to Oyster's comments (or whatever your name is)you are badly misinformed. Because of incosistencies in his books? Oh, boo hoo! Look for some in The Holy Bible - ever heard of it? Go on Yahoo and search for Sven Hassel: whooomp! - There it is! A picture of him in a German Army uniform. Standard archives shot. A lot of right-wingers in Europe have tried to discredit Hassel with "documented" proof of his "lies." He didn't lie: Hitler's War Against Civilization was horrifying-- especially to the guys who had to fight it. I have always wondered if the guys were real. Hassel has said that they were real and that most died in the war. Tiny and the Legionairre, now very old, are living on retirement pay from the French Foreign Legion. What I wouldn't give to meet them!

To tell the truth, I liked this movie. It's not great, it's not even good, but it's a very entertaining piece of budget movie history, and considering that I am surprised at how good it actually became. Basically it is a classical Dirty Dozen/Guns of Navarone mixture. Group of misfits in German penal battalion goes on impossible mission, shot lots of ruskies, loose some good men and have some strange/amusing/other encounters. The acting isn't bad, in fact it's downright good in a few spots such as Tiny and The Legionaire but generally it's pretty mediocre. What makes this movie something more than B trash is the fact that it has some pretty likable characters and some pretty funny scenes. For example; throughout the movie we are given propaganda bulletins on the German radio talking about the heroes of Bektovka, who are holding out against all odds far behind enemy lines. One is compelled to laugh at the absurdity when our heroes accidentally end up at Bektovka and discovered that the 'heroes' are living a quiet farm life together with the Russian defenders of the village.Another fun thing, at least for me, was how equipment and uniforms change continuously throughout the movie. At one point even the German tanks (which look suspiciously like Russian JS3s) are transformed, into Russian T-55s. Wheels of Terror gave me a feeling of watching an episode of the 60s WW2 series 'Combat' or the old Polish series 'Four Tankers and a Dog'. If you're looking for a good war movie see Peckinpah's 'The Iron Cross' or Stone's 'Platoon', but if you're looking for a trip down nostalgia lane Wheels of Terror is the movie for you.

Well it isn´t quite Saving Private Ryan, but that is no surprise I guess. However, the fact that I watched Spielbergs masterpiece, only a few weeks before I layed my eyes on this rather unknown WW2 movie, have contributed greatly to my sense of what you have the right to expect. So bear that in mind when you read the rest of this gibberish."Wheels of Terror" or "The Misfit Brigade"(The most suitable title if you ask me) is based on the books by Sven Hazel about a group of "criminal elements" in a german penal regiment. The books are entertaining and highly recommendable, so I had high hopes for this movie. It kicks of in 1943 with "our" platoon returning from the battle of Stalingrad, in a tank that is as post-war as the media you are reading this through. Well I can´t avoid mentioning just a few more flaws:The russians speak russian as they should, however the germans speak english.Try to picture this: You are a german commander. You have two tank destroyers in a good hulldown position. In your binoculars you see some T34´s approaching your position. What seems to be the right thing to do?A. Wait until the T34´s are within, a you can´t miss kindda range, and then destroy ´em.B. Order your tank destroyers to move forward, in an attempt to outmanoeuver the extremely fast and turreted T34´s.A few minutes into the battle a T34 crushes your command vehicle beneath its tracks. What is your initial reaction?A. Disbelief.B. Disbelief and a feeling that maybe you shouldn´t have driven your green american Jeep onto the battlefield anyhow.Well now try to picture this: You are a general in the german army standing in a german camp in russia. Suddenly eight russian planes start strafing the area. What would you do?A. Try to find some cover ASAP.B. Walk over to a slow, unarmed recon-plane and complain that there is no pilot to get you the hell out of there.If you feel deep in your heart that B,B and B are the right answers, then you will probaly regard this, as one of the most realistic war movies ever made.Please don´t think that this is an all bad movie. The dialogue and portrayal of the soldiers in the platoon are caught spot on and stays true to the books. Especially the performance of Jay O. Sander as "Tiny", the big dum demolition "expert", is worth mentioning.Watch this if you liked the books or are a big fan of war movies. 5/10