Robert Aldrich had something of a renaissance in the 70s with films like "The Longest Yard" and in particular "Ulzana's Raid" and "Hustle", however this film is not at the level of those films in my opinion.
The ideal conditions for making unusual and risk taking films appeared to have been in place in 1970s America when mainstream Hollywood was making original, daring and interesting films like never before or since. These conditions could be said to have roughly existed between 1966 through to 1981-82.
On the positive side this film has those classic Robert Aldrich dark touches, where we see humanity at its worst and weakest and we also get glimpses of how horrible War can be. The performances of Michael Caine and Denholm Elliot are both very good. And as one other reviewer has noted, you can really see that these guys are running around the jungle and not on a set or in a botanic garden somewhere, this film really has a sense of place and the film's Production values are high.
However on the downside, the action scenes lack the vitality and realism that suggests that these characters really are fighting to the death, something I believe that this era of War films lacked. This element of realism in War Films didn't really come into place until "Cross of Iron" and "A Bridge Too Far" (both made in 1977). I also found the ending to be unimaginative, contrived, and over the top and it is always disappointing when a film does not end well.
This is not one of Robert Aldrich's best films, but it has enough interesting about it to be worth checking out if you like films from this era.
The ideal conditions for making unusual and risk taking films appeared to have been in place in 1970s America when mainstream Hollywood was making original, daring and interesting films like never before or since. These conditions could be said to have roughly existed between 1966 through to 1981-82.
On the positive side this film has those classic Robert Aldrich dark touches, where we see humanity at its worst and weakest and we also get glimpses of how horrible War can be. The performances of Michael Caine and Denholm Elliot are both very good. And as one other reviewer has noted, you can really see that these guys are running around the jungle and not on a set or in a botanic garden somewhere, this film really has a sense of place and the film's Production values are high.
However on the downside, the action scenes lack the vitality and realism that suggests that these characters really are fighting to the death, something I believe that this era of War films lacked. This element of realism in War Films didn't really come into place until "Cross of Iron" and "A Bridge Too Far" (both made in 1977). I also found the ending to be unimaginative, contrived, and over the top and it is always disappointing when a film does not end well.
This is not one of Robert Aldrich's best films, but it has enough interesting about it to be worth checking out if you like films from this era.