Il grande attacco (1978)

Director:

Umberto Lenzi

Writers:

Cesare Frugoni (writer)
Umberto Lenzi (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

7 February 1978 (Italy)

Genre:

War | Drama

Plot:

A story of how World War II affected the lives of a German family and an American family, both of whom had sons and fathers fighting in the war. |

Plot Keywords:

War Correspondent | General | North Africa | Soldier | Desert

Cast

Helmut Berger	...	Lt. Kurt Zimmer
Samantha Eggar	...	Annelise Ackermann
Giuliano Gemma	...	Captain Martin Scott
John Huston	...	Sean O'Hara
Stacy Keach	...	Major Mannfred Roland
Ray Lovelock	...	Lt. John Foster
Aldo Massasso	...	Lt. William McShane
Venantino Venantini	...	Michael
Ida Galli	...	Sybil Scott (as Evelyn Stewart)
Orson Welles	...	Narrator (voice)
Edwige Fenech	...	Danielle
Henry Fonda	...	General Foster
Aldo Barberito	...	SS major
Rik Battaglia	...	American commando
Andrea Bosic	...	Mimmo Parnat
Massimo Bonetti	...	German soldier
Rosario Borelli
Ermelinda De Felice
Emilio Delle Piane
Attilio Dottesio	...	French bartender
Giuseppe Castellano	...	American commando
Luciano Catenacci	...	British communications officer
Giovanni Cianfriglia	...	British commando
Pierangelo Civera	...	Gestapo agent
Claudio Colombi
Geoffrey Copleston	...	SS General Jürgens
Mirko Ellis	...	German officer in bar
Andrea Fantasia
Tom Felleghy	...	American general
Manfred Freyberger	...	German in Danielle's room
Marco Guglielmi	...	British general
Fulvio Mingozzi	...	French partisan
Franco Odoardi	...	Wounded Resistance Man
Lorenzo Piani
Giacomo Rossi-Stuart	...	American commando
Lanfranco Spinola
Max Turilli	...	Gestapo agent
Bill Vanders	...	General von Arnim
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Karl Braun	...	Machine-gun sergeant
Billy Kerr	...	German Soldier
Guy Doleman	...	General Whitmore (uncredited)
Luther Fear	...	British Officer with John Huston (uncredited)
Riccardo Petrazzi	...	Partisan guard (uncredited)
Mario Piave	...	British soldier (uncredited)
Patrick Reynolds	...	O'Hara's Aide (uncredited)
Michele Soavi	...	Ted Foster (uncredited)
Robert Spafford	...	General George S. Patton (uncredited)

Directed by
Umberto Lenzi		(as Humphrey Longan)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Cesare Frugoni		writer
Umberto Lenzi		screenplay
Umberto Lenzi		story

Produced by
Mino Loy	....	producer (as Humphrey Longan)
Luciano Martino	....	producer (as Louis Martin)

Original Music by
Franco Micalizzi		(as Frank Michaels)

Cinematography by
Federico Zanni

Film Editing by
Eugenio Alabiso

Production Design by
Giuseppe Bassan

Costume Design by
Luciano Sagoni

Makeup Department
Walter Cossu	....	makeup artist
Marcello Longhi	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Sergio Borelli	....	production organizer
Francesco Fantacci	....	unit manager
Paolo Gargano	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Stefano Rolla	....	assistant director

Art Department
Andrea Fantacci	....	set dresser
Ciro Russo	....	prop man

Sound Department
Raul Montesanti	....	sound engineer
Umberto Montesanti	....	boom operator
Bruno Moreal	....	sound mixer

Special Effects by
Gino Vagniluca	....	special effects

Stunts
Riccardo Petrazzi	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Roberto Belli	....	chief electrician
Giuseppe Gabrielli	....	chief grip
Mike Lamb	....	grip: USA
Claudio Morabito	....	camera operator
Francesco Narducci	....	still photographer
Mario Pastorini	....	assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Alessandra Pistella	....	seamstress

Editorial Department
Giuseppe Romano	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Mirella Malatesta	....	continuity (as Mirella Roi Malatesta)
Olga Pehar	....	continuity (as Olga Lenzi)

Production Companies

• Dania Film
• National Cinematografica

Distributors

• Dimension Pictures (1978) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Adams Filmi (1979) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Neue Constantin Film (1978) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Saguenay Films (1979) (Canada) (theatrical)
• CBS/Fox (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Continental Video (1984) (USA) (video) (as "Battle Force")
• Direct Source (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• Firebox (2008) (Finland) (DVD)
• Home Box Office Home Video (HBO) (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• K & C Video (Australia) (video) (as "The Biggest Battle")
• Look Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• Nordic Video (????) (Finland) (video)
• Quality Video Inc. (video)
• VEC (1986) (Canada) (video) (as "Battle Force")

Other Companies

• Arredamenti Cineteatrali G.R.P.  set furnishings
• Cimino Cine Arredamenti  set furnishings
• Mario Russo Sartoria  costumes
• Rocchetti e Carboni  wigs
• S.E.T.  props

Also Known As:

The Biggest Battle (Philippines: English title) (USA)
Battle Force
Die große Offensive (West Germany)
The Battle of the Mareth Line
The Great Battle
The Greatest Battle

Runtime:

Germany:101 min | USA:90 min | Finland:103 min (DVD) | Sweden:107 min | France:100 min

Country:

Italy | West Germany | Yugoslavia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:16 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Tabernas, Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Company:

Dania Film

Trivia:

Italian censorship visa # 71521 delivered on 7-2-1978.

Movie Connections:

Edited from La legione dei dannati (1969)

Mouth-watering cast, yawn inducing movie!

I'm not a fan of war films to say the least and if I'm going to sit down and watch one, there generally has to be a real good reason for doing so. Despite the fact that Battle Force is a largely unknown and inconsequential war film from the late seventies; I actually did have several good reasons for seeing it. Anything directed by Umberto Lenzi is automatically worth watching considering all the great cult films he has delivered; from some of the best Giallo's to the very best of the Polizi genre, and adding to that is absolutely mouth-watering cast. However, in spite of those things; this is still a highly disappointing and really rather rubbish movie. The plot is rather confusing and doesn't make much sense and mainly focuses on two families of different nationalities during World War Two. However, we also focus on the actual war itself and various battles that the characters are involved in and this all gets mingled in with the stories of the families...

The main problem with this film is that it tries to do too much and the one hundred minute running time is simply not long enough for it to do it all in (although I am thankful that the film didn't last for longer!). I don't really know how credible Umberto Lenzi was as a director in 1978 (probably more credible than he was in the eighties), but somehow he has managed to get his hands on a magnificent cast chequered with stars - and not just cult stars! Big names such as John Huston, Henry Fonda and Orson Welles have roles alongside cult stars such as Ray Lovelock, Samantha Eggar, Evelyn Stewart, Stacy Keach, Helmut Berger and Edwige Fenech (who really doesn't appear for long enough). This cast is all well and good but unfortunately it's wasted. The plot lacks any sort of direction and the film might actually have been better as an anthology style movie with a few different but focused stories. The war scenes look extremely cheap (the budget was probably spent on paying stars' wages) and that also brings the film down, although there is plenty of action. Overall, this did actually have the potential to be a masterpiece; but to say the least, it isn't! Recommended for its cult value only.