Quel maledetto treno blindato (1978)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Enzo G. Castellari

Writers:

Sandro Continenza (writer)
Sergio Grieco (writer)

Release Date:

December 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | War

Tagline:

Whatever the Dirty Dozen did they do it dirtier!

Plot:

Set in Europe during WWII, a group of American soldiers are in the process of being shipped off to military prison for a variety of infractions...

Plot Keywords:

WWII | Prisoner | Murder | Escape | American

Cast

Bo Svenson	...	Lt. Robert Yeager
Peter Hooten	...	Tony
Fred Williamson	...	Pvt. Fred Canfield
Michael Pergolani	...	Nick
Jackie Basehart	...	Berle
Michel Constantin	...	Veronique
Debra Berger	...	Nicole
Raimund Harmstorf	...	Adolf Sachs
Ian Bannen	...	Col. Charles Thomas Buckner
Flavio Andreini
Peter Boom	...	German Officer on Train
Vito Fornari
Manfred Freyberger	...	SS Commander
Joshua Sinclair	...	The Sergeant (as John Loffredo)
Mike Morris	...	Colonel Hauser

Also Known As:

Bastardi senza gloria (Italy) (working title)
Counterfeit Commandos (USA) (reissue title)
Deadly Mission (USA) (video title)
G.I. Bro (USA) (recut version)
Hell's Heroes (USA) (video title)
The Dirty Bastard (Philippines: English title)
The Inglorious Bastards (USA)

Runtime:

99 min | UK:90 min (cut version) | Germany:76 min (cut version)

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian | German | French | English

Color:

Color (Telecolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Sweden:(Banned) | Iceland:16 | Netherlands:16 (US version) | Sweden:15 (video rating) | Norway:15 (uncut DVD version) (2007) | Singapore:M18 | Finland:K-18 (uncut) (2007) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1978) | USA:R | Norway:16 (video) (1981) (unrated video version) | Norway:(Banned) (1978-2003) (cinema release)

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Films Concorde

Trivia:

Fred Williamson is named as a co-writer on screenplay on deposit at the Library of Congress Copyright Office.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: A wire can be seen pulling a soldier during a grenade explosion in the first battle with the Waffen-SS.

Quotes:

[first title card]
Title Card: FRANCE 1944

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Back to the War Zone (2008) (V)

The Inglorious Bastards

Inglorious Bastards, The (1978)

*** (out of 4)

Italian rip off of The Dirty Dozen has a group of American solders on their way to face a firing squad when they break free and head off to Switzerland to get their freedom. Along the way they kill some German soldiers but it turns out these were American's on a secret mission. The ground of misfits are them given the shot of freedom by carrying out this secret mission on their own. We can just get it out of the way that this film is no where near the classic that The Dirty Dozen is but as with a lot of these Italian cash ins this one here is at least fun and has a great cast of actors. Bo Svenson and Fred Williamson lead the cast and both men are fun watching as they go through one battle sequence to the next, which leads up to the climax where they must try and stop the German's from building a bomb by blowing up a bridge. There's no deep messages or speeches about the evils of war but instead director Castellari just keeps blowing things up and piling bodies up left and right. The movie somewhat gets a tad dry in the center section but this picks up int he final act as the action goes non-stop and doesn't let up for a moment. The special effects dealing with the explosions are very well done and they're certainly good enough to make you forget that this is a rather low-budget film. The stunts are also very nice and it appears that a lot of the cast members, especially Williamson, are doing their own work. There's some nice comedy thrown around but I think this is one area where the film could have been better. There's really no logic to the film and once really shouldn't try thinking too hard because this is clearly a movie where you just turn your brain off and have a good time. By now everyone knows that Quentin Tarantino is a big fan of this film and has decided to remake it for his next movie. I don't think Tarantino will have any trouble making a better movie than this but we'll have to see if it can come anywhere near The Dirty Dozen.