Whilst obviously shot on a mere fraction of the budget of such classic Vietnam films from the 1980's as Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket and Oliver Stone's Platoon and although sadly virtually unheard of, this movie nonetheless represents an incredible achievement for its makers.
The story concerns an allied mission to destroy a radar installation somewhere along the Ho Chi Min trail (the Crossbone Territory of the films title). The mission turns out to be a success but returning to their hill top base proves to be well nigh impossible as the team are pursued incessantly by entire squadrons of hostile VC forces. With casualties and fatalities mounting by the minute and air lift attempts failing our rapidly depleting group must fight for their lives to make it back to safety.
The action sequences here are excellent. Never glorifying, the action is shown to be gritty and brutal with numerous fire fights and subsequent deaths on both sides. In fact the gun fire seldom lets up here as our heroes desperately retreat.
Amazingly, against all probability a few do make it back to base but any hopes of salvation turn out to be cruelly dashed as with the location of the base now discovered, the VC launch a multiple squadron, all out full frontal attack upon it.
With the odds now insurmountably against them, our heroes stage one last desperate pitched battle but is there any real hope?
This scene serves as the climax of the movie and is absolutely spectacular. Not since the incredible battle scenes in the classic Zulu have I ever seen such a similarly awesome sequence. In fact the scene actually resembles that from Zulu in many ways, not least of all the incessant, huge waves of attackers that fill the screen (filmed on wide angle lenses) as they charge towards their intended target.
In light of the above and despite some instances of intrusive background music and what appears to be a poor overdub throughout, this film truly is a forgotten classic and I strongly urge all fans of the war genre to get hold of a copy.
The story concerns an allied mission to destroy a radar installation somewhere along the Ho Chi Min trail (the Crossbone Territory of the films title). The mission turns out to be a success but returning to their hill top base proves to be well nigh impossible as the team are pursued incessantly by entire squadrons of hostile VC forces. With casualties and fatalities mounting by the minute and air lift attempts failing our rapidly depleting group must fight for their lives to make it back to safety.
The action sequences here are excellent. Never glorifying, the action is shown to be gritty and brutal with numerous fire fights and subsequent deaths on both sides. In fact the gun fire seldom lets up here as our heroes desperately retreat.
Amazingly, against all probability a few do make it back to base but any hopes of salvation turn out to be cruelly dashed as with the location of the base now discovered, the VC launch a multiple squadron, all out full frontal attack upon it.
With the odds now insurmountably against them, our heroes stage one last desperate pitched battle but is there any real hope?
This scene serves as the climax of the movie and is absolutely spectacular. Not since the incredible battle scenes in the classic Zulu have I ever seen such a similarly awesome sequence. In fact the scene actually resembles that from Zulu in many ways, not least of all the incessant, huge waves of attackers that fill the screen (filmed on wide angle lenses) as they charge towards their intended target.
In light of the above and despite some instances of intrusive background music and what appears to be a poor overdub throughout, this film truly is a forgotten classic and I strongly urge all fans of the war genre to get hold of a copy.