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Commandos (1968)

Dir: Armando Crispino

North Africa, during World War II.
Sgt. Sullivan (Lee Van Cleef) is the ultra tough, uncompromising and on the edge leader of a group of American Commandos.
On the day of a mission behind enemy lines (where they are to eliminate, and then masquerade as, the Italian garrison guarding the oasis/well and take over the valuable water supply) they are given a new, inexperienced, Captain named Valli (Jack Kelly) whom Sullivan takes an instant and rabid dislike to as he hates 'desk bound' officers.

Parachuted into the desert, the mission seems to be going to plan, but some Italian prisoners, a nearby German Panzer group and the internal conflicts between Sullivan and Valli all conspire to complicate things………

 

A huge group of writers working on a movie normally means the end result is a complete mess, but actually the 4 screenplay authors (including a young Dario Argento) and the 3 writers credited to the 'story' (including one Meneham Golan, later of Golan-Globus/'Cannon Films' infamy) actually create a War movie that delivers on that typically thunderous attitude to action, seen in European Co-Productions of the late 60's-early 80's, but also on strong characterisation and an unusually sympathetic stance (and extended screen-time) for the Germans and Italians.

The initial attack on the oasis is effective and the widescreen cinematography captures the action very well as the Director makes use of the entire frame to add scope to the relatively small scale setting, there is a typically Euro ruthlessness to the violence as well as knives are stuck into flesh.
After this sequence the film then concentrates almost purely on characterisation as we are given a rare and welcome opportunity to get to know 'the enemy' as well as the main American 'heroes'.

Lt. Tomassini (Marino Masé), as the leader of the Italian garrison, comes across as a hard but honourable man and refuses to make life easy for the Commando's as they attempt to pull off their deception. Masé is dashing but never vacuous in his portrayal and you find yourself following Tomassini's plans with as much interest as those of Sullivan's and Valli's.
Crispino also decides to have his camera cover the Italians in the same way as he covers the main American characters. A perfect example of this is a sequence where a lorry carrying some fleeing Italians gets stuck in the sand. This event is unusually shot from the point of view of the Italians as they rush to free the truck, and as such the viewer follows them trying to get away before the Americans arrive unlike the more usual take on such a scene where we follow the Americans trying to get to the Italians before they escape.

The other main characters are part of the Africa Korps Panzer group. Joachim Fuchsberger is excellent as the likeable Lt. Heitzel, who used to be a Professor and has a very contemplative attitude to the war. He's there to do his duty but would rather be teaching the wonderful achievements of Man rather than killing them.
A key aspect of the movie is a long sequence where the un-expecting Heitzel and the more fascist Lt. Rudi (Götz George, who is also very good) strike up a conversation with Valli , whom they think is an ally. Although Sullivan is far more surly, Valli and Heitzel find they have much in common and strike up a (rather hurried it has to be said) friendship and bond that makes the final battle far more powerful than it would otherwise be.

Euro icon Van Cleef does an okay job as Sullivan (who really is a very dark and damaged character) but seems to have gone wildly over the top during the post production dubbing, as his dialogue is rather ranting whilst his face/mouth in the actual film seem to be giving a far more subtle delivery.

Hollywood veteran Kelly (who like many, many 'lesser' Stars and B actors worked in Europe when the U.S. roles were short in coming) has the far less showy role, but does a solid turn and carefully keeps the viewers sympathy with Valli where it would be easy to play him as an out of his depth cliché.

Although some action is thrown in during the middle portion, the movie is basically uses 2 action sequences to book-end its set-up, the initial night raid and a superb tank assault on the oasis for the finale.
This final battle is packed with explosions, spraying bullets, lots of extras, delightfully melodramatic deaths and bags of well-crafted excitement.
This is a sterling example of how good European ,normally WWII set, productions could be on a fraction of an American budget. Tanks roll, bodies fly, buildings are blown asunder, blood is shed and all the character build-up in the middle of the film pays off perfectly as the carnage unfolds.

"Commandos" is a fine example of the, sadly long gone, European action boom that could (when done well) deliver as much furious spectacle as any Hollywood production due to the expansive co-production resources and multitude of cheap locations and extras.
It bravely shows war as messy, dirty and personal (in an era where most WWII flicks were very gung-ho) and wisely concentrates as much on the Italian and German characters as the American ones, and although this makes for a slightly slow middle portion it pays off big time during the magnificent finale.

It's available cheap on budget DVD, so go and search it out now. Well worth a purchase for Action/War movie fans and general Euro fanatics.