Tobruk (1967)
In September 1942, the German Afrika Korps under Rommel have successfully pushed the Allies back into Egypt. A counter-attack is planned, for which the fuel dumps at Tobruk are a critical impediment. In order to aid the attack, a group of British commandos and German Jews make their way undercover through 800 miles of desert, to destroy the fuel dumps starving the Germans of fuel.
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Great Film overall
Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.
Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.
This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
TOBRUK is another decent WW2 film with a North African setting. This time around the film gets the big budget Hollywood treatment with an all-star British/American cast and expansive battle sequences which really hit home, particularly at the incredible explosive climax. For most of the running time the viewer is in familiar territory with a typical gamut of plane attacks, scenes of the characters avoiding and outwitting the Nazis, and the machinations of traitors, with the added twist that most of the characters are German Jews fighting against the motherland.The cast is very good in this one. It's fine to see Rock Hudson away from the romantic comedy genre he was so well known for while George Peppard gets to have fun with his German accent. Nigel Green is a hoot as the British colonel with the stiffest upper lip ever. The likes of Percy Herbert and Norman Rossington were standbys in this kind of production for what seemed like forever. The film boasts strong direction from Arthur Hiller and a story that keeps you intrigued right until the end, waiting to find out how it plays out. It's hard to criticise.
An enjoyable action film see's George Peppard in one of his better roles as a German Jew (Bergman) who is now working along side a British commando unit led by Col Harper brilliantly played by Nigel Green, Helping them on their suicide mission to destroy Field Marshall Rommles fuel dump is an American Middle east expert Rock Hudson (Major Craig ). After freeing Mjor from an Italian destroyer the unit sets off from Algria to Tobruk crossing 800 miles of Nazi mine infested desert some nifty action set pieces and some great sarcasm the troop make it to Tobruk where they set about there mission of destruction, tight direction and good acting from Peppard and Green lift this otherwise standard war flick to a higher level, also nice to see Jack Watson as the RSM a role that no one plays better (played the same role in Wild geese)
I first saw "Tobruk" when it first came out in 1967. It is an entertaining action picture that delivers plenty of thrills.The main flaw of this picture (like so many American war movies before and since) is that German and Italian armour and vehicles are represented by Korean War - era American equipment. However the high budget "Battle of the Bulge" and the Oscar - winning "Patton - Lust for Glory" had the same fault.If "Tobruk" was being made nowadays,greater care would be taken to ensure that vehicles and equipment were correct for the period.Interestingly the cinema poster for this film shows the Germans using Panther tanks,a type which never saw action in North Africa as it had its combat debut at the Battle of Kursk in the Summer of 1943.
*possible spoilers* I thought this was a good action movie even though it is no where near historically accurate. This is just a movie you can't think about and worry about where it is true or not. It's a movie for enjoyment and if you like World War II action movies, I strongly urge you to check this out when ever you can. George Peppard is very good as well as Rock Hudson and the rest of the cast. I thought this movie had good action scenes. Especially the one where the British got two German tank divisions to shoot at each other in order to pass between them. I though the use of the RAF P-40 Warhawk was good even though I didn't like it when the British shot it down even though it was shooting at them first. The Visual Effects are good for the time and are some of the best I've ever scene. Check this movie out. It might be silly but it's worth your time.