Ski Troop Attack

Trailer—Ski Troop Attack

source: Ski Troop Attack

And not only drama, but also action flick. Yes it is very short, one hour and three minutes, and character study very effective for such a short length time. I spent a good time. Roger Corman will do it again in the war film genre, several years later, with SECRET INVASION, with a bigger budget - because Corman did not make only small budgets features - so this one could be seen as a kind of first draw for SECRET INVASION; though the plot is not the same. The woman character is surprisingly good, with an unexpected sequence with her. I guess this film should be more shown to audiences. Corman fans or not...

Had this actually had a budget more than just a couple of bucks, I might have ranked this a 5/10. But tinny sound, grainy photography and long periods of no sound other than the winter winds makes this drive-in programmer barely passable even though the story is intriguing. While a haunting and nearly deranged version of "Silent Night" plays in the background, a group of American soldiers on skis spend Christmas trying to blow up a German bridge. B action star Michael Forest heads the cast (with a Sinatra cousin named Richard in the supporting cast), and the snowy lost horizon mountain photography adds a nice look to the action. I'd be curious to learn how this was filmed because the icy mountains do look rather realistic. There's a good sequence where the Americans invade the mountain cabins of a German woman left alone, dealing with her quickly after she tries to poison them. There's plenty of action and intrigue, but I had a hard time getting into this until Sheila Noonan briefly came into the film. The cheapness of this film made this an obvious one time viewing, and had it been a better film technically, I could have seen myself going back to see it again. But the cheapness prevents that from being impossible because I could tolerate cheap looking film, but not sound recording that made me think my ears were clogged.

Roger Corman both directed and produced this WWII film set in late 1944 on the snowy mountains of Germany where the Allied Ski Troop (led by Michael Forest) are ordered to attack a trestle where an Axis train will be crossing, and the efforts of the local Nazi ski troops to stop them blowing it up, and the friction between the men as well. Mediocre film has nice location filming in the snowy Black Hills of South Dakota but little character identification or involvement, limiting viewer story interest in the brief (73 minute) runtime. Still a cult favorite to some though. Made concurrently (with much of the same cast and in South Dakota) as the more well known "Beast from Haunted Cave."

A central paradox of the Battle of the Bulge was that with all that snow it was the most photogenic but probably the most miserable to actually participate in. It's characteristic of the sardonic tone of Corman's war movies that the obligatory female turns out not to be a sweet young fraulein but a fervant Nazi who still believes the war was started by the Poles.

A small troop of U.S. soldiers on skis (was that a thing?) in WWII Germany come across Axis activity & sort of stalk them & devise a plan to blow a bridge to stop the advance. They end up battling a small group of Germans on skis who are trying to stop the Americans from stopping the Germans. Corman's first attempt at a war movie I believe. Not bad, actually a lot of elements and scenes that are reminiscent of Saving Pvt. Ryan. Not saying that they were originally Corman's ideas, but definitely similar. Good character sketches and some development. Reasonably good acting and action.

Considering Roger Corman shot this in two weeks, it's an amazingly good- looking film. Quite suspenseful and action-packed with a unique setting -- the ski troops we had in the German mountains. Holds interest all the way through and never betrays a low budget. Very worthwhile.

Shot in a couple of weeks by Roger Corman, Ski Troop Attack was cobbled together in such a hurry it's a minor miracle it emerges anything other than an unmitigated disaster. At the time, Corman's brother Gene was in the process of producing Beast From Haunted Cave in some mountains in South Dakota, with Monte Hellman directing. Never one to miss the opportunity of recycling existing resources, Roger bagged the same sets (and many of the same actors) to create Ski Troop Attack - a 60 minute wartime quickie blending actual staged actors and scenes with bits of stock WWII footage. Surprisingly, given the nature of its production, the film hangs together reasonably well: it has a serviceable plot, something approaching real character dynamics, and a fairly solid structure. The acting is generally unremarkable, the editing and cinematography are entirely average, but for this brand of low-budget Corman quickie Ski Troop Attack remains a decent enough offering. A five-man reconnaissance unit led by the young and inexperienced Lt. Factor (Michael Forrest) are on patrol in the snow-swept Ardennes Forest in the winter of 1944. Factor is endlessly at odds with his second-in-command, the older, more battle-wearied and bloodthirsty Sgt. Potter (Frank Wolff). Potter has a taste for killing Germans even though the company has strict instructions to monitor the enemy, not engage them in combat. Suddenly, the German army launches an unexpected offensive and Factor finds his small band at the forefront of the action, in a unique position to observe German movements and report back to HQ. Potter is keen to pick a fight with the enemy rather than skulking in the shadows, but Factor is determined to sneak about gathering valuable information about the enemy's strategy. Factor's small unit soon discover that the Germans are moving supplies and equipment along a vital rail route which crosses a high mountain bridge. The bridge is in a narrow mountain pass, very difficult to strike from above with airpower... but from a ground attack it may be possible to destroy it. They plan to sabotage the bridge, but the job is fraught with danger. Early on in Ski Troop Attack, the script seems to be sowing the seeds of an interesting clash of interests between Lt. Factor and Sgt. Potter, but this character conflict sadly never evolves into anything of note. Wolff if actually quite good as the snarling, cynical Potter (he's by far the one actor who stands out above the others), but he's surrounded by otherwise mediocre performers. The WWII footage is obviously of a different stock to the dramatic scenes, but it is used sparingly and the differences in the grain never become overly distracting. At 60-ish minutes in length, the film is brief enough to keep your attention and is put together with more coherence than, say, some of the other Corman quickies from the period (such as the dire She-Gods Of Shark Reef or Attack Of The Giant Leeches). While it never ates as a first-rate Boys Own behind-enemy-lines flick, Ski Troop Attack remains competent and enjoyable in its simple, unambitious way. Basic B-movie fodder, but not entirely unenjoyable - you could do a lot worse!

'Ski Troop Attack' must be one of the lousiest war war movies ever made, and it is by far the worst Roger Corman's movie. The film is incoherent and sloppy (not unusual traits for Roger Corman's film), but at the same time it lacks that unique taste of cheese and sleaze. The film is not laughably bad, by that I mean 'Ski Troop Attack' don't fall into beloved category of 'so bad it's good' - that particular film is just bad. By the time the film reaches it's climax you don't even care anymore. The story in general is not that bad - in a snowy German forests and mountains US Army ski patrol has to cross behind enemy lines to blow up strategically important railroad bridge. The squad have to defend themselves against constant attacks of German troops. Within the group there are conflicts between young lieutenant (Michael Forest) and hard talking sergeant (Frank Wolff), but these quarrels stay too calm and never grow into real competition. Basically, nothing that much different compared from other war movies. There was one interesting scene between American troops and a wife of a German soldier that promised something different, but that opportunity was left fully exploited. I don't call any movie a waste of time ever (not even in this particular case), but I wouldn't recommend that movie to anyone. 'Ski Troop Attack' is suitable watching only for hardcore Corman fans who are interested of how dull and dreary snore-fest on of the most interesting and entertaining filmmakers can produce. Sloppily directed, poorly written, badly edited. Well, what did you expect, some might ask - I expected to be entertained.