Tobruk

Having never even heard of this film at the age of 44 and an avid war film buff, I really thought it would suck. Throw in Rock Hudson and well, that didn't raise my expectations. I was scared to read the other reviews here as well thinking it would reflect the low 6 average rating on IMDb. Well, I just finished watching this 60's war actioner and here is my praise, I was very pleasantly surprised! The beginning was nothing too hot but I started to take notice when Brit traitors are picked up, this was Ice Station Zebra stuff, which I though was just great. Not that having Brit's against Germans, and German Jews being used by the Brit's and throw in the Italians as well, well now we have Brit spies and German double agents! I mean thats what can make a straight actioner like this pretty interesting (Where Eagles Dare?). What really sells it for me, if you want to watch a fiction war movie and really enjoy it, it needs LOTS of destruction, preferably by Commando's! Well in the end this one really delivers. I love the flame thrower scenes, the audio to that flamethrower was a great touch! I don't think I ever remember hearing it like that before. BTW if a war flick uses flame throwers I tend to remember them above ones that just use guns, so kudo's to the director for realizing that fact! Other flame thrower war movies I vividly remember, Hell Is For Hero's (James Coburn gets fried wearing one, very shocking the first time you watch it), When Trumpets Fade (that flame thrower scene was very shocking), and Men In War (Robert Ryan charging a hill with Aldo Ray wearing a flame thrower? C'Mon that is war movie heaven), oh yeah who could forget The Deer Hunter (DeNero in Nam blazing away, c'mon), I even think Rambo had one in part 2 (my favorite fictional war action movie ever). Here we have George Peppard blazing away a whole lot of Germans and it's done up close and personal, very nice scenes, I was impressed. Of course it has the post WW2 era American tanks and all, but like another reviewer said, it also had a P-40 so they tried a little bit. I think hardly any of the 50's to 70's war films were very accurate when it came to military hardware like tanks, budget was probably the reason, or maybe no one thought anyone would notice?, lol. If that's your biggest complaint against this film you are not going to enjoy a lot of war films from these years (thats actually why I enjoyed the Battle Of El Alemein, they tried to show authentic crappy Italian tanks in battle, even though the Brits were using personnel carriers as tanks and the German tanks were models, lol at least they tried a little!). The military hardware thing is just something you eventually (after 20 + years of watching these films) tend to overlook so you can enjoy the film. Hudson doesn't let me down and the Brits involved are all established war film character actors adding to a great realism that this is an above average war flick. I give it a solid 8 as far as fiction war films go. If You Liked The Rat Patrol and Ice Station Zebra.......with a touch of Guns Of Navarone, give it a view. Bravo!

Trailer—Tobruk

... and always has been. But still, this World War II action-adventure does have plenty of excitement, a cross and doublecross plot, and a great mixture of different nationalities, one of the best things about it I thought when I first saw it on television 20 or 25 years ago. The actual battle of Tobruk plays no part in this story. It's about a complicated commando mission by the famous Long Range Desert Group. The LRDG, while being distinct from the even better known SAS, sometimes joined in combined operations with them at times during the desert campaign against the Afrika Korps. The LRDG mainly engaged in hit-and-run raids against German supply, dangerous enough even without the Hollywood plot elements which make this movie so entertaining. The film's comic relief is provided by Norman Rossington who did the same job for the Beatles in "A Hard Day's Night".

RELEASED IN 1967 and directed Arthur Hiller, "Tobruk" chronicles events during WWII in Northern Africa when a Canadian major (Rock Hudson) teams-up with British commandos & German Jews to hinder Rommel's Afrika Korps by destroying his major fuel depot in Tobruk, Libya. Nigel Green plays the British colonel while George Peppard appears as the Jewish captain with Guy Stockwell as his subordinate. Jack Watson and Percy Herbert are also on hand. The movie scores high marks with the notable cast, grave ambiance and brutal action, but it's also hindered by hackneyed contrivances, like the eye-rolling trap door and traitor element. But any flaws are redeemed by a literally explosive climax. There's also some commendable human interest and tension in the ethnic prejudice department. THE FILM RUNS 107 minutes and was shot in Arizona (Yuma, Tucson & Mojave Desert) and Imperial County, California. WRITER: Leo Gordon. GRADE: B-