Cheap Raid on Rommel (Video) (Richard Burton, John Colicos) (Henry Hathaway) Price

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Customer Reviews of Raid on Rommel

Richard Burton and Star Trek villain John Colicos play British intelligence officers who attack German desert defenses in this 1971 film. The best battle scenes are toward the end of the film when Burton's character sets the base aflame with his tanks and flame-throwers. It was exciting to see him a realistic action hero. There were no Stallone like scenes with him out fighting the enemy. He was more clever and deceptive in making the Nazi's believe he was one of them. They discovered that he wasn't the man he presented himself to be far too late. He led the Nazi's to think he was treating his soldiers for Typhoid fever.

John Colicos role was that of a supporting actor to Burton. It made me realize that he had a lot more talent than given credit for. I wish he had more dialogue with Burton other than taking orders and following the leader.

Desert Version of Where Eagles Dare
Yet another motion picture vehicle for Richard Burton to play commando and destroy the Nazi war effort in North Africa. Burton's character is very similar to the part he played in WHERE EAGLES DARE, and later reprised in THE WILD GEESE. Burton goes behind enemy lines to destroy Italian coastal artillery on the Libyan coast. The mission goes awry. Burton is forced to come up with an alternative plan that includes the destruction of the Afrika Korps fuel reserves using an ad hoc group of POWs.

The primary shortcoming with RAID ON ROMMEL is that about half of the aerial and special effects footage was lifted directly from 1966's TOBRUK more blatantly than scenes were ever repeated from TORA, TORA, TORA! As both TOBRUK and RAID ON ROMMEL are Universal Releases there were very few issues as far as the studio was concerned. I will have to give credit to director Henry Hathaway and the film editor for assembling this picture from two separate films. For the most part the 1971 film flows along with the original 1966 footage. The significant breaks in in continuity occur toward the latter part of the film where uniforms, weapons and action do not match the story that has already been established.

Comparing the two films, TOBRUK is a well made film with with a flimsy plot -- but the special effects are spectacular. RAID ON ROMMEL is a poor film with an okay storyline. The action scenes in RAID ON ROMMEL are great, but they belong to TOBRUK. In order to match some of the original German vehicle convoy scenes the film crew raided the Universal vehicle boneyard and fielded pretty much the same military surplus trucks and half tracks. For this I give them kudos. As an aside, you could still see some of these surplus vehicles at Universal Studios, California in the late 1980s.

In addition to Burton, John Calicos costars as one of the POWs-turned-commando. War film buffs will also recognize military film regulars Karl Otto Alberty (KELLY'S HEROES, WAR AND REMEMBERENCE) and the late Wolfgang Preiss (THE LONGEST DAY, ANZIO, BATTLE OF THE COMMANDOS, THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL)as German officers.

Oh well. Whether or not you see this film as a remake of TOBRUK or 1969's PLAY DIRTY, it should probably make its way into your military film collection. By the way, the California desert scenes are breathtaking.

For the love of all that is good do not see !
My friend gave this DVD to me,
Upon reflection I think he did it just to make me mad.
Where shall I start ... tanks which for the majority of which look nothing like the actual German ones. The actor who plays Rommel looks NOTHING like him. The uniform Rommel wears does not match any recorded one I know of in Africa during WW2.

Plot about as thin as an atom and much less substance to it.