Cheap The Desert Rats (DVD) (Robert Wise) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Desert Rats

Poor production values
Richard Burton turns in a very strong performance, as usual, but the low-budget production values in this picture take it down a couple of notches. There is nothing even approaching original German equipment. In fact, the uniforms and equipment would have been unacceptable poor in a TV episode of the "Rat Patrol" made 15 years later. The whole point of Afrika Korps desert warfare is that the uniforms and equipment have to be cool looking.

Frankly, this is not a film you'd ever need to see twice, much less own on DVD.

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This is a good WWII Movie
This is a very good WWII movie set in North Africa. Richard Burton is very good in his role. It seems that he put a lot more depth into his characters in his earlier pictures as you can see here. As for Mason, he is one of a handful of actors that are always good no matter what role they play. Robert Wise also demonstrates why he is such a gifted director turning in a film with both a good story and character development. This is a notch above many other war movies.

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Widescreen or Full Format?
It's a fine film and certainly a good one for those of us who like exciting war films. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Mason's Rommel is every bit as good as his Rommel in the earlier superb Desert Fox. But, you should know the information on the back of the case has conflicting information about the film's DVD format. In the orange box listing features it clearly notes it's Full Frame at 1.33:1. But in the small white print at the bottom it says Widescreen Version. The 1.33:1 (full screen) is the same as The Desert Fox and many other BW films of the same general time. Considering the action and character exchanges fit nicely into the full screen format, my guess is that the film was filmed in this format and the widescreen note is a typo on the case.