Huievest
Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.
FirstWitch
A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.
Tyreece Hulme
One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.
Marlburian
I watched APOA courtesy of TalkingPictures TV channel, which is proving a treasure trove of little-known films, often low budget, of the 1960s.The plot unfolded in a satisfying way, with a parade of familiar British actors of yesteryear in small parts, including,as noted, "Likely Lad" Rodney Bewes. Stanley Baker inevitably impresses in the starring role.The film must have been made with the co-operation of the British Army and so shows officers and soldiers reacting to the raid in an efficient manner. (One or two of the actors could have worn their berets in a more military manner, and there was one sloppy salute - and what about the motor-cycle rider stopping off at a pub for a drink or two on duty?) One thing that did puzzle me was why the highly-strung Fenner was running in a panic through crowds of mocking soldiers and incurring the wrath of, I think, the regimental sergeant-major. Perhaps the clip that showed the reason for this was edited out?Overall, very entertaining.
rstout3526
The long awaited DVD release cover gives equal billing to Rodney Bewes and Fulton McKay. Why? Bewes only has one line and I cannot recall Fulton McKay at all. Surely Patrick Magee should have taken a billing slot? Apart from that I consider this film to be on a par with the likes of Hell Drivers, Hell is a City, Villain and Robbery - all finely cast gritty crime dramas of that era. The tight direction, army camp locations, vehicles used and military discipline & bull all add to the reality. The film is gripping throughout and keeps you in suspense. Although Stanley Baker and Tom Bell are again typecast as villains, it would be difficult think of other actors who could have carried this off, except say for Michael Craig. Well recommended.
badajoz-1
A gritty thriller based on a heist from an army camp that is busy transiting people and equipment for a crisis war overseas. Typical of the period that was about to launch British neo-realism (film version of kitchen sink stage drama and TV), but it still looks and feels like a fifties postwar UK frayed around the edges and in the middle! With such a downbeat feel, with not enough backstory - Stanley Baker is getting back at the Army for dismissing him without honour some sixteen years earlier - what has he been doing in the meantime? - it does not quite work. Yes, the acting is good, the tension well maintained as one or two things start to go wrong, but why these three got together and what their particular current motivations are does not really come through. And how the plan was initially put together also remains elusive. But it is a good film with honest and straightforward intentions - something today's British post-modernist, cynical,deconstructionist, nothing's any good before last year filmmakers could learn a lot from!
gerry1019
I was surprised that this film has not yet been reviewed here since it stars a major British talent, the late Sir Stanley Baker.The film is set against a background of a Suez type military action. The main protagonists including Tom Bell of later Prime Suspect fame, decide this would be a perfect time to rob an army camp where there is lots of cash for the deployment and an overall atmosphere of confusion.The plan is well thought out and feasible but, inevitably small things start to go wrong. The film is quite gripping and the whole business is resolved in a more than competent fashion.The screenplay of the movie was co-written by Nicholas Roeg. The version I watched, a PAL disc viewed NTSC ran 102 minutes.
