Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

mraculeated The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

raypdaley182 In this made for TV movie we get a mainly black cast with a few token white guys. The guy playing the white Major sent to take the unit to the dam, I've never seen before or heard of before.It's the black cast I knew. Billy Dee Williams (pre-Empire Strikes Back), Moses Gunn and Richard Pryor trying to play a straight version of himself.Basically this is a bigoted officer sent to command a brigade of black soldiers on a dangerous mission. So dangerous in fact 3 of them get killed before they ever get to the dam itself.The deaf guy was always going to die first, the big guy (who, it turns out used to be a pro footballer) is killed by a sniper and Billy Dee Williams gets blown up after stepping on a land mine.The same land mine injures Moses Gunn and Pryor looks like he deserts so only the black officer, 1 of his men and the white officer actually end up trying to attack the dam.Pryor uses a cart full of hay to get onto the dam and leads the attack only to be injured. The other black soldier is shot and killed during the skirmish with the Germans. Pryor throws the detonator for the explosives over the side of the dam.This is a film about 1 man who comes to change his point of view about black people, it's a good exploration of the themes of racism and bigotry.The film itself isn't very long and might have benefited from being at least 20 minutes longer and them having taken the entire brigade only for 2 men to survive.Still worth a look though to see Richard Pryor playing a more serious role for a change.

ewarn-1 The writers probably had no experience in the army, and probably never glanced at a history book, but I still give this cheaply produced war film some credit for taking a long-needed look at the role of black soldiers in the second world war.The action is confused and unbelievable--any episode of Combat! has better production values, but the cast is interesting. Seeing New York Giant Rosie Greer was worth the buck I paid for this. The art direction is fifth rate--the men wear Korean War uniforms, and it was pretty lousy weather by the time the U.S. Army reached Germany in 1944, not sunny as they show here, and I don't think the terrain resembled Northern California. The script never does make clear why the black support troops are used as combat soldiers. There is a nice touch that shows some of the men carrying Springfield rifles instead of M-1s, which second rate troops probably would have been issued with.This basic story idea(racist southern officer commanding black troops) should have been expanded into a big budget production back then, and its not too late to try it now. You have to take this for what it is, and I admire the creators of this film for making the effort.I remember seeing this a while ago and thinking it was set in Italy, which would have made more sense because there were black combat troops operating there in 1944.

tvpanic22 Was a kid when I saw this movie first air on ABC television as it introduced me to a World War II U.S. Army that I didn't know existed. Yes, the mysterious, wooden and often referred to obnoxious Stephen Boyd is in it along with superstars Rosie, Richard and Billy Dee. One of Ireland's most famous Hollywood actors, Boyd was a genuine thespian who shines in his role as the angry officer. The wonderful Susan Oliver's not too shabby either. Neat little drama for fans of the "Ben-Hur" and "Fantastic Voyage" guy. It's a sad note that Stephen died before he had successfully comeback into the arms of Tinsel Town after knocking about in Europe doing no-money/no fame work, but that was his thing. See him in "The Oscar" as he's a hoot in the bomb and he'd be the first to tell ya.

Sex Baby I rented this movie as a joke a while back, and boy was I glad I did... this film is hilarious... if you can even find a copy of it, rent it and watch it and laugh and then watch it again. It's also great to see a young Richard Pryor playing a serious role in a film that in the end will probably be one of his funniest.