Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Helloturia I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

spam1-5 The movie is kind of a re-run treat. It very closely follows the true story of the First Special Service Force. The commander is correctly identified as Lt. Colonel Robert Frederick and it did consist of both US and Canadian troops - about 500 Canadians and 1200 Americans. All were volunteers. The American criminal contingent is all Hollywood although as with all volunteer forces there will have been some with checkered pasts.Training in the real unit was intense and the movie follows that training faithfully. The mountain assault really did happen that way. I have always considered the assault to be a highlight of cinematic combat action.About the only thing missing is their real moniker - the Black Devils. In German it was the "Schwarzer Teufel" so named because of the black face paint used in night raids. They would attack and then flee into the night as if they were literal devils. The unit was disbanded on December 5, 1944 after only two years. All US special operations combat forces are said to be descended from this unit.Cliff Robertson is masterful in the role of the Canadian commander. Jack Watson as Corporeal Peacock is one of my all time quirky characters.

Dalbert Pringle Released in 1968 - This expensive production set during WW2 may have featured a big-name cast headlined by William Holden, Cliff Robertson and Vince Edwards, but it lacked any real depth to its story and its characters were only regarded in the most superficial manner.It appeared to me that a good part of the time the actors seemed noticeably bored and distracted in their parts. And I could never say that a memorable performance was put in by any of its principle players.Often looked upon as a blatant rip-off of The Dirty Dozen (which was released one year earlier), The Devil's Brigade's story of uncommon heroism and valor was apparently based on fact. But, who can really say for sure? For the sake of dramatic effect, this film does leave one wondering to what extent fact was conveniently replaced by fiction.With its story taking place in rural Italy, Lt. Col. Robert Frederick is given the daunting task of melding a renegade group of American and Canadian recruits into a crack team of commando warriors. Once trained and ready for action these soldiers are assigned to attack and capture a strategic Nazi stronghold situated on a perilous mountain range.At an over-long running time of 130 minutes, The Devil's Brigade loses steam far too quickly and it contains one elaborately-staged brawl too many between the Canadians and the Americans.

moonspinner55 WWII story has William Holden looking distressed at playing an American Lieutenant Coloniel, assigned to the heady task of whipping a large group of delinquent G.I.s into shape within four months for possible battle in Norway; complicating matters on the training base is the inclusion of a Canadian military unit who must share the field--and the barracks--with the obnoxious Yanks. Robert H. Adleman's book must have seemed like surefire screen material in 1968, but today it merely looks like a second-rate imitation of any number of "Dirty Dozen" war entries. All the usual clichés are firmly in place, from the rowdy bar brawl to the male ego-bruising to the eventual bonding amongst the men (which happens at exactly the 60-minute mark, commencing with the graduation ceremonies). A not-bad supporting cast (including Cliff Robertson, Vince Edwards, Carroll O'Connor, and an aged Michael Rennie and Dana Andrews) mostly takes a backseat to the soldiers-in-training, with Claude Akins' class-clown hogging a great deal of the spotlight. By-the-numbers film-making (not to mention storytelling) has a handful of rousing moments; yet, once the first-half is done, the rest of the picture is practically irrelevant. *1/2 from ****

medicalguy2 This is one great film. I must say that when it comes to WW2, Canadians always seem to be left out. It was that way with The Longest Day, Saving Private Ryan , The Great Escape etc, so I must say that seeing Hollywood making a movie with Canadians is exciting in itself. This movie is based upon an actual joint Canadian - American unit, that was formed during WW2. The movie is fairly accurate as far as how things really went, during training and also in combat. This unit was one of the crack units of the war, and the end battle of the movie was a real WW2 battle. I found the acting to be alright for its time, except that once again Canadians are portrayed as speaking with an English accent! as for the battles and the depth of the film, I would say it did a good job of bringing together the characters. I would say that this would make a great remake. I would also hope that maybe Hollywood would make a few more movies about this great unit and the people who served.