Desert Commandos (1967)

- Attentato ai tre grandi
A different kind of war movie, 24 February 2005

Five Nazi commandos parachute into the Sahara and must make their way to Casablanca. Their mission: the assassination of Roosevelt, Chruchill, and Stalin. Along the way, the five face not only possible discovery by the British and American troops, but (as they are dressed as British soldiers) they also face the real possibility of being killed by German troops.

Before watching Desert Commandos, I had only seen some of Lenzi's thrillers - Seven Blood Stained Orchids being my favorite. Lenzi has always impressed me as a good story teller. Of his movies I've seen, all tend to use a straight ahead narrative style. Unlike many of his Italian peers who are criticized for being all style and no substance, I don't find that to be the case with Lenzi.

I enjoyed seeing a WWII drama told from such a different perspective. Because Lenzi presents the Nazi soldiers as normal guys who just happen to be fighting for the other side, it's easy to identify with their concerns and fears. The Nazis in Desert Commandos are more than the stern, no emotion robots as presented in most American war movies. As impossible as it seems, I actually found myself wanting to see these guys succeed. It makes for a very nice change of pace.

My biggest problem with the movie is the pacing during the first half. Almost all of the scenes consist of the soldiers stumbling through the desert. A little more action like run-ins with British or German soldiers might have made for a much better movie. But, once the commandos get near Casablanca, things pick up. The ending is really fantastic.

The copy of Desert Commandos I saw came on one of those double feature (with something called Ransom Money) $1 DVDs. While the transfer wasn't pristine, it's not bad for $1. The transfer, however, was Pan and Scan. A lot of information was cut from the sides of all of the scenes. For example, if you just looked at the title page before the movie starts, you would think you were watching a movie called Desert ommando. The "C" and "s" were completely cut off the screen.

6/10