THE VICTORS is a black and white WW2 film following the misadventures of a squad of American soldiers as they work their way through various theatres of war in Europe. They begin in London, narrowly avoiding the Blitz, before moving into occupied Italy and finally - following the D-Day landings - working their way through France back towards Germany.
This isn't a film I'd particularly heard about before watching and having seen it I have to say that I found it a bit of a slog to sit through. It's an epic-length movie with a very slow pace and a narrative which is episodic in nature. The soldiers are just that, soldiers, without ever being particularly sympathetic; whether you like them or not depends on how much you like the actors playing them. George Hamilton and George Peppard are both good value and Eli Wallach is great as always, but I could take or leave the rest of them.
The film does have its strengths, including some fine cinematography which makes the bombed-out ruins of a war-devastated continent look incredible. There isn't a great deal of action here but that which does occur is realistic and engaging. Playing spot the famous face is fun, as the film includes bit parts for Albert Finney, Roy Scheider, and Peter Fonda. Some moments such as those involving the dog or the Russian soldier are extremely harrowing and downbeat. However, too much of the film chronicles the experiences of the Yanks with various European women, all of them played by top European talent like Jeanne Moreau and Elke Sommer. These romantic interludes are slow and where the film lost my interest, taking the edge off a potential masterpiece.
This isn't a film I'd particularly heard about before watching and having seen it I have to say that I found it a bit of a slog to sit through. It's an epic-length movie with a very slow pace and a narrative which is episodic in nature. The soldiers are just that, soldiers, without ever being particularly sympathetic; whether you like them or not depends on how much you like the actors playing them. George Hamilton and George Peppard are both good value and Eli Wallach is great as always, but I could take or leave the rest of them.
The film does have its strengths, including some fine cinematography which makes the bombed-out ruins of a war-devastated continent look incredible. There isn't a great deal of action here but that which does occur is realistic and engaging. Playing spot the famous face is fun, as the film includes bit parts for Albert Finney, Roy Scheider, and Peter Fonda. Some moments such as those involving the dog or the Russian soldier are extremely harrowing and downbeat. However, too much of the film chronicles the experiences of the Yanks with various European women, all of them played by top European talent like Jeanne Moreau and Elke Sommer. These romantic interludes are slow and where the film lost my interest, taking the edge off a potential masterpiece.