An intense and moving warlike picture with a lot of shootouts , fights and violent incidents . Thrilling and stirring film about thorny decisions that can lead to grisly executions . The lost remnant of a British Army Brigade gets away across the jungle towards the British lines. Cut off by the Japanese advance into Burma, Captain Langford (Stanley Baker) and his exhausted British troops take over an enemy-held jungle hamlet . But jungle combat is more grueling than Langford had reckoned. There Langford abandons all notions of "military protocol" and seeks a vital information at whetever cost , and he'll stop at nothing , including the firing squad . As the tough commander weighting impulsive requital , attacking against the formalities of the Geneva International Convention , resulting in the protests of an elderly priest (Guy Rolfe) and of war correspondent Max Anderson (Leo McKern) . As Sergeant McKenzie (Gordon Jackson) is ordered by Langford to shoot two innocent villagers , thereby "persuading" and subsequently extracting a Japanese informer to surrender the urgent and extremely necessary information . When the Japanese recapture the village, their chief officer (Philip Ahn) uses Langford's own deadly war-born tactics in a similar effort to take information from the coerced British . Crimes of War! . Bloodiest Face of War Exposed! .The Most Outspoken Film of Our Time! .War Is Hell! .The Most Controversial War Drama Ever Filmed. The Burma war goes on .. but now the slaughter begins !. If they ever make a more meaningful picture they'll have to fire live ammo from the screen !.
A strong film about the Burma Warfare genre with usual ingredients as sadistic commandant , ominous Japanese military , heroic soldiers carrying out barbaric orders and innocent villagers suffering savage punishments . There's a lot of everything in this Val Guest's wartime drama about Burmese war , such as : noisy action , serious talk about thought-provoking issues , violent battles , lush jungle scenarios and anything else . A cruel film dealing with the ruthless , brutal truth about the most barbaric decision in the annals of Burmese warfare . The flick has a solid script by Peter R. Newman , and being interesting enough , resulting to be slow-moving , but very engaging . Being allegedly based on facts , authenticated by the very few who survived the massacre . Furthermore , the war battles , explosions and jungle shootouts make strong impression . The film boasts of a good plethora of Britsh actors , many of them Hammer's regular , giving decent acting , such as : Stanley Baker , Guy Rolfe , Leo McKern , Gordon Jackson , Richard Pasco, David Oxley , Bryan Forbes, David Lodge , Percy Herbert , Philip Ahn as a Japanese commandant , and Burt Kwouk's brief appearance , among others.
The motion picture was professional and competently directed by Val Guest . He was a prolific and uneven craftsman , and outstanding in Science Fiction and Fantasy films as "The Quatermass Experiment" , "Quatermass II" , "The Abominable Snowman", "The Day the Earth Caught Fire" and "When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth" , Hammer's failure follow up to "One Million Years B. C.". Rating : 6.5/10 Notable . Worthwhile seeing. The flick will appeal to WWII enthusiasts.
A strong film about the Burma Warfare genre with usual ingredients as sadistic commandant , ominous Japanese military , heroic soldiers carrying out barbaric orders and innocent villagers suffering savage punishments . There's a lot of everything in this Val Guest's wartime drama about Burmese war , such as : noisy action , serious talk about thought-provoking issues , violent battles , lush jungle scenarios and anything else . A cruel film dealing with the ruthless , brutal truth about the most barbaric decision in the annals of Burmese warfare . The flick has a solid script by Peter R. Newman , and being interesting enough , resulting to be slow-moving , but very engaging . Being allegedly based on facts , authenticated by the very few who survived the massacre . Furthermore , the war battles , explosions and jungle shootouts make strong impression . The film boasts of a good plethora of Britsh actors , many of them Hammer's regular , giving decent acting , such as : Stanley Baker , Guy Rolfe , Leo McKern , Gordon Jackson , Richard Pasco, David Oxley , Bryan Forbes, David Lodge , Percy Herbert , Philip Ahn as a Japanese commandant , and Burt Kwouk's brief appearance , among others.
The motion picture was professional and competently directed by Val Guest . He was a prolific and uneven craftsman , and outstanding in Science Fiction and Fantasy films as "The Quatermass Experiment" , "Quatermass II" , "The Abominable Snowman", "The Day the Earth Caught Fire" and "When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth" , Hammer's failure follow up to "One Million Years B. C.". Rating : 6.5/10 Notable . Worthwhile seeing. The flick will appeal to WWII enthusiasts.