A classic

Since this movie is a classic, of course, I was l really eager to check it out. Obviously, it was a major inspiration for Quentin Tarantino when he made 'Inglourious Basterds' and you could even argue that this movie is actually superior to Tarantino's movie. Indeed, the script might be more simple but, as a result, it was also not so convoluted and, above all, it was just so much less pretentious than 'Inglourious Basterds' was. So, I sure did like the damned thing, especially how brutal it was, above all in the final act. It was also interesting that Telly Salavas was playing a really ugly psychopath and maybe they could have pushed it even further by making the other soldiers ever more reprehensible but maybe it would have been too hard then to root for such despicable characters. Still, it wasn't really flawless though. Indeed, the main issue was that the damned thing was just too long. I mean, it was always entertaining but they should have trimmed the training section which went on forever. Still, even if their training was endless, the final act was rewarding displaying the most messed-up black op I have ever seen. Eventually, I think they pushed it slightly too far  by making these criminals look like some super soldiers but I think they still managed to have a good balance between the humor, the entertainment and how messed-up the whole project turned out to be. To conclude, even if I don't think it is really a masterpiece, it was still a really solid WWII feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.  

7/10