Tobruk [1967] [Blu-ray]

Great dvd

Brought this for my husband. Value for money and good delivery timescale

Often underated by some, but "Tobruk" is a great war film up there with the others and made during the erawhen war pictures of this stature were commonplace yet, if remade today, would come no where near the mark. Arrived earlier than expected and well packed from Switzerland, so thank you! Another unique film formy library!

Good value with quick delivery

Made in 1966, this is nothing like one of the best of war films. "Based on" a real mission (the real mission, Operation Agreement, failed), it's rather trite & clichéd. Rock Hudson is an unconvincing Canadian officer (who, of course, escapes), Peppard does a reasonable job as the commander of the German-Jewish commandos posing as Afrika Korps soldiers. The star turn is Nigel Green, who plays a posh & very slightly stuffy (but with a twinkle in his eye) English Colonel; Jack Watson (also of The Hill & The Wild Geese) does his usual solid stolid ranker / RSM role.On the whole, though, the plot is that little bit too contrived (including the regular comedy asides between Percy Herbert & Norman Rossington), and the plot 'twists', such as they are, are rather obvious before they happen. Finally, whilst it may have been nominated for an Academy Award for SFX, no effort seems to have been made to source genuine vehicles, and very little, if any, to make the vehicles used resemble what would have been around in 1942.Despite Hudson's name on it, this is very much B-movie territory, and not especially sparkling B-movie territory either. It's OK, but no more than that.

Late 1960's war movie with some super explosions and set pieces. Well shot, and directed and featuring a cast of US stars and good British support actors - on location shoots which added to the grande feel, which, at the time of its cinematic release - would have been spectacular. (Sequences were pinched by movies/TV movies produced afterwards to bulk out their meagre budgeted efforts). A few twists, some decent stunts - a script which allows an element of depth to the story (with some stereo typical characters) can't hide that it is a sanitised war movie....but at that time audiences were not yet ready for the realism we now have (with the likes of Saving Private Ryan and Hacksaw Ridge). It is all very 'Let 'em have it' with gritted teeth, heroic stands and valiant sacrifices.....pretty bloodless and no bad language......historically inaccurate and lacking in authenticity.......but its also 'Commando War Stories for Boys' come to life and its great to see again! (If you're under 40 you won't get that reference - and will probably be too PC to watch this anyway).

Tobruk is a superior men-on-a-mission movie with lavish production values and a good set-up even if it has little resemblance to history (there was a Second World War and the Nazis were the bad guys, but that's probably about the only thing you won't need to take with a pinch of salt), with Canuck Rock Hudson sprung from a Vichy French prison ship in Algiers by George Peppard's German Jews fighting for the Allies. Seems he's the only one who can guide them on a raid on the German fuel dumps at Tobruk along with a raiding party disguised as Afrika Corps troops transporting British prisoners of war led by Nigel Green's casually anti-Semitic British colonel. Neither the British nor the Jews particularly trust each other because of that nasty business in Palestine, with Hudson pretty much taking the William Holden role from Bridge on the River Kwai here as a reluctant buffer between them while at a remove from their obsessions. Naturally, there's a traitor in their midst and enemy patrols, minefields and their own airplanes to be avoided, with a Nazi-sympathising Irish spy and his daughter thrown in to complicate matters further and add a bit of half-hearted female interest amid all the testosterone.Obligatory war movie regulars Norman Rossington, Percy Herbert and Jack Watson are present and correct in the ranks (Sam Kydd and Gordon Jackson were presumably busy that month on another war movie) and there's a memorable score by Bronislau Kaper, billed here as Bronislaw Kaper. It's impressively directed by Arthur Hiller with a well-crafted script by Leo V. Gordon (who also appears in the supporting cast as Sergeant Krug) that keeps things moving and throws in the odd good spin on some of the clichés en route to a finale that should please all lovers of very big explosions, while Russell Harlan's Techniscope cinematography looks good in the 2.35:1 widescreen German DVD, which offers an English soundtrack with removeable subtitles and the original theatrical trailer.Odeon's UK Blu-ray offers a good widescreen transfer that suffers a little in the extreme long shots where the grain field increases - largely because it was shot in the Techniscope format, known as the poor man's CinemaScope, which used only half the frame area on its negative to avoid distortion and save on film stock costs at the expense of some quality - but for the most part is pleasingly detailed with good depth to the image. Extras are limited to a a brief stills gallery (18 images) and a fullframe and less than stellar quality copy of the original trailer, which curiously doesn't credit the director Arthur Hiller but does give prominent billing to composer Bronislau Kaper.

A good film which keeps you engaged throughout.