Yes, this film is nuts.
(WARNING BASIC PLOT OVERVIEW FOLLOWS:)
So let me get this straight, Oliver Reed is a Prisoner Of War, captured and contained by the Germans as the Second World War draws to a close. The German army , (being unusually considerate in this film) give him the job of mucking out the Elephant quarters in the nearby Zoo.
But when the allies bomb the Zoo during a raid, our hero goes on the run for the Swiss border and freedom... with... an Elephant.
It sounds bad, but actually, this is one of my favourite films. (In the UK at least) you will find that a year does not go by without this film being shown on terrestrial TV. This is how I saw it as a child and thought it was great. It is a strange film, difficult to see what market it was aimed at. It has Oliver Reed and Michael J Pollard in absurdly comic mode, playing the fool(s) in the midst of war. The audience tends to be spared the horrors of combat in favour of slapstick violence. (and this in a film by Michael "Death Wish" Winner !)
(Spoiler follows) In one seen (depicted on the US poster for the film) a group of German soldiers are quite casually dispatched when Hannibal, (Reed) makes his travelling companion, (Elephant) roll some freshly chopped timber down a hill and over them.
So if you are prepared for a little adventure with a big heart and it's tongue firmly placed in it's cheek, Give Hannibal Brooks a go. You might just like it. (But you might have a hard time finding it on video or DVD !)
(WARNING BASIC PLOT OVERVIEW FOLLOWS:)
So let me get this straight, Oliver Reed is a Prisoner Of War, captured and contained by the Germans as the Second World War draws to a close. The German army , (being unusually considerate in this film) give him the job of mucking out the Elephant quarters in the nearby Zoo.
But when the allies bomb the Zoo during a raid, our hero goes on the run for the Swiss border and freedom... with... an Elephant.
It sounds bad, but actually, this is one of my favourite films. (In the UK at least) you will find that a year does not go by without this film being shown on terrestrial TV. This is how I saw it as a child and thought it was great. It is a strange film, difficult to see what market it was aimed at. It has Oliver Reed and Michael J Pollard in absurdly comic mode, playing the fool(s) in the midst of war. The audience tends to be spared the horrors of combat in favour of slapstick violence. (and this in a film by Michael "Death Wish" Winner !)
(Spoiler follows) In one seen (depicted on the US poster for the film) a group of German soldiers are quite casually dispatched when Hannibal, (Reed) makes his travelling companion, (Elephant) roll some freshly chopped timber down a hill and over them.
So if you are prepared for a little adventure with a big heart and it's tongue firmly placed in it's cheek, Give Hannibal Brooks a go. You might just like it. (But you might have a hard time finding it on video or DVD !)