Italian producers Mino Loy and Luciano Martino shelled out a generous budget for this 1978 war epic commonly known as 'The Greatest Battle' but also stamped with alternative titles like 'Battle Force' and 'The Battle of the Mareth Line.' The film is an ambitious project that was clearly made for theaters worldwide, using higher-shelf locations, production values, and cast. Several crew members even used American aliases (including Martino as 'Louis Martin') to hide their unflattering résumés.
'The Greatest Battle' was foolishly dropped into the hands of Umberto Lenzi, who co-produced, co-wrote, and directed this film under the pseudonym 'Humphrey Longan.' The Italian was no stranger to war movies, having drawn notice with 'Desert Commandos' and 'Battle of the Commandos' during the 1960s. By the late 70s, however, Lenzi's reputation was in decline after turning out a series of increasingly violent gialli and repugnant horror flicks. This production was a golden opportunity for Lenzi to revive his career, but he continued to ignore the most basic fundamentals of his craft and only widened his status as an exploitation hack.
It is difficult to explain how 'The Greatest Battle' goes wrong because it fails on so many levels. The film models itself after box office smashes of its era like 'Midway' and 'Patton,' which integrate large-scale action with humanistic story lines. Unfortunately, 'The Greatest Battle' falls victim to bad writing, awful direction, and shod technical work. Lenzi's script, co-written by Cesare Frugoni, is a muddled effort to link friendships at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin with military happenings in North Africa during 1942 and '43. The concept had potential with such a talented cast and large budget, but it is all poorly executed, as if the filmmakers weren't sure of how to develop their ideas. To make matters worse, the vast action scenes filling most of The Greatest Battle's running time have a cheap look that spoils their effectiveness.
'The Greatest Battle' starts just after the 1936 Olympic Games, when four internationally-linked people share a farewell dinner: U.S. Army general Foster (Henry Fonda), German major Mannfred Roland (Stacy Keach), British war correspondent Sean O'Hara (John Huston), and German, half-Jewish actress Annelise Ackermann (Samantha Eggar). Their conversation moves to the possibility of war in Europe, which they find unlikely. Little do they know, however, that Germany would invade Poland in 1939 and cause a series of events to forever interconnect them at the Mareth Line, a fortification system in Tunisia where the allied forces launched their offensive.
Most of the film consists of allied battlefield efforts against Germany, with the main characters followed intermittently and Orson Welles supplying narration. Lenzi's obsession with action footage leads to an entire cast being wasted. The main characters give this film a human element, but they are only superficial glue to justify the carnage that follows. Henry Fonda spends most of his time sitting in a West Point office while donning his army uniform. Ray Lovelock, who gives a decent performance as General Foster's son, is heroic in battle and quickly becomes an aide to General Patton. John Huston brushes with the front lines as an over-the-hill war correspondent and recites a poem by John Donne. Stacy Keach leads his men reluctantly until he dies in combat. Samantha Eggar, who becomes Keach's wife, is pressed for information by the Gestapo and commits suicide. Helmut Berger enters the film as a devoted German lieutenant, besides Giuliano Gemma as a British army captain. Other names in the European film industry pop up, such as Edwige Fenech, Ida Galli, and Venantino Venantini. However, most of these subplots have no flow or rhythm, as if they were randomly stuffed into the main plot of North African battles.
Better moments are in the action scenes, populated by tanks, jeeps, heavy artillery, and soldiers. These scenes (filmed in Spain) move quickly and use eye-opening sequences like German tanks chasing after British support vehicles and extreme close-ups of allied tanks plowing through enemy lines. Very little of the footage is stock, which Lenzi is known to use, and it maintains a frenetic pace. But even the action scenes have a cheap feel, since they are horrendously edited (by exploitation woodchopper Eugenio Alabiso) and sneak in plastic models running over miniature landscapes. Moving vehicles are seen jumping into freeze-frame before an explosion. Extras are seen bailing out twice during a given battle and angles seem to change indiscriminately, leaving the viewer unsure of which army he's looking at. While the action scenes have their strong points, there are other times when it's all a complete mess.
Cinematographer Federico Zanni's visuals are decent, capturing a hot, gritty atmosphere. The score - paper-thin takes by Franco Micalizzi (as 'Frank Michaels') - is generic and not particularly impressive. Sound quality is poor and the dubbing of voices is often incoherent. Overall, 'The Greatest Battle' is a rotten entry that never comes close to its goal. It is little more than 'another' European war production with several qualified actors dragged along for the ride.
Copies of 'The Greatest Battle' are hard to locate. A DVD with restored footage and widescreen presentation has been released in Germany, but it does not contain an English language option. English language tapes occasionally circulate on the Internet, including several that have been edited to pieces by U.S. distributors. The version used for this review was a 1997 VHS cassette from HBO Home Video, considered one of the 'better' editions despite its terrible pan and scan format. If anything, 'The Greatest Battle' would be nice to watch on the big screen, as certain footage doesn't present itself well on a television set. But I don't expect a 'Lenzi Festival' anytime soon, at least not in New York.
* out of 4
'The Greatest Battle' was foolishly dropped into the hands of Umberto Lenzi, who co-produced, co-wrote, and directed this film under the pseudonym 'Humphrey Longan.' The Italian was no stranger to war movies, having drawn notice with 'Desert Commandos' and 'Battle of the Commandos' during the 1960s. By the late 70s, however, Lenzi's reputation was in decline after turning out a series of increasingly violent gialli and repugnant horror flicks. This production was a golden opportunity for Lenzi to revive his career, but he continued to ignore the most basic fundamentals of his craft and only widened his status as an exploitation hack.
It is difficult to explain how 'The Greatest Battle' goes wrong because it fails on so many levels. The film models itself after box office smashes of its era like 'Midway' and 'Patton,' which integrate large-scale action with humanistic story lines. Unfortunately, 'The Greatest Battle' falls victim to bad writing, awful direction, and shod technical work. Lenzi's script, co-written by Cesare Frugoni, is a muddled effort to link friendships at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin with military happenings in North Africa during 1942 and '43. The concept had potential with such a talented cast and large budget, but it is all poorly executed, as if the filmmakers weren't sure of how to develop their ideas. To make matters worse, the vast action scenes filling most of The Greatest Battle's running time have a cheap look that spoils their effectiveness.
'The Greatest Battle' starts just after the 1936 Olympic Games, when four internationally-linked people share a farewell dinner: U.S. Army general Foster (Henry Fonda), German major Mannfred Roland (Stacy Keach), British war correspondent Sean O'Hara (John Huston), and German, half-Jewish actress Annelise Ackermann (Samantha Eggar). Their conversation moves to the possibility of war in Europe, which they find unlikely. Little do they know, however, that Germany would invade Poland in 1939 and cause a series of events to forever interconnect them at the Mareth Line, a fortification system in Tunisia where the allied forces launched their offensive.
Most of the film consists of allied battlefield efforts against Germany, with the main characters followed intermittently and Orson Welles supplying narration. Lenzi's obsession with action footage leads to an entire cast being wasted. The main characters give this film a human element, but they are only superficial glue to justify the carnage that follows. Henry Fonda spends most of his time sitting in a West Point office while donning his army uniform. Ray Lovelock, who gives a decent performance as General Foster's son, is heroic in battle and quickly becomes an aide to General Patton. John Huston brushes with the front lines as an over-the-hill war correspondent and recites a poem by John Donne. Stacy Keach leads his men reluctantly until he dies in combat. Samantha Eggar, who becomes Keach's wife, is pressed for information by the Gestapo and commits suicide. Helmut Berger enters the film as a devoted German lieutenant, besides Giuliano Gemma as a British army captain. Other names in the European film industry pop up, such as Edwige Fenech, Ida Galli, and Venantino Venantini. However, most of these subplots have no flow or rhythm, as if they were randomly stuffed into the main plot of North African battles.
Better moments are in the action scenes, populated by tanks, jeeps, heavy artillery, and soldiers. These scenes (filmed in Spain) move quickly and use eye-opening sequences like German tanks chasing after British support vehicles and extreme close-ups of allied tanks plowing through enemy lines. Very little of the footage is stock, which Lenzi is known to use, and it maintains a frenetic pace. But even the action scenes have a cheap feel, since they are horrendously edited (by exploitation woodchopper Eugenio Alabiso) and sneak in plastic models running over miniature landscapes. Moving vehicles are seen jumping into freeze-frame before an explosion. Extras are seen bailing out twice during a given battle and angles seem to change indiscriminately, leaving the viewer unsure of which army he's looking at. While the action scenes have their strong points, there are other times when it's all a complete mess.
Cinematographer Federico Zanni's visuals are decent, capturing a hot, gritty atmosphere. The score - paper-thin takes by Franco Micalizzi (as 'Frank Michaels') - is generic and not particularly impressive. Sound quality is poor and the dubbing of voices is often incoherent. Overall, 'The Greatest Battle' is a rotten entry that never comes close to its goal. It is little more than 'another' European war production with several qualified actors dragged along for the ride.
Copies of 'The Greatest Battle' are hard to locate. A DVD with restored footage and widescreen presentation has been released in Germany, but it does not contain an English language option. English language tapes occasionally circulate on the Internet, including several that have been edited to pieces by U.S. distributors. The version used for this review was a 1997 VHS cassette from HBO Home Video, considered one of the 'better' editions despite its terrible pan and scan format. If anything, 'The Greatest Battle' would be nice to watch on the big screen, as certain footage doesn't present itself well on a television set. But I don't expect a 'Lenzi Festival' anytime soon, at least not in New York.
* out of 4