Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageThe Victors (1963)
Director: Carl Foreman
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
A World War II picture with a weightiness all its own that follows an American infantry unit from Sicily, up through Europe, to the fall of Berlin and after. Foreman adds nothing to William Wellman's portrait of an ordinary GI unit in Battleground (1949). Instead of the emotional complexity of the earlier film, Foreman offers a rather cheap and shallow sense of irony, sometimes effective, more often ponderous. Interludes between campaigns are beefed up by the presence of various sexy European actresses; Hamilton, Peppard, Wallach and Fonda play some of the soldiers who get theirs at various stages of the long slog towards the death of the last one at the hands of a drunken Russian soldier (Finney) in a knife fight in Occupied Berlin.Author: CPe
User reviews of this film
-
- TK&P said...
-
Posted on Jan 06 2008 01:21
If you have read the excellent book by ex British Soldier Alexander Baron, "The Human Kind" you will already be familar with some of the scenes portrayed in this film.
What a pity however, that the film makers felt it neccesary to convert the experiences of the average British soldier into that of our American allies. I suppose the studio involved felt that a film about British forces fighting thier way from Italy to Germany would not have the same impact therefore revenue. I guess not much has changed on that score.
Nethertheless a very watchable film - Report as inappropriate
Cast & crew
Director: Carl Foreman
Producer: Carl Foreman
Cast: George Hamilton, George Peppard, Eli Wallach, Vincent Edwards, Rosanna Schiaffino, James Mitchum, Maurice Ronet, Jeanne Moreau, Romy Schneider, Michael Callan, Peter Fonda, Melina Mercouri, Mervyn Johns, Albert Lieven, Senta Berger, Elke Sommer, Albert Finney full cast
Genre(s): War
Duration: 175 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Martin Provost discusses 'Séraphine'
Trevor Johnston talks to the director of 'Séraphine' about bringing a little known French painter back to life
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now