"...kinda makes you homesick, don't it...?"

Rating: 9/10 (4 February 2017)

Late on in WWII most soldiers just want to get to Berlin without dying; the last thing they want to be is 'heroes'. However when an opportunity is presented, in the form of gold bars worth 16 million USD stashed in a bank just behind enemy lines, some of them change their minds about taking risks. Soon a rag-tag group of U.S. soldiers is mounting a 'private war' through German lines to get their hands on the loot.
This is a very well made film with a good script, an excellent cast, and fine photography. Made at the height of the Vietnam war, it is basically an anti-war satire. However, considering its comedic intentions, many of the battle scenes are as realistic and as bloody as those in many 'proper war movies'.
The film was made in Yugoslavia (the part which is now Croatia). The Yugoslavian countryside passes very well for rural eastern France and (to a non-expert such as myself) all the military equipment looks very realistic. At the time the film was made the Yugoslavian army were still using military equipment with WWII origins, and from both sides. This must have eased the film's equipment logistics considerably.
They blow/smash a lot of stuff up in this film and they blow/smash it up for real. Even at Yugoslavian prices it must have cost a fortune! The three Tiger Mk1 tanks in this film look very realistic. I wondered about this (I later discovered that there aren't three working Tiger Mk1 tanks anywhere) until I found out that they were modified T34 tanks. The Yugoslavians had already converted them (to a very high standard, although the gun turret is unavoidably further forward than it should be) for a domestic film production and they were made available for this film.
The version of this film (which is also available on DVD and Blu-Ray) which has been most recently broadcast on UK TV runs to over 2-1/4 hours. Unlike earlier broadcasts which were doctored for 4:3 screens, you are likely now to see the film as it was intended, in 2.35:1 aspect ratio, even on TV. It looks so much better now I barely recognise it as the same thing I saw for the first time back in the 1970s, when it was 'a big film on TV' one Christmas.
If, when watching the film, you wonder if there isn't a back story missing from some of the characters, you'd be right to; there was another 20 minutes or so to this film which was cut before release. Whilst they probably did the right thing in some respects (it would have been too long for cinema release). I like this film enough that I'd sit through a longer version quite happily.
Some folk might now only watch this film because it is 'a period piece'; and it is one. But it is also a good film in its own right and (violence asides perhaps) I would heartily recommend it to anyone.