Simply A Masterpiece

hyped garbage

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

If, as a boy, you came across this as a random showing on local TV, it stayed with you. There's something about the desert setting; the discovery of treasure; and the bonding of protagonists sharing a common urgency against a defined enemy, that stays with you. I remember watching with my older brother. I'm 65 at this entry. Older brother is dead now. But when I think of this modestly budgeted movie (which I've only seen twice), I remember it fondly for it's adventurous setting and my brother explaining things about the tank and it's machine gun.Today, it might be easy to dismiss this film as a low-budget time-filler. But don't. Watch it. It will bring about a sense of comforting simplicity. You'll want to be inside that old Afrika Corps tank. You'll want to be with the cast. You'll want to help them make decisions to help save their lives. Keep watching and let your imagination drift inside that old tank. Join them ... and vanish into 1953, when we believed and trusted our government.

When I watch a movie like this one, I am not just watching a movie, I'm re-experiencing the simplicity of the early fifties. The details are not important. In 1953, we were convinced that radiation could produce tomatoes the size of Buicks. The improbability of restarting a WWII German tank buried in sand for 10 years would not have been an issue. I would take the simplicity of the fifties over the sophistication of the present any day. But then I watch movies for release, I go to work for reality.

I remember seeing it once about 40 years ago when I was about 7, and it just stuck with me: The image of those guys digging in that sand dune and finding that cool WWII Afrikakorp tank with the witch painted on the turret; pure adventure. I never knew the title, but today I decided to do a plot search on IMDB and finally discovered it after all these years. I do remember it as being ultimately unsatisfying, but it's amazing how one solid image can last in a kid's mind. Will try to rent it for old time's sake.

I saw this movie on television at least twice, and I still remember it as enjoyable. I guess it is the treasure-hunter in me that enjoys the idea of a lost german tank being rediscovered in the desert with a fortune of stolen jewels in it. As far as the possibility of being able to resurrect the tank, I have seen mechanics who could take a pile of junk parts and turn them into whatever they wanted to. after all, didn't the A-Team do this on every episode? The movie had enough action to keep it going, and character actors such as John Dehner didn't hurt either. All in all, it's a simple escapist movie. I would even consider buying it if it were released.