Not even bad in a good way

Highly Overrated But Still Good

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Excellent WW2 drama, starring the great Humphrey Bogart. Solid plot, though a bit over-the-top in terms of plausibility. (Remember, this film was made in 1943 - the middle of WW2 - so was essentially a propaganda movie). Great direction - not a foot wrong.Bogart gives his usual take-charge cool-as-ice performance, and is superb. Right up there with Casablanca in terms of his performance.Spot Lloyd Bridges (I didn't! Was surprised when I saw him in the credits).Definitely hasn't dated and is well worth the watch.

Zoltan Korda directed this WWII film that stars Humphrey Bogart as Sergeant Joe Gunn(great name!) a tank commander in charge of a diverse group of mixed nationalities making their way across the hot, barren, and bleak North African desert of the Sahara, trying to reunite with the main American force and stay alive in the process, since cool, fresh water is vital, and more valuable than gold. Bruce Bennett, Lloyd Bridges, J. Carol Naish, Rex Ingram, and Dan Duraya costar. Well-directed film really captures the atmosphere of its time and place well, and makes the viewer feel the dryness of the Sahara(though filmed in California) and sympathize with their plight. Good acting as well.

This is another of Humphrey Bogart's war movies, this one made for Columbia Pictures instead of his usual work for Warner Brothers. In some respects, it's a war movie with a difference, in that it focuses much more on the men than the fighting. Bogie's character is Sgt. Gunn, an American tank commander separated from his unit in North Africa, trying to get his tank and his men back to Allied lines. Along the way they pick up a few stranded British soldiers, and also take a few prisoners, most notably Italian Giuseppe (a role for which J. Carroll Naish was nominated for a supporting actor Oscar.)The primary issue involved is not so much the battle against the Germans (although that comes in the last half hour or so) but is rather the battle with the desert. The men are running out of water, and are desperately searching for a well. There's a brief hint of some competition, as at first the British soldiers aren't clear that they want to be given orders by an American sergeant, but that gets resolved quickly. Naish did, in fact, do a great job as Giuseppe, portraying very believably the general contempt that many Italian soldiers had for the war. He was contrasted with a stereotypically gung-ho German soldier.The climax comes with a battle against a German battalion that's also desperately searching for water. Hopelessly outnumbered, Gunn decides they should take a stand and delay the Germans as much as possible. The scenes of desert warfare were believably portrayed (and the desert landscape was totally believable.) The result of the "battle" was perhaps not believable enough, unfortunately. It's an interesting movie, less action-packed than many war movies and as a result a bit slow perhaps at the start as it builds toward that last battle.

This movie withstands the test of time and therefore is a classic. All the facets of movie production fall right into place in this outstanding movie about sacrifice and heroism. Instead of being hokey, this movie offers a strong and compelling story about survival and does this with an all-male cast. This movie may be the penultimate war movie; it is at least an excellent example of the genre. Theatrics are set aside as the the story immediately unfolds and follows a straight path leading to a strong dramatic finale. Humphrey Bogart and the rest of the cast are excellent. Especially impressive is the performance of J. Carroll Naish as an Italian POW. Although made during World War Two, the movie succeeds in keeping propaganda to a minimum and concentrates instead on telling a story. The movie maintains a steady level of suspense as the audience is made to wonder whether the tank crew will survive. In the era of flashy special effects and computer graphics, it is refreshing to watch a movie that relies solely on acting and actual sets and locations to tell a story.