Panzer division

World War II movies are my forte and I am well-versed in military history as well as time-period accoutrements. I have seen some bad Second World War flicks in my time, but this "thing" of a picture, this blasphemous abomination, sure cuts the cake! Besides lacking talent, creativity and a determination for a little historical research, the guy who directed this film had to have sympathies with Nazi ideals. First, it was shocking to see the French Resistance portrayed as a roguish band of buffoons headed by an equally idiotic and boisterous leader; a smack in the face to the brave, witty Maquis who courageously resisted the German occupation of their homeland. Secondly,the film is saturated with bad acting, senseless dialog, contemporary uniforms,weaponry and vehicles (check out the "U.S. troops" wearing Spanish Army camouflage uniforms, helmets - which are a direct copy of the old German M1944, poorly concealed by helmet covers and brandishing CETMEs -Spanish copies of the G3 7.62mm automatic rifles). The "Tiger" is clearly a Spanish Army-issue M-48! Need I go on? Rent, but do not buy, this movie. The insatiable stupidity will make you laugh and cry..and laugh again; yes, it's that bad!!!

The film starts with a brief introduction reads , "As long as there are two men left one Earth, there will be war" . Stelvio Rossi as Lt. Hunter , nicknamed as Stan Cooper , assumes the character of commando leader in this ordinary wartime movie regularly directed by José Luis Merino . It is set during World War II, after the D-Day invasion . At the beginning of the movie happens a raid into French territory , there a two-fisted but unsettling officer , Lt. Hunter (as Stan Cooper) , attempts to organize his Tiger tank crew to escape from enemy army . The lieutenant leads a group of expert soldiers on a risked as well as strange getaway . The relentless run is submitted to strong sufferings , risked adventures and hazardous feats . He is a merciless Lieutenant with only one desire : to go out of beyond of enemy lines . Meanwhile , his nemesis , a tough American officer named Lofty (Guy Madison) who commands the allied Army (whose combat helmets are really postwar Spanish army and all of the American soldiers wielding arms are unique to postwar European) tries to destroy the enemy by besieging them . As the bunch of German Tank Crew fight to survive in France while a french woman called Jeanette (Erna Schurer) has volunteered to lead tank crew back to German lines , subsequently she falls in love with the German lieutenant (Stelvio Rossi) . The unfortunate Nazis , misfits from the German army do not care how its done and will run over anyone who gets in their way .

This moving film packs frantic thrills , perilous adventures , relentless feats , and buck-loads of explosive action , violence with reminiscent of Spaghetti Western . The noisy action is uniformly regularly-made , especially deserving of mention the rip-roaring final scenes in which the motley , wayward squadron is really besieged , including some spectacular shootouts and bombing . The ending tank battle is actually very similar to a gundown on the streets of the traditional Western town between the good guys and bad guys . The first half of the film allows the colorful cast of character actors to have their fun as they get their tails whipped into shape and developing a particular love/hateful relationship with their leader . The final part is all action , as the German team pursued by Partisans and US soldiers and then run for their lives . Apart from the values of team spirit , the film has a peculiar starring , far fom the uni-dimensional characters , as the Lieutenant results to be a disturbing role with doubts , nightmares and cowardice . The film is full of feats , suspense , battles , excitement and thrills . However , there are a number of unaccuracies and goofs , as the American troops are armed with Cetme assault rifles that were the ordinary weapons of the Spanish army which also delivered the inappropriate tanks , but actually manufactured in the Fifties . And , in addition , some American soldiers of the U.S. Army are wearing German paratrooper helmets. Rough Stan Vance is leader of the motley pack together thwart the Allied schemes , he gives an overacting and puts faces , grimaces and always on the edge of a nervous breakdown . Stelvio Rossi dominates this adventure war with his hysterical performance . Co-starred by Erna Schurer who eventually performed various Nazi-exploitation, both as a nasty Kapo or psycho-Nazi torturer . Along with a lot of familiar faces , mostly Spanish , who played a lot of Spaghetti/Paella Western , Warlike or other subgenres such as : the fatty Ricardo Palacios as a resistance fighter , the attractive brothers Rubén Rojo , Gustavo Rojo , Milo Quesada as Pierre, Jeanette's husband , Rafael Hernández , Rufino Inglés , Ángel Menéndez, sabtiago Rivero , and Antonio Mayans usual collaborator and actor of Jesus Franco's films .

It packs a moving and thrilling musical score by prolific Angelo Francesco Lavagnino . As well as atmospheric cinematography by Emanuele Di Cola . Filmed on location in Manzanares del Real , Colmemenar Viejo , La Pedriza , Madrid, where in the sixties and seventies had been shot several Chorizo/Pasta westerns . The motion picture was middling and professionally directed by Jose Luis Merino , though resulted to be average and it contains several flaws and gaps . He was a skill and successfully craftsman . Merino often used same actors , such as Stelvio Rossi , Peter Lee Lawrence , George Hilton and Charles Quiney . He has written/directed numerous films of all kinds of genres such as Terror : Ivanna , The hanging woman ; Euro-spy : Colpo Sensazionale al Servicio Del Sifar ; Chorizo/Spaghetti Western : More Dollars for the MacGregors , Frontera Sur , Réquiem for the gringo , Gatling gun , Seven ride to death , ; Wartime : Last Panzer battle , Hell commandos , A Bullet for Rommel , When heroes die ; Musical : Europa Canta , Aquellos Tiempos Del Cuple , and his most successful films are the fresh and diverting adventures : Tarzan and King Salomon's mines , Robin Hood , Rebelion De Bucaneros , El Zorro knight of Justice , El Zorro De Monterrey , and Last adventure of Zorro . Rating . 5.5/10 . So-so but passable and acceptable Paella/Spaghetti warfare movie .

"The Battle of the Last Panzer" was a co-production between the countries of Spain and Italy. Despite two countries collaborating on the movie, it seems that they weren't able to raise a decent budget. Although the events of the movie take place in France, the filmmakers stuck to filming in the Spanish countryside, which looks nothing like France. Also, the French village in the movie is obviously a thinly dressed set used for a spaghetti western!

However, the tacky look of the entire enterprise wasn't what sunk the movie for me. There are two big problems in the movie. The first is that none of the characters is sufficiently fleshed out enough so that we can care about them (or hate them). The second problem is that the movie is pretty boring. There's far too much talk and not enough action. And the little action there is in the movie is poorly directed so that there isn't the least bit amount of excitement. Too bad, because despite the low budget you can see the potential the premise of the movie had.

A German panzer brigade is smashed to bits by Americans ( who are wearing stupid Nazi helmets , what ? ) but one crew survive and must repair their m47 Patton , sorry , tiger in order to get back to their own lines before being captured or killed. The plot sounds interesting but when the film gets started it delivers bad acting , poor action scenes and an array of weapons that are from the 1960's , come on every war film still manages to get the correct uniform and weapons ( besides tanks ). Don't even watch this film sober otherwise you will go to a neighbouring farm and shoot yourself with the farmers shotgun. A poor movie in every aspect and i am shocked that TCM were the ones who showed this on TV.

"La Battaglia dell'ultimo panzer" is about a German panzer crew caught behind the American lines in France in 1944. The production values of the movie are very low; the anachronisms and errors concerning equipment and uniforms are actually quite obvious. Nevertheless, the plot is quite intelligent. This is a surprisingly serious war movie and much more reflective than most WW II war movies of the period (such as 'Where Eagles Dare' or 'Kelly's Heroes', or the countless Italian rip-offs of these more 'lighthearted' war thrillers.)

This is mainly because the characters, and in particular the German soldiers, are more than just the kind of cardboard cliches one expects from this type of low-budget movie. Especially the main character, a German lieutenant and commander of the crew, played by Stelvio Rosi, is a surprisingly three dimensional character. While he presents himself as a hardline nazi believer at first, we later see that the horrors of war affect him deeply in an unexpected moment and the final scenes of the movie have a very bitter lesson in store for him. Civilians and their different ways of dealing with the occupation also have a place, giving some surprising nuances which most war movies (including the technically infinitely superior, but plot-wise arguably inferior 'Saving Private Ryan') lack.

The acting is middle-of the road. None of the (quite unknown) actors are really bad, but none really stands out. 8/10 for some of the writing, 2/10 for the production values