La straordinaria fuga dal campo 7A

WWII adventure that veers skillfully between drama and comedy . In War Was Two , captured British soldier Stephen Brooks (Oliver Reed) is on a prison train to Germany . On the train he meets an American prisoner, Packy (tiresomely flacky Michael J. Pollard in a major comic role) , who's obsessed with getaway. On arrival at the POW camp Stalag 7 , Brooks and other fellow POWs are sent to work at the local Munich zoo, to care for the animals .After a devastating bombing raid that kills some of the animals , the zoo staff is decided to evacuate the surviving animals. The prisoner of war , Hannibal Brooks working at the zoo is assigned to look after an elephant named Lucy , to whom he grows devoted , as he gets the chance to escape from the Germans, so he does and he takes with him the elephant that he's been caring for and liberated from Munich zoo . En route with the elephant from Munich to a safer zoo in Innsbruck , Hannibal accidentally kills the Nazi member of the escort and then he sets off with Lucy over the mountains to Switzerland . As he attempts to cross the Alps on the back of the elephant . Together they head for the Swiss border and freedom. Supersoldier in the Super Adventure . It's a suspense story. It's a comedy story. It's a war story. It's a warm story. It's a wild story. It's a love story. It's a moving story. It's an elephant story. It's a super story. Guess who "got the Steve McQueen-Sean Connery-Burt Lancaster-type role" in this super adventure?

A war comedy with adventures , thrills , humor , spectacular battles and a good thrilling climax . It is a sympathetic tale with entertainment and funny enough , featured by some likeable roles who enhance the amusement . It waves from comedy , noisy action to melodrama . Main and support cast are pretty well . British Oliver Reed plays a POW assigned to evacuate valuable elephant from Munich zoo , giving an agreeable acting , forming a peculiar buddie movie with snub-nosed American Michael J. Pollard who steals the the show by delivering comic relief , while the elephant wins all hearts in the emotive final. They're very well accompanied by a fine support cast , such as : Wolfgang Preiss as Colonel Friedrich von Haller , John Alderton as Bernard , Peter Carsten as Kurt , gorgeous Karin Baal as Polish Vronia , Ralf Wolter and brief appearance by James Donald as POW priest.

Hannibal Brooks (1969) contains a sensitive and catching musical score by French composer Francis Lai . As well as colorful cinematography by Robert Paynter , though a perfect remastering being really necessary . The picture was acceptably directed by Michael Winner. He had important commercial success in the mid-70 with his fetish actor, Charles Bronson , achieving various box-office hits, as ¨Deathwish I and II¨, furthermore ¨The mechanics¨ and ¨The stone killer¨. With his obsessive need to work, Winner accepted many inferior projects, including two weak Death Wish sequels , though occasionally he attempted to make more prestigious films, notably ¨The Nightcomers¨ (1971), a prequel to Henry James' The Turn of the Screw, made in Britain with Marlon Brando; and ¨A chorus of disapproval¨ (1989), a satisfying version of Alan Ayckbourn's bittersweet comedy . Hannibal Brooks (1969) rating : 6.5/10 . Fun and enjoyable film that will appeal to Oliver Reed fans and WWII enthusiasts.

You've already read the plot, where an English POW risks his life to conduct a bombed-out zoo elephant, Lisa, from Germany to a safe haven in Switzerland during World War II. Despite the doubts that plot line might suggest, this is a great movie that held my attention the whole way through. An excellent cast gives life to a wide range of characters; and you really do come to understand their actions and care about them.

Oliver Reed, as "Hannibal" Brooks, brings a light touch and a wry sense of humor to this role that blends both comedy and drama. It pays to listen closely to the by-play between Brooks and his fellow POWs and the zoo staff, and German soldiers he encounters - there's some really funny stuff here. However, as a war film, it's not all comedy - there are fighting sequences and the film includes some spectacular explosions and pyrotechnics.

One thing I liked about the movie is that it portrays the decency of common people; the ordinary people they met along the way who took time to be caring and kind -- in contrast to the horrors of war all around them.

Michael J. Pollard, as Packy, an American POW who has ambitions of military glory, is kind of strange. But, then Michael J. Pollard is always strange, so I guess that's what they wanted for his role. I would have preferred to see it played "straight", but I think the strangeness works in this movie anyway.

This is a very enjoyable movie - I hope it gets wider distribution on video/DVD so that more people can enjoy it.

What can you say about a war movie where an elephant crosses the Alps? It's silly but a heck of a lot of fun. The scenery is gorgeous, the acting is light and the action sequences are top notch. Oliver Reed is perfectly cast as our hero Brooks. He has played so many villain roles that it's great to see him play a nice guy for a change. The beautiful Austrian scenery steals the show. Somehow every time we see a breathtaking view of the mountains, we forget we're watching a war movie. The war is shown in a very comedic way(especially all of Michael J. Pollard's scenes, which are priceless) and this works to some extent. The comedy never goes overboard (a fine balance is kept throughout the film). A good example of this is the final action sequence at the border crossing which is exciting and well played with a nice dash of humour thrown in. At many times we are required to check our disbelief at the door but this is such a good natured movie that we don't really care.We root for our heroes to make it to safety, all the way to the end, without ever really wondering if they will make it, but that's part of the film's charm. Overall a great movie to see on a cold winter day.

Michael J. Pollard does, to an extent, spoil every scene he is in.

I think that the main problem that Oliver Reed is one of the finest actors of the past thirty years - all brooding menace and power bubbling under the surface. Considering his role as Bill Sykes (the ultimate depiction of a vicious character), he is quite believable here.

However Pollard hams up his role and plays it like a smacked up hippy. I can't imagine that the French Resistance fighters would have followed him for an instance, and I am sorry to say he is badly miscast here.

The film is also, to an extent, a little derivative, with some pretty shoddy direction. It does have some superb cinematography which helps balance this out, but to be honest its a film to watch on December 27th when you have had your fill of Christmas cheer and just fancy something light.

The idea of a film telling the story of a POW taking an elephant across the Alps is ridiculous but guess what? It works. Good actors, fantastic scenery, action and fun,what else do you need? Well worth watching.