Aqui Só Cabem os Bravos

Darby's Rangers -or The Young Invaders ,to give it the title under which it was shown in Great Britain - is a lengthy world war two movie about the formation of the US Rangers ,its initial training at the hands of the British in Scotland and its success in battle both in Africa and Europe .It also devotes some considerable time to the private lives of the troops especially there involvement with women On neither level is it particularly engrossing with the battle scenes clearly being staged on a studio set which renders them somewhat artificial looking and unconvincing while the platoon members are just not interesting enough to make me care greatly what happens to them The acting is routine Garner is under used and such young performers as Peter Brown and Ed Byrne lack the experience and charisma to hold the screen

Good to see the British accorded some respect in a US war movie but otherwise this is routine fare indeed

I'm sorry to say that this film, which is James Garner's first leading role, is a mess. And almost all of the fault is in the writing.

There have been other films about military teams in training. And they have been better than this.

We can thank the writing for some horrible characters. And some terrible plots. They try to mix training scenes with scenes concerning the personal lives of the men, but it's all a mess.

I wish I could list all the times I cringed in response to a particular line, but that is not possible. They follow one another like lemmings.

Some visual effects were also off-putting, like when they trainees are rappelling up a cliff and one man's line comes loose and he plummets to the ground. The entire scene was contrived, amateurish and poorly done.

Obviously there are some people who liked this film, but I cannot recommend it.

Routine, by-the-numbers war film made on an off-day by the great William A. Wellman. It's no better, and somewhat worse, than other WW II films of that era, with some sappy and contrived love stories thrown in. Although Wellman hadn't made "B" pictures for years, that's just what this one comes across as--far too much of it is shot on sound stages (apparently to save money on location shooting) which makes it look cheap, as does the surfeit of poorly integrated newsreel stock footage, and what little action there is isn't particularly well done. The script is, to be honest, awful, and the acting--other than Garner, whose first major role this was and who's quite good and Edd "Kookie" Byrnes, who plays an arrogant young West Point officer on his first combat assignment--is for the most part pedestrian, with the tired stereotypes you see in pretty much every war picture: the slow-witted hillbilly, the fast-talking city slicker, the weary veteran sergeant, etc.

Overall, it's slow and boring, with some unnecessary comedy relief thrown in and too much attention paid to the GIs' love interests. Not one of Wellman's better films, by a long shot.

William Orlando Darby (James Garner) pushes to form the US Rangers modelled after the British commandos. Various soldiers are recruited to train in Scotland for the new formation led by Darby. Initially, the group is sent to fight in North Africa and then Italy.

I only recognize James Garner and he's the only compelling actor for me. The first half concentrates too much on the men's love lives although the bus meet-cute is plenty cute. None of the relationships matter that much. They are being too cute and trying too hard to be funny. The pratfalls and jokes fall flat. Some of the actors are a bit too stiff. The comedic tone rings old fashion. The material would be better served as a more serious darker drama. The new Lieutenant comes in too late and the girl is too melodramatic. I can do with less melodrama and more war action. It's surprising that Garner isn't given more to do. The fighting is mostly studio interior or backlot sets. There are some archival footages and bigger exterior sets. There is some dangerous running in front of tanks.

The film tells a very fictionalized account of the formation of the U. S. Army's First Ranger Battalion. It's the idea of Major William Darby (James Garner), who envisions an American equivalent to British commandos. After the first batch of recruits undergoes training in Scotland, they head into action throughout the European theater. Many of the men also find time for romance with various local ladies.

This was a mixed bag for me. There are some exciting action scenes, and some funny jokes and visual gags, too. I liked Jack Warden as the narrating sergeant. James Garner is always good, but he's rather wasted here in a flat part. On the other hand, Edd "Kookie" Byrnes is just plain terrible, with awful acting and hair, attitude and dialogue delivery straight from "hip" 1958. The multiple romantic subplots are insipid sketches that are neither convincing or compelling. One unintentional source of amusement is courtesy of the sound effects. There's a particular "person falling down" sound effect that is perhaps best remembered from the Charlie Brown cartoons which is heard whenever Lucy pulls the football away at the last second and Charlie falls backwards and hits the ground. Well, that same sound effect is used for every fall in this movie, and a lot of people fall down. It could make for a good drinking game.