Les roues de la terreur

An ill-advised adaptation of one of Sven Hassle's WW2 Eastern Front novels, WHEELS OF TERROR is a film that it's quite difficult to enjoy. Hassle's books were always grimly realistic and downbeat, and despite attempts to emulate that style, WHEELS OF TERROR feels cheesy and quite sentimental by comparison. What's obvious here is that the budget was quite low, meaning that the various action scenes are only averagely handled, and at times look more like they belong in a '60s Italian war film than a 1980s movie. I do like the work of director Gordon Hessler (THE OBLONG BOX, SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN, etc.) but this is one of his lesser efforts.

The cast is a mixed bag of familiar faces. Some stand out, others are bland. Bruce Davison headlines things but was quite wooden, I thought, although the ever-snide David Patrick Kelly (COMMANDO) is better as the volatile one. The all-American David Carradine is an odd choice to play the German officer, but it works quite well, and it's hard not to enjoy Oliver Reed's cameo as the pompous general. Overall, though, I found WHEELS OF TERROR to be quite a shoddy film, and not really something I can recommend, which is a surprise given that screenwriter Nelson Gidding previously wrote the scripts for classics like THE HAUNTING and THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN.

Svel Hassle has written a lot of books about his war experiences as a Dane in the German Army in WWII. Most of these fictional accounts but based on real-life events), the books have been widely released in Europe, but from time to time are available in North America as well (Corgi Press).

This is the one and only movie made from one of his books, a shame really, since Swen Hassle portrays way in a most realistic manner; neither making light of what is happening, not glorifying war, but emphasizing the "Kameradschaft" - the effects of the war's events on Swen and his friends.

The movie unfortunately has some flaws that keep it from being really great. Foremost of these is the casting of David Carradine as a German officer. Too bad, since his performance in this film is sub-par at best.

The casting of Bruce Davison as Porta is a great choice, and he really shines in this movie, and along with David Patrick Kelly (as "The Legionnaire") gives realistic performances.

One of the major reasons this movie didn't receive wider distribution was protests from a number of groups who thought the movie - although they probably had not seen it - glorified the Nazi regime. It doesn't - it portrays war as brutal (on all sides), with no leaders to rely on, rather only one's fellow soldiers to depend on for your life.

A side-note - Swen Hassle is still alive (at this writing) and until relatively recently, has still been writing (although not writing fiction any more). Two of the three major characters in his books (Tiny, Porta and the Legionnaire) survived the war as well.

To tell the truth, I liked this movie. It's not great, it's not even good, but it's a very entertaining piece of budget movie history, and considering that I am surprised at how good it actually became.

Basically it is a classical Dirty Dozen/Guns of Navarone mixture. Group of misfits in German penal battalion goes on impossible mission, shot lots of ruskies, loose some good men and have some strange/amusing/other encounters. The acting isn't bad, in fact it's downright good in a few spots such as Tiny and The Legionaire but generally it's pretty mediocre. What makes this movie something more than B trash is the fact that it has some pretty likable characters and some pretty funny scenes.

For example; throughout the movie we are given propaganda bulletins on the German radio talking about the heroes of Bektovka, who are holding out against all odds far behind enemy lines. One is compelled to laugh at the absurdity when our heroes accidentally end up at Bektovka and discovered that the 'heroes' are living a quiet farm life together with the Russian defenders of the village.

Another fun thing, at least for me, was how equipment and uniforms change continuously throughout the movie. At one point even the German tanks (which look suspiciously like Russian JS3s) are transformed, into Russian T-55s.

Wheels of Terror gave me a feeling of watching an episode of the 60s WW2 series 'Combat' or the old Polish series 'Four Tankers and a Dog'. If you're looking for a good war movie see Peckinpah's 'The Iron Cross' or Stone's 'Platoon', but if you're looking for a trip down nostalgia lane Wheels of Terror is the movie for you.

A very watchable low budget WWII action adventure in the same vein as Kelly's Hero's. You could say it's a cross between Kelly's Heros and the Dirty Dozen. It's a light-hearted adaptation of a Sven Hassle novel about a German penal tank crew sent to the Russian Front. On their return they are sent on a mission to destroy a train behind enemy lines with the promise of retirement if their mission is successful. The tone is one of anti-war and anti-nazism, with the laid back crew pushing insubordination to the limits. The movie has a good cast and characters. David Carradine is superb as the nazi Col. Von Weisshage; and indeed one of the things that make it enjoyable is that all the actors seem to be enjoying their roles. The other thing that makes it enjoyable is the solid humour that keeps a steady pace.

Entertaining but average WWII film with lots of humor , battles , explosions , tongue-in-cheek action and sheer amusement ; being really a takeoff on ¨Dirty Dozen¨ style . Spectacular War film with a touch of irreverence about a reckless group of German soldiers , 27th Panzers , Hitler's heavy-duty combat regiment . As a group of inmates find themselves recruited into the military undertaking a dangerous mission behind enemy lines , as they sneak on Russian territory to get blowing-up a train . Exciting film with a truly silly formula about a misfit team led by Capt. Erich (D.W. Moffett) who carries out a suicide mission behind enemy lines . Captain Erich and Cpl. Joseph Porta (Bruce Davison) and their buddies are assorted criminals from a Nazi penal bunch . An equipment of two-fisted soldiers formed by a misfit band with egoistic aims are drafted to go on a near-suicide mission and attempt to explode some installation , on a zone occupied by the Soviets . As they are offered their freedom if they carry out a risked assignment : to destroy a train and subsequently survive . This strange , motley platoon is formed by hustler , anachronistic , lame-brained , and oddball characters ; the team and their tanks Panzer will take on tanks T 34 . ¨The misfit brigade¨ is an entertaining as well as amusing film with the ordinary squad of renegade soldiers of World War II . In the hands of hardboiled director Gordon Hessler and a tough-as-leather cast , that's all the plot that's needed to make one rip-roaring wartime flick . The mission is two-fold and in violent and cynical style : the selfish and mean group undergoing across a dangerous territory and executing hazardous feats , they then turn loose on Russsian territory where cause destruction . 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 develop shaky relationship among them . The final part is all action, as the brave commando wreak havoc and then run for their lives . Despite the fact that most part of the "heroes" survive the bloodbath , the message here isn't that war is hell . Rather, it seems to be : war can be a hell of a good time... if you've got nothing to lose . This is a rugged WWII actioner concerning a squadron of dispensable characters with no past and no future and other rare roles .

The dangerous mission includes a selected group formed by a motley and varied but disreputable squadron played by notorious secondaries playing Privates who are an oddball , rag-tag and undisciplined gang . Bruce Davison as Cpl. Joseph assumes the character of commando leader in this regular wartime movie , being professional though middlingly directed by Gordon Hessler . This clichéd ¨Kelly's heroes¨, ¨Dirty Dozen¨ variation packs frantic thrills , lots of familiar faces , perilous adventures , lighthearted comedy , relentless feats , and buck-loads of explosive action . The noisy action is uniformly well-made, especially deserving of mention the rip-roaring scenes on the tanks battles , including some spectacular shootouts . Apart from the values of team spirit , cudgeled by D.W. Moffett into his rebel group , the film is full of feats , humor with tongue-in-check and thrills . Bruce Davison is good as leader of the motley pack together thwart the enemy schemes , as well as the largely secondary cast who has a lot a fun as David Patrick Kelly , Jay O Sanders , and cameos by Oliver Reed , David Carradine . The film is based on Danish writer Sven Hassle's 1979 war novel Wheels of Terror. In fact , it is Sven Hassle's second book, and takes more of a fictional slant over his first one . Hassle said the following : ¨ My books -and this Misfit brigade- are strictly anti-military. They correspond to my personal view of what I experienced. I write to warn the youth of today against war. I am writing the story of the small soldiers, the men who neither plan nor cause wars but have to fight them . War is the last arm of bad politicians¨ . Other works Sven wrote are : Novel "Legion of the Damned¨, ¨Comrades of War¨, ¨March Battalion¨ , ¨Assignment Gestapo¨, "Monte Cassino", ¨Liquidate Paris¨, among others .

Atmospheric and functional musical score as well as evocative cinematography . This is a wartime typical vehicle and into the ¨warlike commando genre¨ , in USA style which also belong the American classics from the 60s as : ¨Dirty Dozen (Robert Aldrich) , ¨The Kelly's heroes¨ (Brian G.Hutton) , ¨ Where eagles dare¨ (Brian G. Hutton) , ¨Tobruk¨ (Arthur Hiller), ¨Devil's Brigade¨ (Andrew V McLagen) and many others . The motion picture was ordinarily handled and professionally directed by Gordon Hessler, and achieved limited success and cash . His first feature film as a director was Catacombs (1965) . When production of the AIP Edgar Allan Poe series was shifted to Britain, Hessler collaborated with producer Louis Heyward and horror enthusiast/ screenwriter Christopher Wicking on three Poe films and on the sci-fi shocker : Scream and scream again , The oblong box and Murders in the Rue Morgue . Carrying on in the fantasy field, he also directed the Ray Harryhausen stop-motion swashbuckler Golden voyage of Sinbad (1973) and additional small-screen suspense : Scream, Pretty Peggy (1973) with Bette Davis . Of course , this ¨The misfit brigade ¨ in which added humor to the warlike action.