Needs a remake


I'm sure I'll get a bunch of crap for this, but I think this is one movie crying out for a remake. It's like the original Ocean's Eleven or the original Casino Royale; they're good ideas but not very well done (well, in the case of Casino Royale, awfully done).

This movie certainly had its moments, but it was mostly a letdown. The raid on the German town was pretty boring and most of the acting was fair to poor. This is a very cool story and it could be a much better movie.

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A lot of my postings here on the IMDb Message Board include something to the effect that people shouldn't mess with the classics or that people need to study the classics. To me, The Devil's Brigade is one of those classics!

Maybe a straight factual docudrama miniseries (in the vein of Band of Brothers) about the 1st Special Services Force might work. As I've said on other threads, the Canadian government is bending over backward with tax breaks etc for promoting the Canadian film industry. Someone North of the Border should be pushing the idea.

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The highlight of the film is when the Canadians are proudly marching into camp & unfortunately it pretty much goes downhill from there.Cliff Robertson does his best but dismal dialogue & unconvincing action sequences(the village attack is laughable)don`t help.I`d certainly like to see a new film/miniseries to generate renewed interest in this unique unit.

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speaking as a re-enactor, I cant say I'd look forward to a movie about the force. After they made band of brothers, everybody in the re-enacting community wanted to dress up as 101st airborne, now theres a small army of these people who dont look like they could fit into a c-47 if their life depended on it. I'm not trying to hate on heavy people, but I just wish that elite units were represented properly.

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I enjoyed the film through-out,expecting a 'poor-mans' dirty dozen.The thing that enoyed me more than anything were the 'dippy' females in the film who looked totally '1968',instead of circa 1943!I've noticed this about films made in the 1960's,they make no attempt to potray women of a certain era with autenticity.The hairstyles were not warn that way in the 40's!

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They should do it just to give Tommy Prince his due.

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they should remake the movie in the same tone as saving private ryan or we were soilders

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The last thing Hollywood needs to do is create more remakes.

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I would love to see a remake of this movie! ITA about it being a let-down. The subject seemed so interesting, but the script and the acting made it nearly unwatchable. It would be wonderful to see a 21st century exploration of the Devil's Brigade - the unit, it's men, and the role they played in the Second World War. :)

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Remakes are a cheap way to make a buck! How about just leaving the classic the way it is, and enjoy it just the same.

American cinema and television is already in bad shape with these remakes. Let's not escalate the process any furthur shall we?

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I normally tend to hate the idea of remakes. They usually replace the original magic, intelligence etc with flahier effects and modern teen idol hunks so the younger generation of short attention span movie goers of today can have someone to identify with. It's also an indication of just how everyone in Hollywood is completely out of ideas.

HOWEVER, in the case of the Devil's Brigade, there were so many mstakes in the 1968 version that a properly made remake (film or mini series) should be done. This would do the force better justice.

The 1968 version barely scratches the surface of what the force really did and adds a lot of fiction so there can be humour or tension between Bill Holden and Carol O'Conner etc. The most senior (apparently) Canadian NCO is only a Cpl. Most of the highland kit is worn wrong (Richard Dawson's balmoral) or a fictional mix of bits and pieces. Too many of the Canadians have accents and are obviously played by Americans. There's the token Vandoo (French Canadian). The uniforms are incorrect (what's with the red berets? Although, most of the extras did a fairly good job wearing them...). No Johnson machine guns...Germans using American tanks...a phony "first" action in an Italian village that never happened...no screen time devoted to Anzio, being first alies into Rome...it goes on and on

If it was to be remade, it'd have to be done by the right people...like the crew that did Band of Brothers or John Milius (Rough Riders).

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Bmcilroy-2, I agree with you. I would love a Band of Brothers type film or series on them that would give men like Tommy Prince and others their due.

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Agree & Disagree

I am with the OP on this one. The film could stand a facelift. It is poorly done.
To some of the others, Devil's Brigade is not only a mediocre film at best, it is far from a classic (The Longest Day; Sergeant York; The Best Years of Our Lives; Tora!Tora!Tora!; Apocalypse Now; Das Boot; Beau Geste; The Train; All Quiet on the Western Front; Wings; Patton).

Even the Wild Geese is better than Devil's Brigade, and WG is not a classic.

Having said the above, I received Devil's Brigade in the mail yesterday. I look forward to a wonderful evening watching the film and its characters (especially a big ole redneck like Claude Akins).

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No, no remakes. There are about a bazillion or so incidents that occurred in WW2, so in other words, make something new that hasn't been done to death. Plenty of material available, just pick up a history book and do a little research before writing a story.

"check the imdb cast list before asking who portrayed who in movies please"

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On that note: I say make a film of either Mirs-el-Kabir or the Channel Dash. And let them be British productions.

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Those are nice topics to work with. The British film industry won't fund such projects though, since the target audience is too small and they won't recoup their invetments. It will need US dollars to get it made, so that means Tom Cruise, Ben Afflack and the like.

"check the imdb cast list before asking who portrayed who in movies please"

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Which also means deviating from history and making the story 'more exciting'.
Hollywood would have a couple of the German ships getting sunk and an American saving the day (the Channel Dash).
For Mirs-el-Kabir, Hollywood would have the story take place in the Western Hemisphere, and, once again, have an American as a major player in the story.
When it comes to history, Hollywood makes junk.

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The Band of Brothers series was pretty good, but then it was an HBO mini-series production, not a movie release.

"check the imdb cast list before asking who portrayed who in movies please"

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Yeah that could be pretty awesome.

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This might be my favorite of all the 60s war movies.

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