Great film.

Which is a remake of a russian movie.

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by singyue wu
...Especially the part where all the German soldiers were just rushing towards the Allied soldiers and couldn't shoot straight, throw grenades, use mortars or snipe. It just seemed silly. It was like the German soldiers were using swords and pikes as weapons so that they had to rush in groups and stay in formation to attack the enemy...

Well Singyue, they'd just been through a major battle, the Battle of Tobruk. Despite the Allied defeat, the Nazis were actually much, much more highly in danger because of dwindling arms, and more significantly, their WATER supply. Yes the odds were stacked against the Allies (10 Allied soldiers) as opposed to 500 German soldiers (a whole battalion), BUT can you imagine how much water 500 men can consume compared to 10 in just one hour, how much more for the whole day? Both the Allies and the Nazis had to march south into the Sahara to get to El Alamein for 24++ hours even through a sandstorm. The German battalion was disoriented, dehydrated, and worst of all, they were caught by surprise. Remember the part where their Arabian guide led them to the first well? Bone-ass Dry. That even sank their morale to below 60%. They then marched by foot another 70 miles to Bir Acroma. Once they arrived at BA and encountered the Allied resistance there (with a Mosque for a fort and an M3 TANK), the German Major - out of stress and/or innate tyrannical instinct - shot one of his information officers right in front of his army. The German Major was not a level-headed man, and a very poor leader.

Their main attack strategy consisted of hundreds of men rushing towards machine gun positions and it wasn't if they were storming a beach or something, the site was in the middle of the desert and could be flanked from all sides.

Yes good point there. However, if only the German Major knew that beforehand. With his local Arab guide and negotiator dead, he was clutching at straws. That's why in the second and third wave of attack, the Germans succeeded to infiltrate the Allied defense through encircling the Mosque and having a few soldiers hiding in key places, i.e. the outer walls. That's where their mortars, hidden sharpshooters, and their great numbers overwhelmed the Allies and reduced the 9 men to only 2. But yet again, they underestimate the Allies and their "Lulubelle". The Germans later lost their only commanding officer to Frenchie's knife, and with no water at all on their side, decided to surrender their arms for thirst.

Don't misunderstand me, I liked the movie. But the enemy was just too weak and made it very unrealistic. The German soldiers were supposed to be battle hardened soldiers but they were acting like fresh recruits from another century.

I see where you're coming from, but well, whether moviegoers of today found it realistic or not, a dehydrated army is the weakest army to fight against. In fact, the WWII African theater was marred by cases of heatstroke, dehydration and diseases carried via flies, etc. ALL forces were scrounging for food, ammunition and, most critically, water. This was one of the earliest instances of a conventional war set on an unconventional, guerrilla location. Two opposing sides found something in common - the Sahara desert was the ultimate enemy.






"Rommel...you magnificent bastard, I read your book!"
-- PATTON

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