Best movie of this year hands down!

That was an excellent one.

People are voting emotionally.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

'El Alamein' is a WW 2 movie, sensationalist and exploitative, unassuming and episodic; British, Germans and Italians fight unsparingly in the African desert, and we recognize the dunes, the hills of gray sand, from the westerns of the '60s, the envy and intrigues cause the temporary removal of Rommel, meanwhile the Germans loose most of their tanks due to the British's perfidy but also abnegation and determination, Rommel is sent back, only to assure the retreat, against the leader's order …. We will also think about the difference between a movie as a popular show, and a movie as a work.We look at war from the headquarters, and from an Italian stronghold. The main ideas are toughness and courage, both amply provided by all the military involved; 'El Alamein' also shows strategies, the British duping the Germans with a phony map of the minefield, the Germans using the Italians to back their retreat. Characteristically, the movie isn't good-natured, but amoral, indifferent to ethics, which makes the plot plausible; the credits boast the support, and possible the approval of the Italian army. The protagonist is lieutenant Giorgio, from one of Folgere division's companies; goodish cast (Hilton, M. Rennie, Ira Furstenberg, Hossein, Salerno). The known commanders, Rommel, Montgomery, Canaris, have supporting roles or cameos. Rommel's military genius is undermined by intrigue and the leader's insanity.The battle scenes seem a bit shapeless (except those of the heroic resistance of the company against the British tanks, while the Germans retreat), as the real aim of the movie are some generic effects: like hell-raising, etc.. This is the main idea of a popular show: not as a work, but as providing a set of generic emotions. It doesn't need a director, but a hack.I enjoyed 'El Alamein'. Loosely structured, accomplished for what it was meant to be, cynical, rhetorical, episodic, sometimes with the sense of hopelessness and despair known from the Italian genre movies, and also the familiar sloppiness, it doesn't relish in filming landscapes, or people. In an American war movie, there's the effect on the audience, and also the scene as thought in itself, as depiction, as insight, as shaped; the Italian genre movies seem to undercut this idea of a scene, right to the effects themselves. So they care less about shape, about work, and more about the popular show. Even very humble American genre movies have this objective structure, this dramatic shape, which the Italian movies don't care for. 'El Alamein' has a plot, but not a dramatic storyline; the Italians didn't rip off a structure, but some topics. Further, the American genre movies also resort to an essentially English lyricism, which is wholly alien to the Italians. The Italian rhetoric may be sentimentalist, but dry, without lyrical depth.(This is a typology; these are ideal types. The European genre movies aren't the only to belong to the 'Judy and Punch' type; not all of them belong to it. Once acknowledged this _ideality of the types, the national criterion will lead one to a further understanding: e. g., the Italian genre movies lack a dramatic structure, but have charm, appeal, zest.)

Oh dear an Italian war film . I had visions that I was going to be watching either a remake of THE DIRTY DOZEN or 90 minutes of hunky Mediterrians waving a white flag shouting " We surrender " in 97 different languages . Sorry if I'm playing up to either cinematic or historical stereotypes but unlike Mussolini I didn't have high hopes . Michael Rennie as Monty ? Well I doubt if this would be getting broadcast on The History Channel . Or indeed anywhere else in BritainThe film did defeat my prejudices , but only in the first half , and it turned out to be a Pyrrhic victory and before the film reached its end titles the victory the film had over me and turned in to a defeat on the scale of Stalingrad . It is undoubtedly intriguing watching a war film from the other side . ALAMEIN isn't unforgettable human cinema in the way DAS BOOT was but does portray all sides in the conflict as being people who have families at home and it's this that is important to the characters rather than the wider politics of the conflict . Okay maybe the " War is hell " statements are overdone but it's possibly in keeping with the Italian mindset during this era . The Italians were badly equipped with obsolete equipment , very badly led and Italy would traditionally through the last couple of centuries side with the British and French often against Germany so Mussolini's pact with Nazi Germany despite being logical from a political point of view goes against the historical grain . Add to this the fact political and military leaders were quickly promoted due only to their loyalty to the Italian Fascist party and you can see why the average Italian conscript might not be too happy getting killed fighting against a democracy , especially if he knows he's probably going to be better fed in an allied POW camp than in his own army . As a battle hardened NCO realises his section is going to be led by a glory seeking officer we have all the makings of a good melodrama The film then proceeds to blow it by going out of its way to ruin the early potential . Little things such as the anachronistic Italian helmets with their 1960s camouflage patterns you can overlook if the bigger picture is impressive but it's not . The story soon loses its early focus and instead jumps from one half baked thread to another . Rommel starts getting involved in a plot that would lead to the July 1944 bomb plot . Common myth but Rommel had nothing to do with that . British equipment includes 1960s era American APCs and 1950s era tanks and march in to battle playing bagpipes which sound nothing like bagpipes . It's interesting that the film in its early stages portrays all sides as being intelligent but then in the latter stages British tank crews don't notice Italian soldiers as they nonchalantly wander around the battlefield sticking bundles of dynamites on tanks . Tanks that conveniently have straps that you can attach bundles of dynamite to . The macho heroics jars in comparison with the first half of the film that does have an anti-war feeling to it and by this stage it has become a different and much inferior movie

The opening prologue states : June 1942, as general Erwin Rommel swept toward the Nile , the fall of Egypt and the capture of the Suez canal seems inevitable . Italian and German advance units raced toward Alejandria . Mussolini had given explicit orders : The Italians must arrive first! . In this one , the Italians and Germans, united in a difficult Alliance , fight the British in the North Afican desert . The Italians are the good guys and the British are the bad guys , including a point blank execution of prisoners . The protagonists are two brothers , a tough lieutenant (Frederick Stafford) and a sergeant (Enrico Maria Salerno) fighting the British military . Furthermore, a brave English lieutenant (George Hilton) and , of course , Erwin Rommel (Robert Hossein) and General Montgomery (Michael Wilding). This movie gets lots of action , crossfire , gunplay and explosion . The all-star-cast formed by known European actors give decent interpretations . It displays several extras and tanks , in fact , the production wishes thanks the Italian Ministry of defense and the Italian Army general staff for their collaboration in making this film .The picture is based on the real battles , the true events were the followings : Alamein in WWII are two decisive battles in the western desert , north Egypt , in 1942 resulting in British victory over Axis forces under Field Marshal Erwin Rommel : 1- 27 July 1942 the British 8th Army under General Sir Claude Auchinleck held off the German and Italian forces . Neither side can be said to have won , but the British had the strategic advantage of short supply lines and so could reinforce faster than Germans . 23 Oct-4 Nov 1942 General Bernard Montgomery launched a diversionary British attack in the south , aiming to draw Axis forces into the area so that the main attack in the north could cut two corridors through the extensive minefields , enabling British armoured divisions to pass through and exploit the gaps . Progress was slow however and Montgomery decided to change tactics to fight what he called a 'crumbling battle' constantly switching the main emphasis to chip away at Rommel's front line and keep him guessing. Australian Division attacked along the coastal road , drawing the Axis forces toward them . Montgomery promptly launched a fresh attack further south, forcing the German armour to react in what became a major tank battle . By 3 Nov Rommel had only 30 serviceable tanks in action and on the next day began organizing his withdrawal. He was able to disengage and escape as the British were hampered by heavy rain and shortage fuel .

I purchased this as part of a package deal - you know the type, 4 WW 2 films in one box for under $15. Half of the films in this set were good and this is the best of the lot. It's the story of the British victory at El Alamein as told mainly from the Italian perspective. The acting isn't the film's strong suit, but it's adequate. The story is excellent and the execution of the screenplay is superlative. There are some really good battle sequences as well. Look for a decent performance from Michael Rennie as the British General Bernard Law Montgomery. He isn't a Field Marshal yet. In fact, it was this victory that earned him his Baton. Overall, a fine flick. His is the best acting job of the lot, acting NOT being the strong point of the film. I don't know how factual it is, although the overall story seems accurate enough.