One of my all time favorites.

I wanted to but couldn't!

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Col. Marcus (Kirk Douglas) is recruited to fight for an independent Israel. He must organize the disparate fighting forces to win against overwhelming odds.The action is pretty good and the underdog story is very compelling. Kirk Douglas and Yul Brynner make for very charismatic leaders. Seeing Frank Sinatra in the movie breaks the tension. He's in it more for the comedy and probably the box office. And similarly, the same can be said of John Wayne. He's more of a distraction from the main story. Angie Dickinson has little to do as Mrs Marcus. Senta Berger is the Israeli love interest and she overacts in a pivotal scene. There's a lot of melodrama going on with her.The saving grace is Kirk Douglas. He is the magnetic personality that glues the movie together. He's the driving force, and it's him that makes this movie works. It is a bit of a sided propaganda piece, but I don't think it should be penalized for it.

That pretty much says it all. It even has John Wayne! Except the Indians are played by Arabs with keffiyeh instead of feathers. Not to belabor the Dukery, but this movie does for Palestine what "The Green Berets" did for Vietnam. No one expects (or should expect) movies like this to be a documentary, but holy cow! At least if we'd have gotten a little more heat from Angie Dickinson it might have saved the picture. Even the combat scenes are boring. This is the kind of movie that I see coming on and think, "wow, Kirk Douglas, Yul Brenner, Palestine 1948, this is gonna be great" and then you get a movie that could make Leni Riefenstahl blush, and it isn't even entertaining! This is one you can definitely leave off your list.

The pacing in this movie is extremely dated; it would have benefited from a good editing. Although the history presented, allowing for some fictionalizing, is somewhat interesting, the action drags. Also, if you care at all about accuracy in costuming, the costumes and hairstyles will drive you crazy. The movie is set in 1947, yet the characters, when not in military garb, look as if they pulled clothing out of their own 1966 closets and didn't bother to style their hair as it would have looked in 1947. If you're looking for a good war movie, I'm afraid this one will disappoint you. However, if you want to take a nap, pop in this DVD and prepare to Snatch a Giant Snooze.

a forgotten gem amongst all the other lesser known war movies in Hollywood's snack vault. this one revolves around the liberation of Israel(or birth). the people of Israel stand alone against 5 Arab states who have swore to drive them into the Mediterranean sea as soon as British forces leave their land. but the Israelis have no military training or arms to fight back, so they turn to a ww2 veteran (Kirk Douglas) who cant say no because he loves war to damn much. and so begins the training and battle strategy which revolves around bluffing the opponent and literally getting their asses blown to bits. many familiar faces here in small parts , like John Wayne, Frank Sinatra and Michael Douglas. this is a different war movie than usual because of the political turmoil that the movies foundation is set on. and it seems like peace is a far away word for either the Israelis or Palestinians. but even so the movie packs a light tone of humor and wise cracks now and then. Good movie overall, watch it if you like old war movies.