al_duke --As spoken by Lieutenant Rogers. That was the one line in "Bridge To Hell" that stuck out in this no-budget WWII action flick. I watched it one day when I was off on one of the movie channels, whose theme of the day was World War II action flicks. It was very cheesy, and the storyline was very loose, the characters all seemed like they came straight out of a comic book; and it had scenes that went nowhere. However, I found the Yugoslavian setting and the plot device of Yugoslav partisan activity during the war years very interesting, which is not something often seen by US audiences. Then again, knowing Umberto Lenzi's work, I sort of knew what to expect. So if you are looking for historical accuracy, technical accuracy, great casting and acting, and a great storyline, look elsewhere; but if you just want cartoonish combat action and lots of explosions, with the added bonus of seeing some lovely Bosnian scenery, you've come to the right place!

dbborroughs Umberto Lenzi war film about three POWs who escape from a camp in Yugoslavia and end up getting hooked up with Partisans. First they put their flying skill to use flying biplanes in support of resistance actions, later the group tries to make their escape and find themselves fighting across the countryside. Good Italian war film that keeps up interest because it just keeps moving. I like that the film doesn't get bogged down. My initial reaction was that perhaps it was too rambling a film, but thinking about it afterward I found that I like it more than I thought. The bridge of the title is Nazi held bridge that the Allies have been trying to destroy and failing, but which our heroes need to cross to get home, and which they need to destroy to have any hope of actually getting away. I'm guessing the film incorporates footage from other bigger budgeted films, and while its not always perfectly matched it does help to add weight to the proceedings. Over all it's a good way to spend a night on the couch.

Battledragon I have seen plenty of Umberto Lenzi's movies, and I have to admit that I didn't expect much of this movie, because almost all of Lenzi's movies from late 80's and early 90's that I've seen, have been more or less bad ones. But still, being a big fan of his movies, I decided to buy this one on UK DVD and give it a try.It was late night, when I began to watch it, and I was pretty tired, but I set myself to trash-mode and pressed play. I was right, it was really trashy, but in a quite enjoyable way. Plot was pretty bad, and there was some scenes that made no point, but hey, it's a zero-budget Italian WW2-movie, so I didn't expect anything more. One thing above the others is something that I have to mention here: the musical score by Fabio Frizzi was really nice.So, if you want to just watch a war movie with great cast, awesome script and billion dollar budget, you'll be definitely disappointed. Otherwise, if you enjoy trashy Italian style stuff, this may be the movie for you.Not the Lenzi's best, but definitely not the worst either. I'll give "Bridge to hell" 7 out of 10.

SgtSlaughter When one looks at director Umberto Lenzi's war films, it's really hard to define his style. His early efforts were strong and showed excellent potential, they were low-budget stories which emphasized characters over large-scale action; in the 1970s, he produced two messy epics with star-studded casts; and in the 1980s, he released "Wartime" now "Bridge to Hell", both incredibly cheap, plot less action pieces with little or no redeeming qualities.The story of "Bridge to Hell" is simple, and often times Lenzi tends to forget the point and lets it wander off in any direction which seems convenient. A group of 3 Allied POWs treks across war-torn Yugoslavia, trying to reach the Allied lines in Italy. Along the way, they learn of a secret treasure which the Yugoslav partisans are hiding from the Nazis, and decide to steal it for themselves. The bulk of the film's 90 minute running-time is comprised of shoot-outs between the ex-POWs and German soldiers, tanks and planes. The film's conclusion leaves the story un-resolved and feels tacked on, but then again, there really is no appropriate way to end a film such as this.As the saga unfolds, it becomes full of holes and lacks any flair; the three escapees run into a band of partisans and help them in their fight in exchange for weapons and a guide. Then they continue their journey, only to run into more partisans and repeat the cycle. It's obvious that the writers were running out of ideas when two of the main characters crash a plane, go on their way, only to steal another plane, and crash yet again. Several times, continuity is disregarded for convenience's sake: early on in the film, it is clearly established that the Partisans lack an air force – later on, the heroes witness a huge partisan aerial bombardment! There is a scene of vicious German attack dogs running around in a field, snarling like they're rapid, but they never go on to attack anything. At one point in the film, one character yells of nearby German fighters, "Those Messers are shooting at us!" but shots of the planes reveal them to be unarmed transports, flying in formation and minding their own business.The special effects, and action scenes in general, have a very cheap look and feel. Lenzi splices close-ups of his own actors into a continuous reel of stock footage from films like "Battle of the Eagles" and "When the Bell Tolls". What makes matters worse is that this isn't good-looking stock footage; most of it centers around really, really funny miniature airplanes, looking just as bad, if not worse, as the miniature work in Japanese war movies from the 1960s. Some shots lack sound effects, so one can see the miniature fighters' machine-guns blasting away but hear nothing.To top it off, Lenzi throws logic out the window as the characters blast away at legions of German soldiers without bothering to aim their weapons. In response, the Germans run around in a frenzy without bothering to shoot back, and fall down dead in every direction. One German officer tries to sound an air raid siren in one scene, and when it doesn't work he claims "Sabotage". Moments later, when German planes attempt to take off and chase a stolen fighter plane, they can't take on fuel. I really don't understand why; it's not as though the Partisans and fugitives coordinated the escape; it was a spur-of-the-moment decision! German soldiers advance cautiously onto a bridge, dodging bullets as we hear plenty of explosions and gunfire -- but the good guys aren't firing back at them! These are the most obvious errors, but there's plenty more to go around.Dubbing reaches a new low, too. To add insult to injury, some of the actors share a common voice – one German soldier sounds just like one of the main characters! When the German soldiers speak German, it's obvious that their voices were dubbed in because there is an annoying metallic rasping sound.It's hard for me to understand how Umberto Lenzi could make four serviceable films over a 10-year period, and suddenly seem to fall apart at the end of his career. Maybe it's not his fault; maybe he only a minimal budget to work with and this was the best he could crank out. It's unfortunate to see a fair director go under this way - all this film is good for is a decent tearing down.