shakercoola This is a story about a sea battle and the gallant heroism of both the British Navy and the German Captain Langsdorff. The theme is, while two nations were at war, individuals have much in common. The setting then involves the coastline of Uruguay and its people anticipating an end battle between the two belligerents while intrigue and strategy plays out between British naval attachés and Uruguay government officials. It's not a complete story but it throws light on military bravery away from the distant ugly Nazi ideology.

BasicLogic Updated on 6/07/2018Just tried to watch this lousy film again and wished to upgrade the rating a little bit higher, but guess what, NO CAN DO! This is indeed one of the worst WWII films. The screenplay was so bad, the British naval force, three battle ships against one Nazi battleship No. 139, was a complete joke! The sea battle was so confusing, the salvos of the ship cannons were just messy, the British naval officers on the bridges of the the three ship all looked like amateurs, lots of small talks among them. Then the Nazi battleship escaped into Uruquay coastline, a neutral country during the WWII., the movie suddenly became a carnival before X'mas. Those sailors, officers and captains of the commercial ships sunk and captured by the Nazi ship all seemed to be on a cruise ship, they didn't look a bit worried about their fates. The Nazi German captain was a classic gentleman...Terrible script. This is perhaps one of the worst naval battle films or the champion worst British navy force against the Germany navy battle ship movie ever to show on the big screen.Lot of blah, blah and blah from each side, endless small talks among the Germans, the captives on the German ship, more bullshit-like small talks on the British vessels. Both of the German and British officers on their battle ships didn't look like they were in a cat-and-mouse war game, they all looked so relaxed like on vacation. Once the enemies were in sight, one of British battle ship captain was still in pajama, none of the officers and sailors looked like they were going to engage in a sea battle, nobody dressed for battle still wearing what they used to be.Every scene just looked so staged like a show that was so stupidly shot and directed following a stupid script with terrible dialog. I just couldn't believe those viewers who gave such a highly satisfying reviews of this lame and ridiculous film, and wondered if we were viewing the same movie.This is a movie that you and I should never so senselessly and unpredictably decided to watch. This movie would just make you feel how stupid you are like those who played roles in this movie. It only left a bad taste in your memory.

GusF A largely historical accurate depiction of the events surrounding the first major naval battle of the Second World War, this is nevertheless a rather disappointing film. The script by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger is not up to the high standard that the set for themselves in the 1940s as it is quite badly structured. The last 45 minutes, which take place in Uruguay, are particularly dull. Very little of interest happens after the battle itself is fought. On the bright side, it is a beautiful looking and very well directed film which makes excellent use of real naval vessels rather than sets. Most notably, the HMNZS Achilles is used to represent itself, though by then it was the INS Delhi. It was decommissioned and promptly scrapped in 1978. The first half an hour is told from the German perspective aboard the Deutschland-class pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee and it is most certainly the strongest part of the film. Had the rest of it been of the same high quality, I would have undoubtedly given it full marks. This was the Archers' most financially successful film but it's far from their best work, I'm afraid.The most interesting character is by far the Graf Spee's commanding officer Captain Hans Langsdorff, played in a brilliant performance by Peter Finch in what unfortunately amounted to little more than an extended cameo. After the first half an hour, he is barely seen until towards the end of the film, which is a serious mistake. It is a slightly bizarre decision on Powell and Pressburger's part after giving him so much prominence in the early part of the film. Langsdorff is a good, honourable and decent man who serves Germany loyally but he takes no pleasure in attacking British merchant navy ships. He develops a rapport with Captain Patrick Dove of MS Africa Shell, played very well by Bernard Lee, as he treats his prisoners with respect and humanity in accordance with international law. In a great scene, he has his men give them Christmas decorations to make their confinement more bearable, something which is nicely contrasted by the fact that he attacks another British ship moments later. Langsdorff does not hesitate to release the prisoners when the Graf Spee arrives in neutral Uruguay. At the end of the film, after he has scuttled his ship, Captain Dove tells him that he has earned the respect and admiration of everyone who has come into contact with him, including his enemies. This is one of the best scenes and there is a real sense that Langsdorff and Dove may have been friends if they were not fighting on opposite sides. At its best, their relationship was reminiscent of that of Clive Candy and Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorff in "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp". The film ends before Langsdorff committed suicide on December 20, 1939, only one week after the titular battle.Speaking of the battle, what is depicted on screen is done so very effectively but I felt as if we were only getting half of the story. Never once do we see Langsdorff and his crew's perspective, only that of the crews of the Ajax, the Achilles and the Exeter and the prisoners aboard the Graf Spee. A major naval battle of this kind is almost like a chess match on a large scale and it is hard to become terribly involved in it if only one side's reactions are shown. This is especially disappointing since Langsdorff is clearly a brilliant strategist, as is his British counterpart Commodore Henry Harwood, so it would have been very interesting to see the perspective of the two opposing sides, as was often the case in later war films. Anthony Quayle is an excellent actor but he is more or less wasted in the role of Harwood, who only really comes into his own during the comparatively short battle sequence. He has far more screen time than Finch but far less interesting material. John Gregson is mostly a bore as Captain Frederick Bell but, in his film debut, Jack Gwillim is very good as Captain Edward Parry. It has a good supporting cast such as Christopher Lee, Roger Delgado, Michael Goodliffe, Ian Hunter, John Le Mesurier, Patrick Macnee, Nigel Stock and Anthony Newley but the script only provides Finch and Bernard Lee with a particular opportunity to stand out and neither of them were in it as much as I would have liked.Overall, this film has a great deal of unrealised potential. It could have made for an engrossing battle of wits between highly skilled opponents but, sadly, it was not to be.

hjmsia49 While this film is well acted and historically fairly accurate, it contains one glaring oversight. While introducing Capt. Langsdorf as an efficient and likable officer, we know nothing of his actions during the battle. The film portrays all the actions aboard the three British cruisers but never shows what was occurring on the bridge of the Graf Spee. We know Langsdorf was under orders to avoid engaging enemy warships. What was his reaction when he sighted the three British cruisers? What caused his decision to engage them? What orders did he give during the battle? We know what the British captains did but nothing about what Langsdorf did? We know the extent of the British damage but nothing of the extent of the Graf Spee damage. From the time the British cruisers sight the Graf Spee, we follow the actions on the bridge of Ajax, Achilles and Exeter but nothing of what is going on aboard the Graf Spee other than the reactions of the British prisoners aboard? How effective would a film of the battle of Waterloo have been if it only showed Wellington's actions and ignored Napoleons? A film that far better addresses this problem was "The Enemy Below" starring Robert Mitchum as the American destroyer captain and Curt Jurgens as the German U-boat commander. Throughout the engagement, we know what each is doing and both adversaries are presented in a positive light. It should be added that the heavily damaged Exeter was a star crossed ship, later sunk by the Japanese in the Java Sea.