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The Rat Patrol Season 1
RRP: £24.99
Our Price: £10.99 (subject to change)
Interesting sixties oddity.
Review date: 2008-09-08 Rating: 6 out of 10
The ideal catch-up product for this somewhat obscure sixties TV show, which i'm just about old enough to remember. Starring Christopher George prior to his relatively minor film career. Co-starring a certain Hans Gudegast, who subsequently changed his name to Eric Braeden and had an even more minor film career.
The twenty-five minute episodes are snappy. The Spanish location work is tremendous, with things given added credibility through the use of German dialogue. As S Nunn suggested, never mind the historical inaccuracies, feel the enjoyment.
PS. From the looks of things, it's only the first sixteen episodes which are "filmed on location in Spain". The subsequent episodes, dated 1967, use more in the way of back-drops and may have been filmed in the United States. Dominic Frontiere's music isn't bad, although there are some cheesy elements. (The repetitive German convoy theme, for example.) Otherwise, quite a modern production. It even features a surprising "through and through" shooting, which must have caused some controversy when the series was first aired.
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Reviews
RATS INSULT
Review date: 2008-08-27 Rating: 2 out of 10
My father, who served throughout the North African campaign, refused to have the term 'desert rat' applied to him as this was properly applied to the units involved in the seige of Tobruck. British, Commonwealth, yes, Americans no. He was amused and angered by the inaccuracies contained in this garbage, both of the involvement of U.S. troops which came much later in the war, some of the equipment they use, and most offensive of all, the racist portrayal of the British. He also pointed out that the Afrika Corps were made of sterner stuff and were intelligent, well trained and well lead opponants.
P.S. How many Americans were involved in the real 'Great Escape?
None.
The Rat Patrol
Review date: 2007-01-12 Rating: 8 out of 10
The Rat Patrol appeared briefly on the BBC around 1967 but was dropped following objections from British Second World War veterans. Basically the series appeared to suggest that the Americans won the war in North Africa; the legendary Long Range Desert Group - a very British creation - was "borrowed" as the premise for an elite band of American behind-the-liners, with the token addition of a stiff-upper-lipped English sergeant, played by Gary Raymond. Don't let this put you off though - the 25 minutes-long episodes are good, honest boys' own stuff, with plenty of subterfuge and pyrotechnics and, for the time, some rather good stunts. The Afrika Corps are presented as easy targets sadly, the truth being that they were excellent desert fighters; their regular leader, noble Wehrmacht officer Captain Dietrich, being played by Hans Gudegast, quite a good actor in fact. The Rat Patrol is not as good as other WW2 TV series of the time, such as Garrison's Gorillas, loosely based on The Dirty Dozen, and Combat! - a long-running, well-written and acted and much more cerebral and intellectual series (the latter also available on DVD and worth checking out - more like an early Band of Brothers in fact).
So, The Rat Patrol - historically accurate it ain't, but cracking good fun it is.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Eric Braeden
Christopher George
Creators:
Christopher George (Primary Contributor)
Eric Braeden (Primary Contributor)
Recording label: Fox International
Manufacturer: Fox International
EAN: 5039036029728
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 4
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2007-01-15
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Region code: 2
Running time: 920 minutes
Language: English (Original Language)