Battle of the Commandos Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Battle of the Commandos Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 17, 2024

Umberto Lenzi's "Battle of the Commandos" (1969) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The only supplemental feature on the release is an exclusive new audio commentary recorded by critics Nathaniel Thompson, Troy Howarth, and Steve Mitchell. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Even someone with only a modest experience with the colorful genre films Italian directors shot between the 1960s and 1980s will instantly recognize what Umberto Lenzi’s Battle of the Commandos was conceived to accomplish. Like the bulk of these genre films, Battle of the Commandos is a copycat, trying to capitalize on the success of similar bigger American films. In this case, the bigger inspirational American films would have been the likes of The Longest Day and The Dirty Dozen.

Lenzi often clarified why he shot copycats like Battle of the Commandos. He genuinely loved American films and American actors, plus in the early stages of his career, shooting good copycats was one of the best ways to improve his image. In Italy, for quite some time, copycats, especially the good ones, attracted much larger audiences than original Italian genre films. If they featured stars, especially international ones, later it was easier to rehire them for original Italian genre films, too. (Interestingly, during the 1960s and 1970s, many ambitious Italian directors also mimicked the work of other Italian directors. This is how a lot of sword and sandals films were made).

Battle of the Commandos is one of the biggest copycats in Lenzi’s oeuvre. It unites several international stars, including American star Jack Palance, and a motley crew of good and not-so-good Italian actors. It was done with a respectable budget and even picked up for distribution in America, where it was consequently completely redubbed in English, too. While Lenzi never claimed it was one of his masterpieces, he liked it and was very proud to have made it.

Lenzi worked with original material that came from and was tweaked by five different parties. (One of these parties was a very young Dario Argento). However, Lenzi always ‘improved’ plenty of what was handed to him, and in a project like Battle of the Commandos it is a safe bet that his interpretation of the original material was the only source that mattered. Unfortunately, this is undoubtedly why Battle of the Commandos turned out a very choppy and underwhelming film.

The drama and fireworks are initiated sometime before the final phase of WWII. After he is summoned by his superior, Colonel Charlie McPhearson (Palance), who has lost an entire platoon of veteran soldiers in an awful, utterly meaningless battle, is offered an opportunity to redeem himself and take out his greatest nemesis, Colonel Ackerman (Wolfgang Preiss). The opportunity is a two-fold mission. McPhearson must lead a unit of brand new commandos to disable various strategically placed underwater mines and then destroy a super cannon, protected by Ackerman and his men, that is prepared for use during the incoming Allied invasion. McPhearson agrees to do the mission but shocks his superior by selecting a wild team of convicts and other rough characters as his commandos.

The Longest Day and The Dirty Dozen are not the only films that one can cite as inspirations for Battle of the Commandos. It is practically guaranteed that Lenzi had also seen, liked, and felt inspired by The Devil's Brigade and Where Eagles Dare, possibly even The Heroes of Telemark.

Unfortunately, there is far more enthusiasm than quality in Battle of the Commandos. Indeed, while Palance frequently lights up the screen and several of his acting partners do their best to match his work, the narrative is clogged with silly material that destroys the integrity of the production. Admittedly, in these types of genre films, and especially the ones that Italian directors made, this is often a good thing, but sadly Battle of the Commandos is not particularly effective as a so-bad-it-is-good genre film. Lenzi simply goes through a series of cliched situations and eventually wraps up the drama in the most predictable of ways.

Lenzi’s director of photography was Spaniard Alejandro Ulloa, whose credits include such cult films as High Crime, The Mercenary, The Devil Incarnate, and The Devil's Honey.

Battle of the Commandos Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Battle of the Commandos arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release introduces a new 4K makeover of the film that was prepared at Paramount Pictures. Unfortunately, the overall quality of the 4K makeover is disappointing.

Delineation, clarity, and depth are mostly pleasing, but there are various areas with notable fluctuations, some of which are introduced by aging. Also, there are numerous small and bigger surface imperfections, like tiny cuts, nicks, marks, and blemishes. I personally do not find them distracting, but their presence is impossible to miss. The biggest problem with this 4K makeover is that it gives the film a wildly inconsistent appearance. Why? It is not graded correctly. In numerous areas, primary blue and blue nuances are replaced with cyan, some of which is as intense and harmful as the one observed on the 4K makeover of The Italian Job. In the areas that are affected the most, there are visuals that reveal a borderline neon-esque quality that is seriously distracting. Image stability is good, but there are a few uneven transitions. I did not observe any traces of compromising digital corrections. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Battle of the Commandos Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The English track is a dub track that was prepared for the film's American release. It does what it is supposed to do, which is make it possible to enjoy the film in English. However, I have to say that it is one of the weakest such tracks that I have heard in a very long time. It is very thin, quite uneven, and at times disappointingly anemic. I suspect that when the folks at Paramount prepared the 4K makeover of the film, it was transferred without any serious remastering work, which in all fairness is hardly surprising.

Battle of the Commandos Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critics Nathaniel Thompson, Troy Howarth, and Steve Mitchell.

Battle of the Commandos Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Umberto Lenzi frequently declared his love for American films and American actors, so it is hardly surprising that he made a lot of films that proudly channeled it in different ways. Lenzi said that it was the best he could do without working in Hollywood. Battle of the Commandos is one such copycat that borrows from numerous places. It is not a good film, but I would have loved to have a wonderful copy of it in my library. I was hoping that with this Blu-ray, which introduces a new 4K makeover of it, it was exactly what I would get. Sadly, I have to report that Battle of the Commandos is regraded a lot like The Italian Job. In other words, it does not look like the film Lenzi shot.