The independent makers of "Mission to Death" may have spent a goodly sum for the German uniforms and a couple of vehicles. But that little bit of authenticity, with the Nazis speaking German, can't save this film. The acting is mostly amateurish, especially by the lead actors, Jim Brewer and James McLarty. They have 16 and 12 movie credits, respectively; but the bulk of the cast with lines have no more than a single film credit – this one.
The camera work also is very amateurish. There is so much super close- up shooting of the members of this Army squad, that one has a sense of missing the action and setting. The color and other quality aspects of the movie are very poor. And, the musical score is terrible. The strange music overpowers many scenes and definitely detracts from them. The plot isn't a bad one, but the script is very weak. One of its big weaknesses is its portrayal of supposedly seasoned combat soldiers as really not very combat savvy. I have to give this example from the end of the film. – because I can't recommend that anyone sit through this movie.
Three of the remaining seven members of the squad are killed when the GIs attack and capture a radar station. The four remaining guys, including Sgt. King (played by Jim Brewer), get inside the house. One of them goes up the stairs to check on any Germans still alive up there. The next scene is in the main room when the other three hear a shot and scramble to find the GI dead on the stairs. They pull him out and Sgt. King goes up to check. We don't know if he sees a number of dead Germans, but we see a bloodied German soldier's hand laying over the edge of the stairwell. King pokes his rifle into the body that owns the hand a couple of times and then goes back downstairs. Now, he's just had a buddy shot and killed by someone upstairs, and he doesn't shoot the downed German or Germans to be sure they are dead. So, the next to last scene is the three GIs in the main room and we see a wounded German soldier emerge from the stairwell and drop a grenade in their midst. It goes off and the three GIs are killed.
War movies generally have me interested in the story, awaiting succeeding scenes. But this is one that had me bored about 20 minutes into it. I struggled to stay with it to the end – always hoping that it might get better. I was relieved when it finally ended. We classify films as A and B, but I don't know if there's a D category for "Mission to Death." The only thing keeping it from a total washout is the occasional fair combat action.
The camera work also is very amateurish. There is so much super close- up shooting of the members of this Army squad, that one has a sense of missing the action and setting. The color and other quality aspects of the movie are very poor. And, the musical score is terrible. The strange music overpowers many scenes and definitely detracts from them. The plot isn't a bad one, but the script is very weak. One of its big weaknesses is its portrayal of supposedly seasoned combat soldiers as really not very combat savvy. I have to give this example from the end of the film. – because I can't recommend that anyone sit through this movie.
Three of the remaining seven members of the squad are killed when the GIs attack and capture a radar station. The four remaining guys, including Sgt. King (played by Jim Brewer), get inside the house. One of them goes up the stairs to check on any Germans still alive up there. The next scene is in the main room when the other three hear a shot and scramble to find the GI dead on the stairs. They pull him out and Sgt. King goes up to check. We don't know if he sees a number of dead Germans, but we see a bloodied German soldier's hand laying over the edge of the stairwell. King pokes his rifle into the body that owns the hand a couple of times and then goes back downstairs. Now, he's just had a buddy shot and killed by someone upstairs, and he doesn't shoot the downed German or Germans to be sure they are dead. So, the next to last scene is the three GIs in the main room and we see a wounded German soldier emerge from the stairwell and drop a grenade in their midst. It goes off and the three GIs are killed.
War movies generally have me interested in the story, awaiting succeeding scenes. But this is one that had me bored about 20 minutes into it. I struggled to stay with it to the end – always hoping that it might get better. I was relieved when it finally ended. We classify films as A and B, but I don't know if there's a D category for "Mission to Death." The only thing keeping it from a total washout is the occasional fair combat action.
