Richard Lester was riding high off the success of his Beatles films and The Knack when he made this which features key figures from those films - Michael Crawford, John Lennon, Charles Wood.
It's not an easy film to define - which partly explained its lack of box office success - but is basically a satire of World War Two films with Crawford as a terribly keen lieutenant leading a platoon of odd sods including Roy Kinnear and Lennon.
A lot of this was annoying. Maybe I'm too attached to war movies but it's like - yes, war movies can be over the top, but World War Two was a noble cause, the British didn't start it.
The visuals are interesting. It looks good - with Spain standing on for Africa. It has a slightly absurdist take (eg soldiers appearing in soccer uniforms, in bright colours) which I think plays better on stage because in film you want to invest yourself in it more. The use of real life footage is effective as are the deaths. There's a cricket game, which is a novelty.
But I didn't like it. Maybe I need to see it again or something.
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