Mission to Death (1966) starring Jim Brewer, James E. McLarty, Jim Westbrook, Robert Stolper, Dudley Hafner, Cy Folmer, Ernest Hazlewood, Jeff Thompson directed by Kenneth W. Richardson Movie Review

Mission to Death (1966)   2/52/52/52/52/5


Mission to Death (1966) starring Jim Brewer, James E. McLarty, Jim Westbrook

Bored to Death

Having successfully swooped in and brought down a German radio base in an old house an American patrol move on to the next mission. Unfortunately the troops which they are meant to be joining forces with never show up leaving the men with a decision. Sergeant King (Jim Brewer) believes it is their patriotic duty to continue with the mission even though some of the men are less keen, concerned that the troop they were to rendezvous with might have been captured and blabbed of the mission. Despite this King has his way and the men proceed with the mission and to the next target.

Looking though the cast list for "Mission to Death" and I didn't recognize a single one of them, oh I might have watched another movie which featured one or two of them in supporting roles but there is no big cast name which you instantly recognize. I mention that because "Mission to Death" is one of those small studio movies from the 1960s which try to do what the bigger studios did but on I expect a much lower budget and tighter schedule. The end result is a forgettable frequently flawed WWII movie which fails to make any real impact other than wasting an hour and a bit of your day.

As I said "Mission to Death" has that feel of a small studio production playing on the popularity of war movies from the big studios during the 1960s. As such a lot of what goes on in "Mission to Death" ends up familiar as we have the danger of the mission, arguments between men, injuries, close encounters of the enemy kind and anything else which you would expect to see in a war movie. We also have the equally typical attempt to delve into the mind of the men we follow from a young soldier concerned that he won't be able to kill when the time comes whilst we have older soldiers who are supposedly weather warn as well as some who have had enough of putting their lives on the line.

The trouble with "Mission to Death" is that it comes across as incredibly false with actors spouting soft dialogue which just doesn't sound right for men operating in danger, it is all too polite and friendly rather than the tension fuelled ribbing you would expect. The unconvincing dialogue is made worse by the fact that some of it feels dubbed and doesn't match with the actors lips giving it that detached feeling. And because we are talking a lower budget movie we get a lot more talking than action which seeing this is where the movies major problem lies it certainly doesn't help matters.

What this all boils down to is that "Mission to Death" is nothing more than a lower budget WWII movie made by a smaller studio but trying to do what the bigger studios did with major stars. It makes it a movie for those who have a desire to watch as many war movies as possible but offers up very little for those just looking for entertainment except some unintentional laughs due to the flaws.


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