moonspinner55 WWII story with a light touch has Hannibal Brooks, a British POW in Germany, volunteering to care for one of the zoo animals left vulnerable by the bombing; he's assigned Lucy, an Asian elephant. After the zoo is destroyed by fire, Brooks, a female cook and two German soldiers are instructed to accompany Lucy across the Swiss border--a journey which will also provide crafty Brooks with the opportunity to escape. Something different from director Michael Winner, known at that time for his 'mod' British dramas (although the colorful stories told about Winner during production show that the filmmaker had not misplaced his bad boy persona). The screenplay by Ian La Frenais and Dick Clement, based on a story by Winner and Tom Wright, has some basis in fact, and yet it's a very patchy film. The cinematography and scoring are lovely, and Oliver Reed as Brooks gives a charmingly unforced performance, but the third act with American escapee Michael J. Pollard helping Reed defeat the Nazis is wearing. Pollard was riding high on the success of "Bonnie and Clyde" two years before, but he's clearly not the star here, nor is Reed. It takes a delightful pachyderm to upstage these wily men, not to mention the entire German army. ** from ****

kat_94 How can you not love this film? I have grown up watching this film, and grown up using the phrase 'we're here' instead of elephant! lots of laughs are involved in watching this film, except from went he zoo is bombed :( all good films from this decade end with a happy ending, like this one! Just wish i could find it on DVD so i could watch it an endless amount of times. You can't get bored of a film this brilliantly bizarre! I love it! You should too! This film is the film that made me want a zoo when i was little, and to have lots of 'we're here's! Before i watched this film i didn't know quite how useful and elephant could be at freeing prisoners from wars, i'll remember this if i ever join the army!

patsylovesjazz Sadly they do not make films of this type today. an innocent film (if a film about war can be that), and very funny in places which also does not surprisingly, conflict with the film's war content.I have seen this brilliant 'British' film only twice and narrowly missed seeing (and recording)it for the third time recently. As it doesn't seem to be shown on TV (as often as the Great Escape anyway), I tried to buy a DVD instead. I was therefore completely surprised and frustrated to find it isn't listed as available anywhere, as far as I could see.Mr Winner, if you ever read this, please, please, please, make arrangements for this excellent film to be made available (again?) with possibly,dare I suggest, a Director's commentary, and comments from some of the (sadly few) remaining actors.

Wiseguy-7 Well worth watching! Escaping from Germany to Switzerland with an elephant, Hannibal Brooks embarks on an action-packed adventure that will keep your attention, and provide some laughs along the way.