arthur_tafero The Victors is an underrated film directed by Carl Foreman and with an all-star cast. The notable performances of lives affected from D-Day to shortly after the war are highly believable, and well-acted. Included in the stellar roles are Eli Wallach, George Peppard, and Vince Edwards. On the distaff side, a very effective Melina Mercouri (the best performance in the film) outdistances all the other female supporting roles. Mercouri plays a Polish refugee who has mastered the black market, the Germans, the Americans, and anyone else who comes into her territory. VInce Edwards gives his role a decent effort, and even Mr. Sunscreen, George Hamilton, almost delivers a believable character. The photography is first-rate and the pacing of the film is impeccable. I highly recommend this as one the best WW 2 films ever to come out of Hollywood.

The_TJT Forgotten gem of a classic war drama, delivered with taste and nice looking b/w cinematography. The story follows a platoon of US soldiers across several cities on their conquest of Europe during WWII. It's more of a compilation of vignettes on the platoon members' wartime affairs with local European women rather than a traditional war film, being almost devoid of battle scenes. Yet the presence of war is always felt; as in the superb bombing scene with Sgt Craig and the wealthy French war widow, played by Wallach and Moreau."The Victors" has a great all-round cast of characters, including George Hamilton as corporal Trower, Eli Wallach as the tough sergeant, Jeanne Moreau and Rosanna Schiaffino playing short but memorable segments as the conquered women, to name a few. The version I saw has a relatively long running time of two and half hours, and is sometimes slightly slow for all tastes.... which is however compensated with several high impact scenes that linger well after the fact... for example one with Peter Fonda and a doomed puppy. The film is a great character study on human condition and makes a strong anti-war message, especially in the snowy execution scene of a deserter with Sinatra's Christmas song playing in the background... a contrast of tender music and violence which contributes to one of the most striking scenes in cinematic history... a combination later seen in many films such as Kubrik's DR. STRANGELOVE (1964), Leone's THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (1966), Peckinpah's CROSS OF IRON (1977) - and of course various Tarantino films where the meaning is to rather glorify violence instead of criticizing it."The Victors" is based on British writer Alexander Baron's book "The Human Kind", which is a collection of short stories based on the author's own wartime experiences. Excellent film.

Leofwine_draca THE VICTORS is a black and white WW2 film following the misadventures of a squad of American soldiers as they work their way through various theatres of war in Europe. They begin in London, narrowly avoiding the Blitz, before moving into occupied Italy and finally - following the D-Day landings - working their way through France back towards Germany.This isn't a film I'd particularly heard about before watching and having seen it I have to say that I found it a bit of a slog to sit through. It's an epic-length movie with a very slow pace and a narrative which is episodic in nature. The soldiers are just that, soldiers, without ever being particularly sympathetic; whether you like them or not depends on how much you like the actors playing them. George Hamilton and George Peppard are both good value and Eli Wallach is great as always, but I could take or leave the rest of them.The film does have its strengths, including some fine cinematography which makes the bombed-out ruins of a war-devastated continent look incredible. There isn't a great deal of action here but that which does occur is realistic and engaging. Playing spot the famous face is fun, as the film includes bit parts for Albert Finney, Roy Scheider, and Peter Fonda. Some moments such as those involving the dog or the Russian soldier are extremely harrowing and downbeat. However, too much of the film chronicles the experiences of the Yanks with various European women, all of them played by top European talent like Jeanne Moreau and Elke Sommer. These romantic interludes are slow and where the film lost my interest, taking the edge off a potential masterpiece.

pefrss I just watched this movie for the first time on TV. I probably missed it before because I hate war films, but this is an anti-war film and one of the best I have ever seen. War is not only about the soldiers fighting, war is forced on the civilian population too, and post traumatic stress disorders were inflicted on those who did not fight too. War does not only destroy or maim the physical body but also the mind of anybody who is unlucky enough to get a too close to war. . I was reading through the comments and people commented on the American cast and completely ignored that the movie stars some of the greatest European actresses of that time. Jeanne Moreau, Romy Schneider, Melina Mercoury, Rosanna Schiaffino, Elke Sommer and Senta Berger and they make the movie. No wonder, that the movie is not listed as one of the top movies of all time. In a country where one war after the other is fought and those are fighting are told that it is glorious and honorable job they are doing. Reality only hits after they come home maimed in many ways and can't find a job and they end up homeless and unemployed and ridiculed because they have PTSD. I wish more movies like this would me made so that people see war more realistically and not glorify it.