User Reviews

In this uninspired, made-for-television, buddy picture, James Whitmore, Jr., and Tom Selleck portray two U.S. Army/Air Force officers ordered to destroy a winery in France that conceals a laboratory for the development of a lethal toxin that could wipe out half of the world in six months. Well-known writers Stephen J. Cannell of "The A-Team" and Philip DeGuere of "Simon & Simon" have contrived a formulaic, half-baked World War II secret mission behind enemy lines that is neither convincing nor exciting. The gimmick that the heroes rely on to deliver the explosives is the best idea in this lackluster adventure opus.

This 77-minute melodrama spends its opening 14 minutes providing exposition to set up its plot. During that opening quarter hour, we are treated to an "Untouchables" style narrator and loads of second-unit shots mixed in with artwork and stock footage. We see a German E-Boat—or what passes for one—off the French command intercept French radio signals. A fight between two agents ensues over possession of the toxin and the vial crashes into the floor and releases a nasty plume of smoke. The Allied agent suffers terribly while the German escapes. Eventually, doctors in England treat the Allied agent but he

Our brash, fun-loving heroes parachute into France. Actually, Selleck's character boots Whitmore out of the plane and follows him down. A colorful band of traveling gypsies picks them up and serves as their cover during the trip to the winery. Our heroes have no money to pay for their escort so the gypsies appropriate Selleck's West Point ring—yeah, right, what was he thinking when he brought it on this mission—and Whitmore's watch. Little do they know that the Germans are racing ahead of them for the same destination. Perennial bad guy Albert Paulson commands the Axis intruders as a German colonel. Selleck masquerades as a German officer in order to enter the grounds of the winery. Whitmore taps into the communications line and calls ahead to German headquarters in the winery and inquires about an officer. The radio operator reports that no such officer is available. Whitmore complains that he should be notified to report back to him as soon as possible. This clever ruse helps Selleck effect entry since the Germans are expecting him. He fixes up things so that the plumbing backs up. The German colonel demands that the problem be dealt with in short order. Whitmore pretends to be a plumber taking a roadside break when German motorcycle troops discover his presence and escort him to the winery. As it turns out, this is exactly what our heroes want. Meantime, the Germans discover the gypsies in the woods, but they miss the strong man. He opens the water lines and sends metal tubes streaking through the lines. Inside the tubes are explosive devices. After he sends Whitmore all the explosive tubes, he drives his wagon off, only to be intercepted by German troops that take him prisoner. In the winery, Whitmore enters the vault where the vials of toxin chemicals are stored. Before he fiddles with the vials, he slips explosives to Selleck who has relieved the guards in front of the vault. Selleck and he set their charges and on the way out of the winery, they spot the gypsy father and daughter as well as the Germans escorting the strong man in the wagon.

The last quarter hour involves their predictable heroics at rescuing the gypsies. Whitmore and Selleck succeed in their mission and the winery is blown sky-high. The "Untouchables" narrator furnishes us with a history lesson about the Italians declaring war on France and the Germans marching on Paris.

Whitmore and Selleck play reasonably well off each other, but they are thwarted by embarrassing dialogue, especially when they are voicing themselves over in long shots. Veteran TV lenser Enzo A. Martinelli makes everything look good in this otherwise forgettable fare. Among the many anachronisms present here is Tom Selleck's haircut that was right for the 1970s but all wrong for 1940. I don't think that I've ever seen a German officer with a mustache the size of the one that Selleck wears. "The Gypsy Warriors" plays like a World War II version of the "The Wild, Wild West" with Whitmore doing all the dirty work and Selleck striking tough guy poses.

What a sloppy, contrived, and poorly executed project. Embarrassing for all those involved- and really a waste of some great character actors [Paulsen, Ruskin].

Was Stephen J Cannell trolling or just bored when this was made? Laughably inaccurate portrayal of OSS & WWII operations. Comedy? Not much. Drama, nonsensical! They kill off the leading French scientist before learning what the Satan Bug is and what else he was working on?

Its Ironic that Tom Selleck's character delivers that quoted line about 30 minutes into this - he really sums up the film, as it goes downhill in laborious fashion early and picks up speed... Only watch for die hard TS fans or for use as a drinking game for whenever a Nazi bites the dust.

If it were possible to rate a movie less than 1, this is a prime candidate in the War drama category.

I have been a die hard TS Fan since the heady days of Magnum being 'the Watch' of the week, ,when VCR's were just beginning to become household items and most films(unless designated'horror) showed no blood as a consequence of gunshot wounds.... Clearly there was a whole range of superb war films produced by 1978 , even along similar themes to this film(Heroes of Telemark, Operation Crossbow, to name but two around that time,) . Putting this film in that context it would be quite kind to say it is 'Poor' by comparison but that said , lets not forget , it was made for TV, the production values matched most ordinary children's TV adventure shows. There is nothing accurate about it at all except for Toms moustache but on the other hand it has a fascination rather like the knitwear ads (stills) featuring a very young Roger Moore, note I use the word 'fascination'. For me the entertainment value is high simply because Tom Selleck's charisma still shines through despite the odds being stacked so high against him. That communication with the audience which became such a feature of the later made Magnums does emerge in this' no' budget cliché ridden piece of 'drama'. I love the 'el lo, el lo'(Uk French resistance comedy, sitcom) aspect of the English spoken with German accents, most hilariously by Tom himself. Suffer from no illusions, 'Where Eagles dare' it isn't, but it held my attention for that Selleck magic consistently all through the 72 minutes . I didn't think the image quality was that bad, certainly ignorable for the entertainment value of the performance by himself. I am one of those fans who find that TS becomes more entertaining with every project he gives himself to, a bit like Sir Michael Caine, I'd enjoy him reading a dictionary !So, taking all that bias into account, if you collect him , then spent a couple of quid and add this to the collection, it is, when all's said and done a piece of very simple 'boys own' adventure yarn-age... it isn't 'Plattoon' or' Born on the fourth of July' but it is a very early performance by probably the most underrated actor of our time(recommend 'Countdown to D-Day' and 'Quigley Down under' as bench marks for their genre). I enjoyed it, what have you got to loose!