Customer Reviews

Combat Classics 50 MoviePack

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The Combat Classics 50 Movie Pack consists of war films primarily set during World War II that have fallen into public domain. As fans of the Mill Creek Entertainment products have come to expect, the quality of the transfers in this boxed set range from fair to excellent, but the entertainment value of these movies is better than usual. There are no documentaries included in this set and only a handful of foreign films shot using a figurehead American star TV movies are incorporated. I'd have given full marks, except for one significant caveat - 25 of the 50 films listed can be found in other Mill Creek 50 Movie Packs: 17 were included in "War Classics", 5 in "Action Classics", 2 in Historical Classics and 1 each from "All-Time Classics" and "Hollywood Legends". In fact, the mediocre `Yellowneck' has been now been included in three different 50 Movie Pack collections. Since the recently released "TV Favorites" 150 episode pack includes 100 episodes previously included in other sets, this is a disturbing trend.

Here are the films, stars and ratings (on a 1 to 10 scale from a popular internet movie website):

The Adventures of Tarfu aka Sabotage Alert (1943) (6.8) - Robert Donat, Valerie Hobson and Glynis Johns
Aerial Gunner (1943) (6.1) - Chester Morris and Richard Arlen
Battle of Blood Island (1960) - Richard Devon
The Battle of El Alamein (1969) (5.1) - Frederick Stafford, George Hilton, Michael Rennie
Battle of the Eagles (1979) (5.5) - Bekim Fehmiu
The Big Lift (1950) (6.4) - Montgomery Clift, Paul Douglas
Black Brigade aka Carter's Army (1970) (5.0) - Stephen Boyd, Susan Oliver, Robert Hooks
Blood on the Sun (1945) (6.1) - James Cagney, Sylvia Sidney
Bombs over Burma (1943) (5.6) - Noel Madison, Anna Mae Wong
British Intelligence (1940) (5.8) - Boris Karloff, Margaret Lindsay
The Bushwhackers (1952) (5.6) - John Ireland, Wayne Morris, Dorothy Malone
Commandos (1968) (5.6) - Lee Van Cleef, Jack Kelly, Marilu Tolo
Corregidor (1943) (5.0) - Otto Kruger
The Dawn Express (1942) (5.4) - Michael Whalen, Anne Nagel, Constance Worth
Desert Commandos (1976) (4.8) - Ken Clark, Jeanne Valarie
Drums in the Deep South (1951) (5.8) - James Craig, Guy Madison, Barbara Payton
Eagles in a Cage (1972) (7.1) - John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson, Billie Whitelaw
Go for Broke (1951) (6.9) - Van Johnson
Gung Ho (1943) (5.9) - Randolph Scott, Robert Mitchem
Hearts in Bondage (1936) (6.3) - James Dunn, Mae Clarke
Hell in Normandy (1968) (4.9) - Guy Madison, Erika Blanc
Hitler's SS: Portrait of Evil (1985) - John Shea, David Warner
Identity Unknown (1945) (7.2) - Richard Arlen, Cheryl Walker, Lola Lane
Immortal Battalion (1945) (7.3) - David Niven, Stanley Holloway, James Donald
Iron Angel (1964) (3.6) - Jim Davis, Don `Red' Barry, L.Q. Jones
Kansas Pacific (1953) (5.9) - Sterling Hayden, Eve Miller
The Lady from Chungking (1942) (5.8) - Harold Huber, Anna Mae Wong, Mae Clarke
The Last Chance (1946) (7.7) - Ewart Morrison
The Marines Are Coming (1934) (6.4) - William Haines, Esther Ralston, Armida, Conrad Nagel
The Mark of the Hawk (1957) (4.7) - Sidney Portier, Eartha Kitt
Minesweeper (1943) (6.1) - Richard Arlen, Jean Parker, Russell Hayden
Mutiny (1952) (4.9) - Mark Stevens, Angela Lansbury, Patric Knowles
The Navy Way (1944) (5.6) - Robert Lowery, Jean Parker, Bill Henry
One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942) (7.3) - Godfrey Teale, Pamela Brown, Eric Portman
Outpost in Morocco (1949) (4.2) - George Raft, Marie Windsor, Akim Tamiroff
Pacific Inferno (1979) (3.8) - Jim Brown, Richard Jaeckel
Prisoner in the Middle aka Warhead (1977) - David Janssen, Karin Dor
The Proud and the Damned (1972) - Chuck Connors, Cesar Romero
Spitfire aka The First of the Few (1942) (7.1) - Leslie Howard, David Niven
The Steel Claw (1961) (5.5) - George Montgomery
Submarine Alert (1943) (5.8) - Richard Arlen, Wendy Barrie
Submarine Base (1943) (4.0) - John Litel, Eric Blore, Fifi D'Orsay
Sundown (1941) (5.8) - Bruce Cabot, Gene Tierney, George Saunders
Then There Were Three (1961) (nr) - Barry Cahill, Alex Nicol
They Raid by Night (1942) (4.4) - Lyle Talbot, June Duprez
This Is the Army (1943) (6.1) - George Murphy, Joan Leslie
Three Came Home (1950) (7.3) - Claudette Colbert, Patric Knowles
The Torch (1950) (5.1) - Pedro Armendariz, Paulette Goddard
War Devils (1969) (5.5) - Guy Madison
Yellowneck (1955) (3.6) - Lin McCarthy, Berry Kroeger

As an avid WWII movie buff, I found most of this collection features older movies (30 from 1940 - 1959) with another 10 from the 60's and half a dozen from the 70's. There were even two from 1934 and 1936. Most of them are worthwhile with a few 'duds' thrown in to make the magical number of 50. For instance, I don't think many of us would expect Mexico and Pauncho Villa to be included in a 'Combat Classic' Collection. Realizing the cost and hours of entertainment to be realized, it was enjoyable for the most part. Don't expect all of them to be top knotch movies but if you enjoy older movies then you'll find this collection worthwhile.

I bought this collection mainly for "This Is The Army" Featuring Ronald Reagan. It was a great oscar winning film that is not available on DVD so when I saw it on this collection I instantly purchased it. The quality of the films included in this set varies some films are very good transfers while others are not very well presented. But overall all the films are watchable and the lack of quality adds to the vintage feel of the included films. I recommend this set for its great value, 50 movies will keep you entertained for hours on end.

I am the owner of 6 other Mill Creek Ent. products and am used to the mediocre quality of both film entertainment value and visual conditions. I have been satisfied and find all of them a great value. Unfortunately, this one, Combat Classics, one which I would have been interested in, contains at least or about half of the movies on 2 other related box titles. I have Action and War and was ok with overlap of one or 2 or a couple of duds foreign or silent. This is over the top. On the big collections of 150 or more I would expect some compilation. I would have preferred 25 for $10.99 rather than the 50 for $17 plus

I own and have enjoyed a number of these Classic 50 Movie Packs, however, this collection is not one of them. While there are a few, (very few), good films in this collection, far too many of the titles simply are not worth your time. In addition, many of the titles are included in other Mill Creek collections.

Bad scripts, terrible acting, and in too many instances, very poor print quality as well. This is the first 50 Pack I've regretted buying. I'm sure there are better collections out there. Pass this one up, keep shopping.

Most of the combat in these "Classics" takes place in World War 2, although there is the occasional departure such as the Civil War and even African war film. I liked most of them. Even if they weren't thrilling as films in themselves they were interesting artifacts of life from several decades ago.



THE ADVENTURES OF TARTU: aka SABOTAGE AGENT, This film pits a chemical engineer (Captain Stevenson) who is fluent in Rumanian, German and Russian against Nazis. Stevenson becomes an Iron Guard named Tartu and attempts to upset a Nazi plot by destroying a poison gas factory. He needs help from the local resistance to succeed. But how, posing as a Nazi, can he get the underground to trust him? This one is pretty well written and thought out.

AERIAL GUNNER: Chester Morris and Richard Arlen are lifelong rivals who somehow end up in the Air Corps, in the same unit, at the same time, as.... (Drum roll)....Aerial Gunners! When they're not busy training with their .50 caliber machine guns they're busy trying to outmaneuver each other for the attention of the scrumptious Amelita Ward, who looks young enough to be their daughter. This is a typical WW2 propaganda movie which won't do you any damage but it's not really exciting or interesting either.

BATTLE OF THE EAGLES: An interesting Yugoslavian WWII film about the unsung story of the Yugoslavian Partisan air-force which, with outdated biplanes, took on the mighty Luftwaffe in 1942 Occupied Yugoslavia. It's a decent story but suffers from Yugoslavian production values and editing. The story deserves a big-budget re-make.

BLOOD ON THE SUN: A chipper little Jimmy Cagney movie wherein our hero plays a savvy newspaper editor stationed in Japan just before the attack on Pearl Harbor. He gets wind of the invasion and risks it all to get a hold of the plans and get them to US authorities. It's a decent enough little story made much better by Cagney's spitfire performance. It's capped off with an amazing fight scene in which Cagney shows off his Judo black belt.


BOMBS OVER BURMA: Anna May Wong plays a Chinese school teacher who helps keep a supply line open from China into Burma during WW2. It's not a lavish production by any means but Anna May has a natural screen presence and there is enough tension to keep you interested.

DESERT COMMANDOS: Italian director Umberto Lenzi's excellent WW2 film about 5 Nazi Soldiers who parachute into North Africa in order to assassinate Churchill, Roosevelt and DeGaulle, who are holding a major conference. It's more of a thriller than an action movie and it's a little slow getting started but by the end of the film you'll be on the edge of your seat.


DRUMS IN THE DEEP SOUTH: Two buds from West point find themselves on opposite ends of the battlefield in this pretty standard Civil War drama. Meh.

IDENTITY UNKNOWN: An interesting World War II psychological drama in which a soldier survives a bombing but suffers amnesia. His three buddies were not only all killed but all burned beyond recognition, so he doesn't know which of the four of them he is. It's actually pretty interesting and Cheryl Walker, the 1938 Pasadena Rose Queen, is easy on the eyes.

SUBMARINE ALERT: Nazi spies use a stolen shortwave transmitter prototype to broadcast top secret shipping info to an offshore Japanese submarine. Luckily, the FBI, a patriotic radio engineer and good old American gumption trip up the Ratzis. It's a decent little WW2 spy thriller that moves at a decent pace once it gets going. This one is not going to knock your socks off but it's definitely entertaining.


IMMORTAL BATTALION aka THE WAY AHEAD: This is a fine, highly patriotic British WW2 film about the training up of a rag-tag bunch of Brits into an efficient fighting force. David Niven drew on real life experience as a training officer for this film, which was written by Peter Ustinov.


MINESWEEPER: Richard Arlen and Jean Parker team up again to wave the flag during WW2. Arlen is a deserter who re-joins the navy after WW2 breaks out he finds redemption and Jean parker but not without butting heads with Russell Hayden and the Nazis. It's the usual stuff, although you learn some interesting details about the operation of a minesweeper.

ONE OF OUR AIRCRAFT IS MISSING: An RAF bomber crew bails out of their damaged plane over Nazi Occupied Holland. They spend the rest of the movie trying to get back to England with the help of the Dutch underground. Peter Ustinov makes his screen debut as a priest. While it is a propaganda film it purposely eschews many of the stereotypes found in this type of film, substituting realism and genuine thoughtfulness instead.

We were pleased for the most part.
The first 2 DVD Discs dont work or play, so we couldnt watch the first 8 movies.
However all the others work fine.

How can this not be a good deal? Granted very few are really good. Hitler's SS: Portrait of Evil, One of Our Aircraft Is Missing, Go for Broke and The Adventures of Tartu are some of the best. Most are rewatchable and a couple are pretty bad. But for the price you can't go wrong. Most are WWII with at least one pre-WWII and a few from the US Civil War. I don't remember the exact mix because there are so many it takes a long time to watch them all. Well worth the price for an old war movie buff like me even though I had about 15 of the movies already.

What is in the box is 12 discs with five or six movies on each disc. They come in individual envelopes but they are all stacked in a box thing in the center of the case which makes it a little diffcult to keep them in the right order when you take one out. But the envelopes should last for quit a few viewings. A great deal.

This was purchased as a Christmas gift for my grandfather. The product was shipped on time and no damage to the package at all. Perfect for a war vet that loves these movies! My grandfather was so excited about this gift! Thanks!

As a collector of war movies this collection offers me a large number of the classics at an excellent price. The quality of the recordings is as good as can be expected considering that they were transferred from film to digital. In terms of entertainment value, the movies vary from good to ok to pretty poor to terrible, but when you buy 50 in a pack, that's probably the expected range of reviews. It was surprising to see Civil War and even Napoleon War titles amongst what is billed as a combat collection, but they are a welcome surprise addition. If you like movies that scream patriotism and glory, good guys triumphing over evil, at times with cliched story-lines, then its worth adding to your movie shelf.