Search - Ransom Money / Desert Commandos on DVD

Ransom stinks/Desert merely smells

04/26/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Why are these two movies packaged as one DVD? They both take place in hot dry places? Is that any reason to put them together?

RANSOM MONEY (no stars): Contrary to the credits and description on the package Ralph Meeker and Charles Bronson are NOT in the movie. Really! But Broderick Crawford is. There must have been a mix up with another kidnap movie. The movie on the DVD is very very stupid. The kidnapping is unbelievable. The intricate advance set ups with electronic wizardry and wild goose chasing just consumed film and confused the plot. Lots of padded footage, very bad lighting, inconsistent details. Filmed on location in Arizona and Las Vegas and showing them at their worst. In rotten color.

DESERT COMMANDOS (2 stars): Started off okay in Nazi Germany with a plot to kill the Allied leaders in Casablanca. 5 commandos are picked for their ability to speak English. One is Ken Clark who looks German-Nordic or like someone from Minnesota. They are dropped in the desert over 100 miles (why so far?) from Casablanca and meet a beautiful "Arab" woman who is their guide. 2 of them are killed on the way. They meet inept Arab tribesmen and take their clothing. They meet inept Allied soldiers and take their clothing. But the Allied soldiers knew in advance because one of the commandos is a spy. Yet they let the commandos continue with their mission instead of arresting or killing them on the spot. Later the Allied soldiers decide to arrest the commandos and must wage a gun battle that results in the loss of several Allied lives--kinda stupid? And the ending is a "surprise". Filmed on location in North Africa and with pretty good actors. This could have been a decent WW2 movie if the scriptwriter wasn't so inept. Hot, sunny color film."