Combat Classics 50 MoviePack (2008)

50 War Movie pack

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. September 16, 2008

Boxed Set Includes Plenty of Quality Films, but....

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 June 3, 2008

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