Take away the big stars,Technicolor,widescreen,hundreds of extras,lots of pyrotechnics and you end up with Tarnished Heroes.Dermot Walsh leads his band of misfits to blow up a bridge over which a German convoy must pass.Naturally he comes into conflict with the motley bunch who have clearly been chosen for the mission with a view to their dependability.This being a film with a very limited budget you have to use your imagination much of the time.So for the three German soldiers you can see imagine ten times more.There is an explosion but you don't really see the bridge fall down.The camera keeps on panning around the countryside but no one is there.The squad are surrounded in a church.All but Dermot Walsh and a talkative Irishman are killed.However they are rescued by advancing troops.Over dramatic and rather threadbare.
3 Reviews
Acceptable low-budget war film
Marlburian29 June 2018
I've just watched "Tarnished Heroes" on YouTube and found it acceptable enough, given the obviously limited budget. The other two reviews here on IMDB say it all, or most of it.
I groaned when the soldiers discovered a young French girl in the church where they were holed up, with an instant romance ensuing between her and Major Bell as Germans trapped the squad inside. And there was rather too much extended soul-searching and soul-baring, some of which involved the besieged men sorting out individual and collective issues and not keeping watch on what might have been developing outside the church.
Several of the German soldiers died in quite a realistic manner, reeling back from gunshots, in contrast to the almost languid collapsing one sees too often in war films.
I groaned when the soldiers discovered a young French girl in the church where they were holed up, with an instant romance ensuing between her and Major Bell as Germans trapped the squad inside. And there was rather too much extended soul-searching and soul-baring, some of which involved the besieged men sorting out individual and collective issues and not keeping watch on what might have been developing outside the church.
Several of the German soldiers died in quite a realistic manner, reeling back from gunshots, in contrast to the almost languid collapsing one sees too often in war films.
Good old adventure yarn
grunsel28 September 2010
Could well be described in the old speak as a 'Ripping Yarn'. This was the type of story that would turn up in boy's comic magazines and perhaps for the same reason this film would turn up on TV in the morning of a school holiday. Its all very cheap but very effective.
Set in World War Two, Major Bell is given the task of blowing up a bridge that is a life line for German supplies, the only troops he can muster is a bunch of renegades and wasters who are awaiting a Court Martial, can he turn them into the team that will do the job while watching his own back? A cast of favourites from British TV this little gem rarely gets seen now but if you want an idea of the plot just watch The Dirty Dozen with Lee Marvin.
Set in World War Two, Major Bell is given the task of blowing up a bridge that is a life line for German supplies, the only troops he can muster is a bunch of renegades and wasters who are awaiting a Court Martial, can he turn them into the team that will do the job while watching his own back? A cast of favourites from British TV this little gem rarely gets seen now but if you want an idea of the plot just watch The Dirty Dozen with Lee Marvin.
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