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Darby's Rangers 
Actors : James Garner, Etchika Choureau, Jack Warden, Edd Byrnes, Venetia Stevenson
Director : William A. Wellman
Studio : Warner Home Video
by Warner Home Video
Release Date : 1995-03-17
Publisher : Warner Home Video
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9780790716893
UPC : 085391170730
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 6 reviews)
List Price : $14.98
Our Price : $24.95
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Description |
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Depicts the gallant exploits of the American Rangers and their leader, Colonel William Darby, as he leads his men through the landing assault on North Africa and the invasion of Italy. Suggested by the book by Major James Altieri. |
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Deserves Its Own Body Bag |
The hardest part of writing a review for this movie was selecting a myriad of titles that filled my imagination: "Fell on its Own Plunger," or "Navy Recruiting Film," or "Pull the Pin on this One and Release the Charging Handle, " or "Weapons Free at the Movie Marquee."
Although I have a great memory for the good things, I also have one for those which are bad, and this is bad. It's bad enough to make John Wayne's "The Green Berets" look like a Cannes Festival Film Classic, and this ranks as the worst military movie I have ever seen, being right down there with "The Blue Max."
It is 1942 and Colonel Darby played by James Garner is marked as a "comer" in the army. That was the term of the day for someone who was destined for the stars, at least on his epaulettes. Darby wants to form an elite commando unit modeled on the British of the same name, but he wants to give it a distinctly American title. He will call them rangers. This is where you should get up to get a two-hour snack or do your laundry leaving the flick on PLAY.
They train in Scotland being put up by the local population, and one, wee Scottish lassie falls in love with an Elvis Presley look-alike ranger candidate billeted with her and husband. As if the training isn't tough enough, he sneaks out at night to go back to the house for some wee Scottish hospitality and infidelity. She is ready to leave her man when she finds out her bonnie American lover was killed in a wee bit of training. The moral? Ranger training is dangerous, very dangerous.
The next scene is North Africa where they perform so well in combat, they are called "gangsters" by the Germans. "We're famous," chortles Darby. But he is unaware that the fate of his rangers, and the script for his audience is going to end up in the beaten zone of bad writing. I have to hand it to the acting of James Garner when one of his rangers confides in him, "Sir, war is a big stink." He keeps a straight face as Colonel Darby and reassures him in a paternal tone, "I know, son." (Blechhh)! This is where my half-masticated popcorn tossed out shrapnel-like kernels faster than the muzzle velocity of an M-1 rifle aimed right at the screen at the other kind of colonel. My reaction was like a dismal Delphic oracle of what was to come.
Following bad orders in real life, and in the film, Darby takes his battalion of rangers out into the Italian countryside where they are surrounded by German armor that wipes out his unit. (The Germans will parade 600 captured rangers through the streets of Rome). Darby is depressed as he heads toward the beach without a command. But faster than you can recite your third general order, a soldier notices the ranger patch on Darby's shoulder and says, "Wow! There's a ranger." Darby gets all perky like he has just downed a whole bottle of Shaklee vitamins with a full canteen of potable water.
Just when I was thinking of going into full retrograde (the formal military term for what civilians call retreat, or haul a** in the military vernacular), finally, the credits start to "go rolling along."
The film, mercifully, has come to an end.
This movie has more formula than a nipple of Enfamil. The script is so bad that I would have rather eaten fortified peanut butter from a box of C rations without water or crackers! I would rather have gone through the CS Chamber without a gas mask! Okay, you get the idea.
This movie is a big stink! It is the mother of bad film-making; it is the WMD of forgettable pictures.
Put this one in a body bag, and give it a proper burial. |
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Darby's Rangers |
Actually arrived early. It was in better shape than I ordered. Great
people to work with. |
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Birthday Gift |
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I purchased this video for my dad's 72nd birthday and it would not play correctly. Lines throughout the picture on the screen. We tried it on 3 different TV's to no avail. Unfortunately I bought it on Aug.13th and his birthday was on Sept. 12th and by the time I returned home on the 14th of Sept. it was too late to return it. He had been so looking forward to receiving this video that I am saddened not to be able to provide it to him. He served in the Korean War and enjoys watching war movies. He had looked all over for this movie and I was so happy to find it on Marketadvisory.com. I thought it would be a terrific surprise for him but it was I who was surprised by the video being defective. |
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Wild Bill Defies Formula |
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Near the end of his eccentric and notorious career William "Wild Bill" Wellman directed "Darby's Rangers" for Warner Brothers. Despite the studio's budget, which limited the production to formula action-war-adventure status, Wellman used the dialogue to create interesting characterizations from his young contract players. Focusing on James Garner as Darby and the personal lives of his men, on and off the field, Wellman delivered a to the point and appealing film still memorable to anyone who has ever seen it. |
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Great World War II Film from Wild Bill |
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"Darby's Rangers" was director William "Wild Bill" Wellman's second from last film. An ace pilot in WW1 "Wild Bill" Wellman went to Hollywood and directed "WINGS," the first film to win an Academy Award. "Darby's Rangers" released in 1958 deals with Major William Darby's formation of a crack ranger outfit. The studio wanted an aging Wellman to turn out another formula war film late in his career but thanks to the charisma that James Garner brings to the role of Major Darby this movie works much better than expected. The movie deals with the Ranger's exploits on and off the field of battle. Cinematographer William Clothier's images are well filmed and stalwart Composer Max Steiner once again gives us that old `guts and glory' scoring. The good cast includes Jack Warden, Edd Byrnes, Stuart Whitman, Peter Brown, Torin Thatcher, Murray Hamilton and David Janssen. |
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