Scimitar
Video | Review by Dan Taylor
Set in the waning days of
World War II, THE LIBERATORS instantly earned
my respect by opening with a major gunfight
with the dreaded Nazi scum. And when that
battle ends with a crazed GI wasting the
captured Krauts and his commanding officer,
I thought my head was going to explode...and
we had yet to catch a glimpse of our man
of the hour, Klaus Kinski.
Much to my surprise though,
when K2 does pop up, it is not as a German
soldier like any right thinking human being
would expect. No, instead we have a young
Klaus with a slick pompadour and Joe American
accent pumping out all sorts of attitude
as a US soldier on his way to be executed
for the murder of an innocent German civilian.
(Hey come on...we were at war you
know.)
When a group of Germans ambush
the soldiers sent to execute Klaus and the
crazed soldier mentioned earlier, the two
take the opportunity to grab a couple guns,
shoot some Krauts, and dash into the hills.
An act of God? Just dumb luck? Go figure.
The fly in the ointment here
is that the Lieutenant of the execution
squad (who looks a Hell of alot like a young
Bradford Dillman) also avoids death and
is forced to flee behind enemy lines with
the two escapees. After a few silly attempts
at taking the two in, the Lt. realizes that
if they are going to survive the three have
to team up. That they do, killing more Nazis
along the way and adopting new identities
in order to avoid the certain death which
will soon be coming their way.
The next portion of the flick
is a bit fuzzy for me, but when I came down
from washing the dishes K2 and Krew were
being worshipped by some little Italian
town that loves America and can't wait to
be liberated (hence the title).
At this point we all know
what is going to happen, and the director
(unknown, since the version I rented had
no credits anywhere) fulfills our every
guess. Klaus and his crazed friend learn
the true meaning of love, and they successfully
hold off a major league Nazi hoard that
threatens the very existence of the people
they have come to love and respect.
THE LIBERATORS is bizarre
without being too twisted. Action-packed
without being too much of a war film. And
just enough of a redemption tale without
being sappy. If you've seen this flick,
you know what I mean. If not, THE LIBERATORS
is certainly worth looking for at your local
video store. An interesting alternative
to your usual macho war film drivel.
