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If the movie has a fault (its rape scenes aside), it is that it is a little on the unrealistic side when it comes to the battle scenes, and also can't quite seem to settle on a tone or moral. We have (essentially) untrained kids mowing down countless Nazis left and right, and it can't quite seem to decide if it wants to show war as a fun adventure or as a grim reality with tragic psychological tolls that come with children becoming killers, and its efforts to have it both ways leave it feeling a bit disjointed.
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* ArcWords: "Everybody pays." And boy, do they ''ever''.
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* InfantImmortality: Brutally averted in the first few minutes, with the SS machine-gunning nursing mothers and their babies. Then played straight up until [[spoiler:the deaths of Carlo and Silvio.]]
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* AngstWhatAngst: Most of the kids turn out surprisingly okay at the end for all they've been through. Likewise, Turner takes the total slaughter of his entire team at the beginning pretty well. [[spoiler:And Bianca seems to get over her attempted rape rather quickly. The ''actual'' rape later is a different matter.]]
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* AngstWhatAngst: Most of the kids turn out surprisingly okay at the end for all they've been through. Likewise, Turner takes the total slaughter of his entire team at the beginning pretty well. [[spoiler:And Bianca seems to get over her attempted rape rather quickly. The ''actual'' rape later is a different matter.]]
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* CozyCatastrophe: Most of the kids turn out surprisingly okay at the end for all they've been through.
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[[quoteright:333:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stabbing_a_nazi_7580.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:333:"Here's your problem! You had a knife in your spleen!"]]
[[caption-width-right:333:"Here's your problem! You had a knife in your spleen!"]]
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It's WorldWarII. In the Italian village of Reanoto, the SS under the command of the cruel Major Taussig massacres the entire adult population while a group of children look on from nearby. Not long afterward, a group of American soldiers led by [[TheStoic the stoic]] Captain Turner (Rock Hudson) are to parachute in for a top-secret commando mission, but are waylaid by German forces led by the stern, no-nonsense Captain von Hecht. Only Turner survives, and barely. He's found by the kids from Reanoto, who are led by the borderline psychotic Aldo.
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* MassMonsterSlaughterSidequest: To Turner, the kids' quest for vengeance is this. His main objective is the dam, but Aldo and the boys push him into helping them with their RoaringRampageOfRevenge.
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** Many of the Germans die like either Ostriches or Mules, because they basically ignore the problems they themselves created (the SS destroying Reanoto) and also ignore evidence of other problems (Turner's plan to blow the dam).
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** The SS die like Mules, massacred in direct reprisal of their own slaughter of Reanoto, an act Taussig apparently didn't think would come back to bite them.
** Many of the Germans on the whole die likeeither Ostriches or Mules, because they basically ignore the problems they themselves created (the SS destroying Reanoto) and also ignore Ostriches, ignoring evidence of other problems (Turner's plan to blow Turner's true target, the dam).dam, and not listening to von Hecht.
** Many of the Germans on the whole die like
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* DyingLikeAnimals:
** The people of Reanoto at the beginning die like Mice, unresisting against the SS.
** The Partisans die like Boars, charging heroically into battle and promptly getting cut down.
** Many of the Germans die like either Ostriches or Mules, because they basically ignore the problems they themselves created (the SS destroying Reanoto) and also ignore evidence of other problems (Turner's plan to blow the dam).
** The people of Reanoto at the beginning die like Mice, unresisting against the SS.
** The Partisans die like Boars, charging heroically into battle and promptly getting cut down.
** Many of the Germans die like either Ostriches or Mules, because they basically ignore the problems they themselves created (the SS destroying Reanoto) and also ignore evidence of other problems (Turner's plan to blow the dam).
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* FailedASpotCheck: This is what gets Gunther killed. Coming in, he doesn't notice Turner standing directly to his right, allowing the American to disarm him and [[NeckSnap break his neck]].
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* PayEvilUntoEvil
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* DespairEventHorizon: See HeroicBreakdown
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* HollywoodSilencer: Averted. Turner's suppressed sidearm makes the correct noise for a silenced firearm, and isn't entirely silent, since the noise ''is'' shown to attract attention.
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* HollywoodSilencer: Averted. Turner's suppressed sidearm handgun makes the correct noise for a silenced firearm, and isn't entirely silent, since the noise ''is'' shown to attract attention.
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* HollywoodSilencer: Averted. Turner's suppressed sidearm makes the correct noise for a silenced firearm, and isn't entirely silent, since the noise ''is'' shown to attract attention.
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* NeckSnap: Unleashed by Turner on Gunther, the SS corporal.
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* NeckSnap: Unleashed by Turner on Gunther, the SS corporal.Gunther.
* {{Novelization}}: A rather pulpy one by Michael Avallone.
* {{Novelization}}: A rather pulpy one by Michael Avallone.
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* RapeAsDrama
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* RapeAsDramaRapeAsDrama: Aldo and some of the older boys try to force themselves on Bianca when she won't treat Turner because he's an enemy soldier. [[spoiler: Turner saves her, but later it's very strongly implied he rapes her himself. The scene cuts away, though, and it's worth noting that in Michael Avallone's novelization, the sex is consensual.]]
* RebelLeader: Scarpi. Aldo styles himself one, but is too violent, impulsive and incompetent to really succeed.
* RebelLeader: Scarpi. Aldo styles himself one, but is too violent, impulsive and incompetent to really succeed.
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* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized
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* LaRésistance: The Partisans.
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* LaRésistance: LaResistance: The Partisans.
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* ARealManIsAKiller
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* ARealManIsAKillerARealManIsAKiller: Aldo insists this.
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* AllGermansAreNazis: Aldo thinks so, anyway. The film itself actually goes to great lengths to avert this trope, showing most of the German troops as just regular guys. Even the SS are treated as regular, fallible human beings.
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* AllGermansAreNazis: Aldo thinks so, anyway. The film itself actually goes to great lengths to avert this trope, showing most of the German troops as just regular guys. Even the SS are treated as regular, fallible human beings.beings (when they're not shooting unarmed civilians, anyway).
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* HeroicBreakdown: [[spoiler: Aldo suffers a particularly heartwrenching one at the end when the enormity of what he has been through - what he has done and what he almost did - finally takes its toll on him.]]
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* OutOfFocus: Schwalberg. Overlaps with WhatHappenedToTheMouse a bit.
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* OutOfFocus: Schwalberg. Overlaps with WhatHappenedToTheMouse a bit. Although seen with von Hecht as his SatelliteCharacter for basically the entire film, up towards the end, he just sort of vanishes.
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* RevengeBeforeReason: The kids don't care that blowing up the dam will flood the valley, drowning thousands of Nazis, including the ones who now occupy their old town. They want to ''personally'' kill their parents' murderers. This is understandable, but as Turner points out, is not at all practical. For the other kids, wiping out the SS is enough to satisfy their need for payback, but not for Aldo, who keeps right on wanting to kill Germans until Turner manages to knock some sense into him (but before poor [[spoiler: Carlo]] has paid the price for Aldo's private war).
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* RevengeBeforeReason: The kids don't care that blowing up the dam will flood the valley, drowning thousands of Nazis, including the ones who now occupy their old town. They want to ''personally'' kill their parents' murderers. This is understandable, but as Turner points out, is not at all practical. For the other kids, wiping out the SS is enough to satisfy their need for payback, but not for Aldo, who keeps right on wanting to kill Germans until Turner manages to knock some sense into him (but not before poor [[spoiler: Carlo]] has paid the price for Aldo's private war).
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* WorthyFoe: Von Hecht sees Turner as this.
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* WorthyFoe: WorthyOpponent: Von Hecht sees Turner as this.
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* MookLieutenant: Schwalberg.
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* MookLieutenant: Schwalberg.
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* WorthyFoe: Von Hecht sees Turner as this.
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* RevengeBeforeReason: The kids don't care that blowing up the dam will flood the valley, drowning thousands of Nazis, including the ones who now occupy their old town. They want to ''personally'' kill their parents' murderers. This is understandable, but as Turner points out, is not at all practical. For the other kids, wiping out the SS is enough to satisfy their need for payback, but not for Aldo, who keeps right on wanting to kill Germans until Turner manages to knock some sense into him (but before poor [[spoiler: Carlo]] has paid the price for Aldo's private war).
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: With Turner's help, the kids essentially do a drive-by on SS headquarters and kill everything that moves.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: With Turner's help, the kids essentially do a drive-by on SS headquarters and kill everything that moves.
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* OutOfFocus: Schwalberg. Overlaps with WhatHappenedToTheMouse a bit.
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* CozyCatastrophe: Most of the kids turn out surprisingly okay at the end, as if they ''didn't'' witness their parents' deaths and then mow down hordes of guys in blood-soaked revenge.
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* CozyCatastrophe: Most of the kids turn out surprisingly okay at the end, as if they ''didn't'' witness their parents' deaths and then mow down hordes of guys in blood-soaked revenge.end for all they've been through.
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* VillainousBSOD: Taussig suffers one when he returns and finds all of his men slaughtered.
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It's WorldWarII. In the Italian village of Reanoto, the SS under the command of the cruel Major Taussig massacres the entire adult population while a group of children look on from nearby. Not long afterward, a group of American soldiers led by [[TheStoic the stoic]] Captain Turner (RockHudson) are to parachute in for a top-secret commando mission, but are waylaid by German forces led by the stern, no-nonsense Captain von Hecht. Only Turner survives, and barely. He's found by the kids from Reanoto, who are led by the borderline psychotic Aldo.
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It's WorldWarII. In the Italian village of Reanoto, the SS under the command of the cruel Major Taussig massacres the entire adult population while a group of children look on from nearby. Not long afterward, a group of American soldiers led by [[TheStoic the stoic]] Captain Turner (RockHudson) (Rock Hudson) are to parachute in for a top-secret commando mission, but are waylaid by German forces led by the stern, no-nonsense Captain von Hecht. Only Turner survives, and barely. He's found by the kids from Reanoto, who are led by the borderline psychotic Aldo.
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* ARealManIsAKiller
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* CozyCatastrophe: Most of the kids turn out surprisingly okay at the end, as if they ''didn't'' witness their parents' deaths and then mow down hordes of guys in blood-soaked revenge.
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* AllGermansAreNazis: Aldo thinks so, anyway. The film itself actually goes to great lengths to avert this trope, showing most of the German troops as just regular guys. Even the SS are treated as regular, fallible human beings.
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* AllGermansAreNazis: Aldo thinks so, anyway. The film itself actually goes to great lengths to avert this trope, showing most of the German troops as just regular guys. Even the SS are treated as regular, fallible human beings. beings.
* BreakTheCutie: And nothing is better for that than watching their parents getting massacred by the SS.
* TheCassandra: A rare example on the bad guys' side. Captain von Hecht spends half the movie trying to convince his boneheaded superiors that Turner's target is obviously the dam, with a list of good reasons why he thinks so. He ends up needing to go rogue in an ultimately doomed effort to stop the American from succeeding. May also classify as IgnoredExpert, given his experience in dealing with partisan activity.
* ChildSoldier
* EgomaniacHunter: Von Hecht.
* GoKartingWithBowser: There's a few surprisingly cute scenes of the kids and the Germans interacting, particularly the bit where Carlo and Tekko trade two guards some candy for their cigarettes.
* GrayAndGrayMorality: There are very few wholly good and wholly evil characters in this film. Mostly, everyone is just emotionally and psychologically messed up.
* KillTheCutie: Poor [[spoiler: Carlo]].
* MookLieutenant: Schwalberg.
* NeckSnap: Unleashed by Turner on Gunther, the SS corporal.
* PunchClockVillain: Most of the Germans, but especially von Hecht and his men.
* RapeAsDrama
* ThoseWackyNazis
* BreakTheCutie: And nothing is better for that than watching their parents getting massacred by the SS.
* TheCassandra: A rare example on the bad guys' side. Captain von Hecht spends half the movie trying to convince his boneheaded superiors that Turner's target is obviously the dam, with a list of good reasons why he thinks so. He ends up needing to go rogue in an ultimately doomed effort to stop the American from succeeding. May also classify as IgnoredExpert, given his experience in dealing with partisan activity.
* ChildSoldier
* EgomaniacHunter: Von Hecht.
* GoKartingWithBowser: There's a few surprisingly cute scenes of the kids and the Germans interacting, particularly the bit where Carlo and Tekko trade two guards some candy for their cigarettes.
* GrayAndGrayMorality: There are very few wholly good and wholly evil characters in this film. Mostly, everyone is just emotionally and psychologically messed up.
* KillTheCutie: Poor [[spoiler: Carlo]].
* MookLieutenant: Schwalberg.
* NeckSnap: Unleashed by Turner on Gunther, the SS corporal.
* PunchClockVillain: Most of the Germans, but especially von Hecht and his men.
* RapeAsDrama
* ThoseWackyNazis
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It's WorldWarII. In the Italian village of Reanoto, the SS under the command of the cruel Major Taussig massacres the entire adult population while a group of children look on from nearby. Not long afterward, a group of American soldiers led by [[TheStoic the stoic]] Captain Turner (RockHudson) are to parachute in for a top-secret commando mission, but are waylaid by German forces led by the stern, no-nonsense Captain von Hecht. Only Turner survives, and barely. He's found by the kids from Reanoto, who are led by the borderline psychotic Aldo.
The kids nurse Turner back to health aided by a captive German doctor named Bianca. In return for Turner teaching the kids how to load and fire machine guns, Aldo and the gang will help Turner complete his original mission, filling in for his dead team and blowing up the supposedly impregnable Della Norte Dam. Turner clashes with Bianca over what is best for the boys, whilst Aldo begins disliking the American taking over leadership from him, and, in the meantime, von Hecht is hunting for Turner, who he knows is alive.
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!!Tropes used in this film:
* AllGermansAreNazis: Aldo thinks so, anyway. The film itself actually goes to great lengths to avert this trope, showing most of the German troops as just regular guys. Even the SS are treated as regular, fallible human beings.
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The kids nurse Turner back to health aided by a captive German doctor named Bianca. In return for Turner teaching the kids how to load and fire machine guns, Aldo and the gang will help Turner complete his original mission, filling in for his dead team and blowing up the supposedly impregnable Della Norte Dam. Turner clashes with Bianca over what is best for the boys, whilst Aldo begins disliking the American taking over leadership from him, and, in the meantime, von Hecht is hunting for Turner, who he knows is alive.
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!!Tropes used in this film:
* AllGermansAreNazis: Aldo thinks so, anyway. The film itself actually goes to great lengths to avert this trope, showing most of the German troops as just regular guys. Even the SS are treated as regular, fallible human beings.
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