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The Victors

1963 2h 36m War List
20% Tomatometer 5 Reviews 78% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
A group of American soldiers manages to survive over the course of World War II, from the Battle of Britain to the fall of the Third Reich. Along the way, a number of unfortunate incidents occur. White soldiers violently abuse fellow black soldiers, a deserter is summarily executed on New Year's Eve and a sergeant takes advantage of a shell-shocked French woman. War is hell for the winners and the losers in this episodic meditation on the horrors that exist on and off the field of battle.

Critics Reviews

View All (5) Critics Reviews
Bosley Crowther New York Times Mr. Foreman's direction is generally artless, highly romanticized, and there really is not one good performance -- one strong characterization -- in the whole film. Eli Wallach's sergeant is the best of a lot of stereotypes. Mar 3, 2020 Full Review Variety Staff Variety [Foreman] has designed his narrative with great filmmaking skill and considerable daring, recalling the early 1940s both for nostalgia and irony. Feb 23, 2012 Full Review Joan Didion Vogue The Victors is a bad movie: its shoddiness runs deep. Mar 3, 2020 Full Review Dwight MacDonald Esquire Magazine [The Victors'] defects are, essentially, three: (1) there are no people, only movie actors; (2) every point is all too explicit; (3) the points, when examined, prove to be not very sharp. Aug 12, 2019 Full Review Isabel Quigly The Spectator But on the whole in trying to demolish what the block- buster war film has stood for, Mr. Foreman has used too many of its techniques-even the slow- ness and the interval. Jul 13, 2018 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (16) audience reviews
Rob G I was 17 when I saw this film just before I went in to the Army. It had a great impact me. I am am 89 now. and it still resonates. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/04/24 Full Review ROBERT R I am 88 and saw it when it first came out Then I loved it, but now I can see it has faults. Even so, it still made me want to look at it again. A sad commentary on war, but the George Peppard sequences just don't ring true to life. And the end was put in for what? I thought the only realistic bits were the actors taking the roles of GI's doing their best to look like the real deal. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 04/29/23 Full Review Audience Member An unusual film: * Its a series of separate events (mini-stories?) that take place to a US Army team, starting from their engagement in Italy and following them as they cross Europe towards Germany for the close of the WW2. * The directing is excellent, the film in my opinion has not aged much at all. * Because of the format (the mini-stories) it is not a "normal" film, this affects engagement, it also ends abruptly. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member This movie follows a group of American soldiers through different European battlefields in World War II: Italy, France, Belgium, Germany. It is composed of several short stories that share the same theme and characters, divided by sequences of actual newsreels from the war. This creates a very strong contrast between the stories served to the movie theater audiences at home in which the soldiers were portrayed as optimistic heroes and the dark reality: brutal conditions, exhaustion, depression, futility, sexual exploitation, the black market, war profiteers... It was made at the time when Second World War movies were still big-budget epics, with an atmosphere of heroism and optimism very similar to the wartime newsreels, and most of the action was limited to battle-scenes. In this film, the focus is on daily life, moreover there are no combat scenes, and short stories complement each other to create an atmosphere of pervasive emptiness and quiet desperation. A few weeks after its release the movie was briefly withdrawn to be modified, abridged and virtually censored. As far as I know, the original uncut version of the movie is still not available. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review ashley h The Victors is a decent film. It is about a squad of American soldiers fighting their way through Italy and Germany in the final days of World War II. Vince Edwards and Albert Finney give good performances. The screenplay is a little in slow in places. Carl Foreman did an alright job directing this movie. I liked this motion picture because of the drama. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Episodic, yet intelligently and strikingly shot. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Victors

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Movie Info

Synopsis A group of American soldiers manages to survive over the course of World War II, from the Battle of Britain to the fall of the Third Reich. Along the way, a number of unfortunate incidents occur. White soldiers violently abuse fellow black soldiers, a deserter is summarily executed on New Year's Eve and a sergeant takes advantage of a shell-shocked French woman. War is hell for the winners and the losers in this episodic meditation on the horrors that exist on and off the field of battle.
Director
Carl Foreman
Screenwriter
Carl Foreman
Production Co
Open Road Films
Genre
War
Original Language
English
Runtime
2h 36m