Wheels of Terror (1987)

WHEELS OF TERROR  (1987)  ¢ ¢ ¢
    D: Gordon Hessler
    Bruce Davison, David Patrick Kelly, D.W. Moffett,
    Jay O. Sanders, David Carradine, Oliver Reed
A variation on "The Dirty Dozen", about a German Panzer unit made up entirely of convicted criminals. That, and the fact that they're a bunch of insolent goof-offs who don't necessarily worship the Führer, makes them disposable, and their commander (David Carradine) would like nothing better than to ship them to the Russian front, so that's where they end up. It's a loose, untidy B movie - part World-War-Two action piece, part Sgt. Rock comic book, and part "Animal House" in a tank - and assuming you've lowered your expectations enough going in, it's kind of fun. Carradine appears to be less than totally engaged - he was drinking a lot at the time - but he does get to strut around wearing a monocle. Oliver Reed - who drank a lot all the time - appears for a moment or two at the end. By then the movie's oddball crew has kind of grown on you, and in the context of the story they're in, the ending's a good one. Alternate title: "The Misfit Brigade".