Clearly uneven macaroni combat with some noteworthy elements such as its locations, score and, to some extent, photography but also some ridiculous ones such as its acting and writing.

During World War II, a small American unit lead by Captain Vincent (Guy Madison) is given the mission to destroy German cannons in the Tunisian desert. While stranded in the dessert, an unlikely alliance of Americans and Germans will form in order to survive the tough conditions.

The Tunisian setting is for sure a welcome one, although it won’t last for the entirety of the film, since the African side of the war seems to usually be forgotten in movies in benefit of its European counterpart. Precisely this Tunisian setting becomes very successfully another character in the first part of the film. The dunes, the runes, the caves, the sandstorms makes evident the harsh situation in which soldiers from both sides find themselves in, and equally provides for some pretty nice shots.

The good backdrop is still present in the second half of the film in the snowy French “campagne” in the second half even though, due to its increased reliance on indoor spaces, becomes less impactful.

On the other hand, what for sure isn’t as tough as the environment is the Nazi officers that populate it. In I Diavoli della Guerra, we find maybe the most benign and gentle Nazis ever portrayed in film. If you are injured, they will gladly and carefully take care of you, they will help you and let you go. Even Gestapo’s torture seems bearable, they will give you a couple of chops from which you will end up sporting a few bruises and that’s it. This strange attitude from the Nazis is also compensated by an overly trusting one from the allies. All this is summarised by a the “golden” line shouted by Vincent’s nemesis Heinrich Meinike (Venantino Venantini), “Why did you help me? Why did I help you?”. Being completely honest Herr Meinike, I don’t know what to say to any of the two questions.

But, this is not the only idiotic piece of writing, just one more example: during a scene in the dessert, a Nazi soldier gets blown by a mine after showing poor judgement and not listening to his superior, just a few seconds later another German soldier dares saying to Meinike, “The men at your company always know what they’re doing”, followed only right after with some others soldiers also getting blown by mines. Just a perfect “comedy sandwich”: set-up, hook, and punchline. Unfortunately, this is not meant to be a comedy.

Another element that will make you laugh is the extremely theatrical acting from the cast, especially the extras during the action scenes. It sincerely looks like they were trying to compete with each other on the most ridiculous death after being shot.

The only other element that keeps all this mayhem afloat is the score by Stelvio Cipriani, which is a more than decent and serious one in comparison to the people that “play around the tune”.

In conclusion, quite a silly “men on a mission” (twice) type of movie which starts with a clear The Guns of Navarone (1961, dir. J. Lee Thompson) in a much lesser scale, with bangs and booms in the minimum excuse, with preposterous acting as well as writing. Still its great sets and score overcome the overall cheap quality of a film that, even if unintended, becomes moderately fun in some moments.