Director Jack Gold, best known for his television movies such as The Naked Civil Servant and Praying Mantis, made an impressive feature film debut with this compelling drama which charts the brutalizing effects of military life through the experiences of seven soldiers who are given the futile task of guarding an obsolete World War Two Bofors anti-craft gun at a British army camp in Germany in 1954. His skill with actors was superbly demonstrated: showy roles went to David Warner and, in particular, Nicol Williamson, but the contributions from a near-perfect cast which includes Ian Holm, Peter Vaughan, John Thaw and Richard O'Callaghan, are similarly well-performed. And National Service survivors will get a special identification with the situation! The film, however, gets far too oppressive towards the end and will be no one's idea of light entertainment.


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