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Poster for The Desert Rats

The Desert Rats

1953 · 88 min

A sturdy, old-fashioned siege drama that grinds along with sand, shellfire and stubborn camaraderie, more earnest than thrilling.

Tagline
They crawled their way across the blazing sands of Africa... to turn disaster into victory!
Overview
In North Africa, German Field Marshal Rommel and his troops have successfully fended off British forces, and now intend to take Tobruk, an important port city. A ramshackle group of Australian reinforcements sent to combat the Germans is put under the command of British Captain MacRoberts. The unruly Aussies immediately clash with MacRoberts, a gruff, strict disciplinarian, however this unorthodox team must band together to protect Tobruk from the German forces.

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Rent in the UK
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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • tensestrength 2 of 3
  • earneststrength 2 of 3
  • darkstrength 1 of 3
Pacing
measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • war
  • survival
  • loyalty
  • friendship
  • redemption
Places
  • wilderness
  • military
Era
period
Audience
adult
Form
  • true story
Content intensity
  • Gore none
  • Language mild
  • Violence mild
  • Sex none
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action6
Horror2
Humour3
Realism7
Romance0
Tension6
Darkness5
Complexity4
Emotional weight6

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Where to watch in the UK

Rent
  • Apple TV Store
  • Amazon Video
  • Sky Store
  • YouTube
Buy
  • Apple TV Store
  • Amazon Video
  • YouTube

Streaming data from JustWatch.All options on TMDB

Details

Genres
war, action
Directed by
Robert Wise
Written by
Richard Murphy
Starring
Richard Burton, James Mason, Robert Newton, Robert Douglas, Torin Thatcher, Chips Rafferty, Charles Tingwell, Charles Davis
Music
Leigh Harline
Cinematography
Lucien Ballard
Runtime
88 min
Country
United States of America
Languages
German, English

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