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• MORITURI - 'We Who Are About To Die'

  • Lu G.
  • 7/12/08

  It's 1942 in Japan and Captain Mueller (Brynner) has been assigned to take a German freighter loaded with rubber to France which will keep the German war machine going for at least another 3 months. A rag tag crew has been assigned to sail with him. The ship is a blockade runner meaning that they will try to make it through any enemy defenses and if it looks it will not make it, the Captain is required to blow up the ship. In India, a German citizen (Brando) who escaped Germany when the war began is being blackmailed by Allied forces to pose as a German SS officer assigned to duty on that ship. His mission is to defuse all the bombs set to destroy the ship so that when the Americans capture the ship, it will not blow up the precious cargo. Brynner smells a rat and keeps a short leash on Brando and a tense game of cat and mouse develops as Brando tries to find and defuse all 12 bombs. The mission becomes more complicated when a German Admiral brings a group of American prisoners on board who have been captured by a sub in the area. The Admiral wonders why a SS officer is aboard a cargo ship and decides to investigate. A lesser known film of both Brando and Brynner but a good WWII film. Not an action film but a battle of wits between two megastars. The black & white color give it the feel of mystery and intrigue and add rather than detract from the film.Enjoy. www.lusreviews.blogspot.com.

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