Carter's Army (1975)

Why so much hype?

Really Surprised!

One of my all time favorites.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

I consider anything other than a rough plot outline a spoiler so... ***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** I liked this movie. I watched it twice, just to make sure. I'd never heard of it before acquiring it with a lot of WWII films in a 20 pack. Again, the theme of a white 'cracker' being put in charge of a group of soldiers he considers inferior, similar to Go for Broke but more outright racism. Said cracker grows to respect his men, only for this one he only takes seven men instead of the whole company. An odd choice, most likely made by the director, to either focus more on the 'talent', Grier, Williams and Pryor. Or just so he wouldn't have to pay a bunch more actors to be cannon fodder. Whatever the reason, trying to take and hold a dam with seven guys is stupid. As is the lieutenant allowing a deaf guy to go with. I can understand a deaf guy wanting to serve and somehow finding a way to sneak into the army, especially into a so-called service unit. But for the C.O., either one, to allow him on a real combat mission is again, stupid.Anyway, the unit is a mess. This is directly the fault of the commander, a black lieutenant. He's the one who let the men turn into a band of hobos. Lousy assignments or not, these men were supposed to be soldiers. Thus it makes the cracker captain's job that much harder. Still you can see him start to at least consider that he might be wrong as soon as he finds out that the second man he encounters (the first is a rather shiftless Richard Pryor) and threatens for not saluting, is actually an officer and the unit commander. Of course, the lieutenant is still out ranked and should have maybe saluted but since the captain was such a jerk, he didn't really deserve one.But I digress, this is a war movie and war movies should have action. This one does and it's pretty well done. But there's the getting to the mission part, where we encounter a German Frau who is a contact of sorts. She is also the girl from the Star Trek pilot, Vena. Still looking nice. She is wise about war and says stuff that makes the black lieutenant want to give her a peck on the cheek. Naturally cracker captain catches him and scolds him about touching white women. Said white woman proceeds to smack him in the mouth for acting like the racist Nazis she is opposed to. This is really the start of cracker boy's turn around. He apologizes to the black lieutenant and says 'I didn't ask (for this mission) but I expected soldiers'. And as well he should have. Why they assigned this mission to a service unit, who knows. Maybe they were the only unit close enough, maybe they were just expendable. It's never explained. At any rate, they did the job. They took it to the enemy and won the day. Most were lost. Being famous didn't save you in this movie, just like some of the biggies. All in all a solid war film.There is one LOL moment at the end, when Pryor is being helped to the medic jeep. Watch his right hand.

The writers probably had no experience in the army, and probably never glanced at a history book, but I still give this cheaply produced war film some credit for taking a long-needed look at the role of black soldiers in the second world war.The action is confused and unbelievable--any episode of Combat! has better production values, but the cast is interesting. Seeing New York Giant Rosie Greer was worth the buck I paid for this. The art direction is fifth rate--the men wear Korean War uniforms, and it was pretty lousy weather by the time the U.S. Army reached Germany in 1944, not sunny as they show here, and I don't think the terrain resembled Northern California. The script never does make clear why the black support troops are used as combat soldiers. There is a nice touch that shows some of the men carrying Springfield rifles instead of M-1s, which second rate troops probably would have been issued with.This basic story idea(racist southern officer commanding black troops) should have been expanded into a big budget production back then, and its not too late to try it now. You have to take this for what it is, and I admire the creators of this film for making the effort.I remember seeing this a while ago and thinking it was set in Italy, which would have made more sense because there were black combat troops operating there in 1944.

I thought I knew it all when it came to Blaxploitation films and for that matter tv shows such as White Shadow and What's Happening. I came across this film in a chain video store and had to make a command decision. It was necessary to determine whether to buy and risk losing the few dollars or more arguably having an eyesore of an item that second hand stores would not even give money for. That would mean throwing it away if it were truly dreadful. I decided to pass at first b-lining home to read online reviews to see the scoop. Fortunately, the critics were kind enough, prompting me to return to the store with renewed vigor and confidence that I was not buying a total turkey. I played the first half of the tape on several occasions only halfway paying attention to ensure that it worked at least functionally. Well finally I had an audience and played it from beginning to end, and was not just impressed but very impressed. I grade on a curve considering the time period and budget put into the project. I really liked the character development in which the subtle differences of personalities remains consistent. The best friend twosome of Pryor and Grier is formable and yet handled in a subtle manner. The other allstars of Moses Gunn, Glynn Thurman, and Billy Dee Williams make this a film that a film expert of black cinema should not miss.

I rented this movie as a joke a while back, and boy was I glad I did... this film is hilarious... if you can even find a copy of it, rent it and watch it and laugh and then watch it again. It's also great to see a young Richard Pryor playing a serious role in a film that in the end will probably be one of his funniest.