This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
Euro War, also known as Macaroni Combat, Macaroni War, Spaghetti Combat, or Spaghetti War, is a broad subgenre of war film that emerged in the mid-1960s. The films were named Euro War because most were European co-productions, most notably and commonly by Italians, [1] as indicated by the subgenre's other nicknames that draw parallels to those films within the mostly Italian Spaghetti Western genre. [2] [3] [4]
The typical team was made up of an Italian director, Italo-Spanish technical staff, and a cast of Italian and Spanish actors and sometimes German and French, sometimes a minor or fading Hollywood star. The films were primarily shot in Europe and later, the Philippines.
From the mid-1960s, much like in the case of the Italian spaghetti western in relation to American Hollywood Westerns, the Macaroni Combat film mimicked the success of American films such as The Guns of Navarone , The Dirty Dozen and Where Eagles Dare . Like spaghetti westerns, Euro War films were characterized by their production in the Italian language, low budgets, added violence, and a recognizable highly fluid and minimalist cinematography. This was partly intentional and partly the context and cultural background of the filmmakers. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s the films were almost all set during World War II with a few about mercenaries in Africa following the success of Dark of the Sun and later, The Wild Geese . In the 1980s most entries in the genre were set during the Vietnam War following the success of The Deer Hunter and Apocalypse Now . [2]
Some were also made to capitalize the success of Vietnam War rescue mission movies like Missing in Action, Uncommon Valor and Rambo First Blood Part 2. Some were also made to capitalize on the success of movies having American involvement in Middle East missions against terrorist activities like The Delta Force and Death Before Dishonor, Delta Force Commando part 1. Some were also made to capitalize on the success of Soviet Afghan war movies like Rambo 3 and Delta Force Commando part 2. Two popular examples of the Italian-made World War II films were Anzio (1968) and Hornets' Nest (1970) with their A-list cast members. Today, one of the better-known films to fit the Macaroni Combat archetype is the 1978 film The Inglorious Bastards directed by Enzo G. Castellari. Influenced heavily by the aforementioned 1967 American film, The Dirty Dozen, it would later inspire Quentin Tarantino's 2009 film Inglourious Basterds , an American-produced film influenced by the genre as a whole.
The Spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's filmmaking style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most of these Westerns were produced and directed by Italians.
The 1st Special Service Force was an elite joint American–Canadian commando unit in World War II, formed by Lieutenant Colonel Robert T. Frederick of the Operations Division of the U.S. General Staff. During the Italian campaign of World War II, it was commanded by Frederick and attached to the United States Fifth Army. In August 1944, the Force was attached to 1st Airborne Task Force for the campaign in southern France.
Frederick Robert Williamson, nicknamed "the Hammer", is an American actor, filmmaker, and former professional football defensive back who played mainly in the American Football League (AFL) during the 1960s. He was a top sports star during the decade, and become a leading man in blaxploitation and action films beginning in the 1970s.
Richard Harrison is an American actor, writer, director and producer known for his work in European B-movies during the 1960s and 1970s, and exploitation films of the early 1970s.
Kill Them All and Come Back Alone is a 1968 Italian–Spanish Western film directed by Enzo G. Castellari. Chuck Connors headlines an ensemble cast that also includes Frank Wolff, Franco Citti, Leo Anchóriz, Giovanni Cianfriglia, Alberto Dell'Acqua and Hercules Cortez. No woman is seen in the entire movie.
Gordon Mitchell was an American actor and bodybuilder, known for his starring roles in Italian sword-and-sandal and Spaghetti Western films.
Bo Svenson is a Swedish-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his roles in American genre films of the 1970s and 1980s.
Sergio Corbucci was an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. He was one of the main exponents of the Spaghetti Western genre during the 1960s and 1970s, with his most notable works including the original Django, Navajo Joe, The Great Silence, The Mercenary, and Compañeros. He also had a successful career directing comedies.
RizieroOrtolani was an Italian composer, conductor, and orchestrator, predominantly of film scores. He scored over 200 films and television programs between 1955 and 2014, with a career spanning over fifty years.
The Inglorious Bastards is a 1978 Italian Euro War film directed by Enzo G. Castellari and starring Bo Svenson, Peter Hooten, Fred Williamson, Jackie Basehart, and Ian Bannen. The film, which concerns a group of prisoners who are drafted into a special war mission in 1944, is a loose (unauthorized) remake of the 1967 American film The Dirty Dozen.
Five for Hell is a 1969 Italian "macaroni combat" war film starring John Garko, Margaret Lee and Klaus Kinski. Italian cinema specialist Howard Hughes referred to it as a derivative of The Dirty Dozen (1967).
Gianni Garko is a retired Croatian-Italian actor. He found fame as a leading man in 1960s Spaghetti Westerns, where he was often billed as John Garko and occasionally Gary Hudson. He is perhaps best known for his lead role as Sartana, starting with the first official film If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death and starring in three sequels as this character.
Enzo G. Castellari is an Italian film director, screenwriter and actor.
Eagles Over London, is a "macaroni combat" war film from 1969 directed by Enzo G. Castellari. It starred Frederick Stafford, Van Johnson and Francisco Rabal.
Claudio Undari, known professionally as Robert Hundar, was an Italian film actor and stage actor, best known for his roles of "Bad Guy" in Spaghetti Western and "Poliziottesco" movies. He starred in about 40 movies between 1960 and 1980.
Camillo Bazzoni was an Italian cinematographer and film director.
Marcello Giombini was an Italian composer, well known for scoring many Spaghetti Westerns, Italian horror and giallo movies, and 1960s peplum films. He is best remembered for his score to the original Sabata (1969), which starred Lee Van Cleef.
Guido Lollobrigida (1927–2013) was an Italian actor and race car driver, usually credited in movies as Lee Barton or Lee Burton. He was a cousin of actress Gina Lollobrigida.
Delta Force Commando, is a 1987 Italian "macaroni combat" war film directed by Pierluigi Ciriaci as Frank Valenti and starring Fred Williamson and Bo Svenson.
Rossi, Stefano. Makkaroni Combat: The Italian way of war Movies (Kindle ed.). Amazon.com. ASIN B07RDL91M4.