I remember watching this show on the air in the 60's as a child. It was a highlight of the week. There are comments made that this show is not very authentic. Of course it is not authentic. It is just for entertainment. It has the same qualities as a Western where the hero shoots all the bad guys using the gun that shoots 100 rounds without reloading. I laughed so hard when I saw the episode when Troy throws a tiny vile of ether at a German truck about half a block and the truck blows up. Or the times that they will karate chop someone with one blow and that person is "out". That is cartoon style but who cares. It is still great entertainment.
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mckinney5817 September 2006
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I grew up watching Rat Patrol. Great series. I don't know how many plastic machine guns me and my buds went through pretending we were Rat Patrol. Had to have been a lot! I'm just cracking up over some of the serious comments. Yea it makes the Nazi's look bad just like Hogans Heros. And yes the story's are simple and sometimes outrageous. Gee Wiz! Get a grip! Can't wait to hear your reviews of the original Batman not being real police work and unfair to penguins.
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This show is escapist entertainment because it is supposed to be escapist entertainment. And that just happens to be why I like this show so much. The plots were short and simple. They HAD to be since the show was only a half hour long (not a full hour like COMBAT or 12 O CLOCK HIGH). So in a nutshell, the Rat Patrol came, they raided and then they were off. In 30 minutes, there was not much more they could do in the time allotted. True, some of the episodes are kind of silly but other episodes are really good.
Unlike most war related features of the time (tv shows, movies, etc), the Germans were not depicted as villains, but as the opposing force. The Germans were lead by Captain Deitrich, who actually respected the Rat Patrol and on more than one occasion, teamed up with the Rat Patrol on a truce. One truce, for example, was declared to rescue an Arab girl who had fallen into a well.
The main selling point of this show was that it was in color! Another selling point was to promote one of the stars (Lawrence Casey) as a sort of teen-zeen idol. It was a tactic that would work until 1968, when the public would quickly lose interest in anything war related and THE RAT PATROL would drop suddenly in the ratings war and get the cancellation ax later that year. -
shanakin20 October 2006I am a child of the seventies having grown up in and around the time and as a kid I can remember this being on in the afternoon and played on Saturday afternoon's. Two of my earliest best friends in this world were named Korey and Coy and we would watch this with great enthusiasm being only age 7 to 9 years old. My father at the time owned a jeep and after the show aired we would go outside and play the Rat Patrol. I always seemed to pick Tully to play because he always drove the jeep and we would spend an hour or two just making up our own adventures as we went along. My memories of this are quite strong when I still watch this series as it reflects a time when I had no worries in the world. I am not a violent person because of this series even for all the explosions and gun play it just makes feel good to watch it and because of that it truly is one of my favorite series of all time.
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rcj536520 October 2005"THE RAT PATROL"-Produced by Rich/Mirisch Productions for UATV. Number of Episodes Produced: 59 episodes in color. Filmed on location in Spain and parts of Europe. Series ran on ABC-TV.
First Telecast Of The Series: September 12,1966. Last Telecast Of The Series: March 18, 1968. Repeated Episodes aired from March 25,1968 until September 16,1968.
Producer: Lee Rich-Executive in charge of production. Executive Producers: Lee Rich and Walter Mirisch,under Mirisch Productions for United Artists Television.
Stars: Christopher George,Gary Raymond,Jack Moffitt,and Eric Braeden.
Synopsis: Filmed on location in Spain where a great deal of war material was left over from filming of the movies "The Great Escape", and "The Battle Of The Bulge". This was an action-adventure series about a group of American and British soldiers fighting for or against the Germans and "The Rommel" in the North African desert during the days of World War II. This was a grand series that had supreme production values and was in full color to boot,which was the selling point of the series. In other words,this was one action-packed show showing the soldiers each week battling it out over the Germans in the sophisticated "jeeps" through the desert and the adventures they face along the way. This was a series that made stars out of not only actor Christopher George,but also made a career boost out of German-born actor Eric Braeden,who would make a name for himself later on in several television shows and also would boost him to the top of the latter in American daytime television(as Victor Newman on the soap-opera,"The Young And The Restless").
Also to point out,when "THE RAT PATROL" premiered in 1966,this was the only ABC show that depicted WWII in color since the network's longest-running WWII series at the time "COMBAT",and not to mention "TWELVE O CLOCK-HIGH",were still in black and white,but would make the transition to color later on,respectfully in their final seasons. Both of the shows mentioned ran for one hour,while this series ran for an half-hour,with some episodes leading up to a cliffhanger until the next installment.
Also if you notice that every episode had the title "RAID" in it. This was basically a prime example of other shows of the 1960's that before THE RAT PATROL did the same thing with the same title. For example,on the spy drama "The Man From UNCLE"(NBC,1964-1968),every episode had the title "AFFAIR" in it,and the western fantasy/adventure-espionage drama,"The Wild Wild West"(CBS,1965-1969),had the title "NIGHT" in it.
Getting back to the series,THE RAT PATROL,this series had some of the best action sequences out there,especially with some of the episodes which were very good and some were passable. In all,compelling drama mixed with high adventure and breathtaking excitement. It held up brilliantly until the show's final episode on September 16,1968 when it went off the air with a whisper,and from there into syndicated repeats during the 1970's and continue onward into cable re-runs of the early to mid 2000's. -
theroc0126 February 2009Ah yes, what a load of tripe but man do I love it!! It was shows like this that got me interested as a child in military history leading me to where I am today with my knowledge and research abilities for WWII history and equipment and my stint in the services.
I watched this as a 8-9 year old and a later in the 70s and now on DVD. It is action-packed, wrong, but so very exciting. There was no character development, but who cares? The tried in the first few episodes to make Hitch the sex symbol and he was one of two characters to have a catch phrase. But the show focused on ACTION! It was pointed out quite correctly by another poster that many battle scenes were used and reused throughout series one and two - especially the hodgepodge of trucks led by a M41 Walker Bulldog with one truck speeding off and cuts of Moffitt holding on to the .50 and throwing a grenade followed by another cut of the jeep leaning heavily into the turn. Even more confusion when the 'Patrol' speed off or chase the fleeing truck to be pursued by a pair of heavily modified (to look like ? StuG? Marder? Don't know, it doesn't work!) M7 Priests MGC that weren't there in the first place? As well as some modified (to look more like sdkfz. 251s?) M3 Halftracks that weren't there to begin with. But it still made for action viewing! And lets face, part of the fun of watching these things now is to pick holes in em.
What got me was that in the first series up until episode 18: The One That Got Away Raid, both sides seemed to be using the same kind of submachine guns! I could be wrong, but they appear to all be most probably a Star Model Z-45, a post war Spanish version of the MP40 with wooden body and stock or with a folding stock, and a slotted cooling sleeved barrel. However they could be earlier Steyrs or Bergmanns or perhaps even Frence or Belgian but I'd go for the Z-45. Episode 18 was when they must have changed armourers (or the armourers were booked for other movie obligations elsewhere in Europe at the time it happens?) and the Germans got MP40s (with the Schmeisser misnomer) and the Allies got M1A1s (Thompsons).
Along with these came different German vehicles. Gone were the modified M7s, M3s, and assorted European trucks and ambulances (Mercedes, Adlers, Opels, etc.) to be replaced by unmodified M3s, M3a1s, almost exclusively U.S. Dodges, GMCs, and the like. Though I must add, the ubiquitous German Kubelwagen (great uncle of the VW beetle which the Germans coined) does appear in both series. As well as adding the rather cool Mercedes Benz G4 Staff Car (which was apparently a vogue thing for the time appearing in a few other shows, such as Hogan's Heroes for one) being an unusual short production 6x6 field/staff car.
If the show had any 'authenticity' at all, it was the trucks in those first 17 episodes! They were from the correct era. Even the jeeps were not particularly convincing for the roll. The U.S. didn't have desert raiders of this type in Tunisia attached to the LRDG (Long Range Desert Group) or otherwise and if anyone can get me a source to say they did, I would be grateful, in my 50 years I can't find any reference. The Rat Patrol was pretty much based upon the British SAS (Special Air Service) of the time who worked with, but were never attached to the LRDG at all (who would train the SAS in desert navigation and act as guides, etc., but would otherwise leave the SAS to do their own thing once the LRDG got them to 'point X' on a map).
The SAS loved the kinds of raids the Rat Patrol portrayed, specialising in raiding airfields however. The LRDG were a reconnaissance unit for the most part, mainly observing enemy movements, mapping, surveying, and so forth. Fighting when they had to. The SAS could do the odd strafing run, but would prefer to park away from a target and sneak in, sometimes quite boldly by not 'sneaking' at all, because the enemy was not expected to be anywhere near some of the places they raided. They could literally walk or drive into an installation and go about their tasks for which they designed their own special explosives! But the reality versus the Rat Patrol, the real SAS never took on anything more heavily armoured than a truck or a Kubelwagen. But then, reality doesn't always make for riveting action sequences like in the Rat Patrol. And for that, I will always love the show. -
strong-122-4788856 October 2012If you're like me and really enjoy watching rugged, masculine, man-to-man combat that features plenty of high-powered explosions, rapid gunfire showdowns, and "in-your-face" confrontations, then, believe me, The Rat Patrol is definitely your #1 ticket to some truly awesome TV entertainment.
Set in the vast North African desert, during WW2, The Rat Patrol is an elite Allied commando team of experts whose mission is to attack, harass, and wreak havoc on Field Marshal Rommel's vaunted Afrika Korps.
Join this fearless, four-man army of rough'n'tough dudes, headed by Sgt. Sam Troy (played by Christopher George), as they fearlessly wage war against Nazis, traitors, and wild-eyed fanatics.
Filmed in living color, The Rat Patrol, from 1966, is a fast-paced, action-packed collection of 32 explosive episodes that are pure dynamite from start to finish. This was no low-budget production here!
With its episodes all being only 30 minutes in length, The Rat Patrol's no-nonsense, clearly-defined stories were always direct and to the point. -
As a child I couldn't wait for the Rat Patrol to come on each week. I think this was ABC Tuesday night at 8:30pm. It was awesome, a couple jeeps would come across a sand dune in the air and then proceed to destroy a heavily armed German convoy and disappear into the desert unscathed. There was nothing else like it. Sgt Troy obviously took his tactical training at the General Robert E Lee school of small unit tactics. Never has a commander since Lee been able to divide a smaller force in the face of larger force and achieve as much success. The General would be proud. As a kid I had no idea that wasn't how a unit like this would operate. When I got to ROTC in college, I often found myself asking "what would Sgt Troy do in this situation". Sometimes those antics worked not because they were sound tactics but because the opposing force would never think anyone be that stupid to try them. The show was a half hour so serious character development was out. It was a good thing everyone had a different hat so it was easy to see who was who. The Germans were pretty generic, except for Capt Detrich, who was a man of honor but one has to wonder how long he would keep his command and life given all the setbacks the Rat Patrol gave him. My wife finds the whole dynamic rather cartoonish and has given the good captain the honorary radio call sign of "Coyote" in reference to the Roadrunner and Coyote cartoons when he calls his minions to arms against a Rat raid. For me the jeeps were the stars of that show and thus the biggest issue. Enzo Ferrari is reported to have said that the jeep was the only sports car ever made in America. The image of an airborne Willys at the show's opening is permanently etched into my mind. As an adult when I got a chance to look at some of the shows I began to see some problems. Like the person standing in the back of the jeep may not be real or if he is, he has rubber arms. Other times they show a reverse image with the jeep being right hand drive. This summer I became a proud WW II Willys MB jeep owner (still working through those issues) and after some work getting it road worthy (the first test drive was done humming the Rat Patrol theme) I not sure this vehicle is capable of a jump like this in with a sand unless it was getting full traction like on hard dirt or a ramp. Anyway trips in the jeep are referred to as raids, like the "Get the Christmas Tree Raid" or the "Drive down to the Subdivision Pool Raid". These are all done with the windshield down in all but the coldest weather. Anyway I'm digressing. I have a WW II veteran friend who was assigned a Willys with a .50 caliber mounted on it. He used the machine gun on the beach at Normandy during a Luftwaffe attack and said that this was lot of gun for that small of a platform and it's wonder that he didn't cause some friendly fire casualties during the event. Of course this flies in the face of the precise marksmanship Troy and Moffitt were able to achieve. If you want realism,sleep through a documentary on the History Channel, if you want entertainment then look no further.
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DKosty12312 September 2006The concept for this series came from a World War 2 saga titled THE DESERT RATS. It was expanded upon & fictionalized on ABC television.This color series was filmed in Spain for ABC in Color. Visually, the DVD set of season 1 that I have looked at is great.
There are several things to note which make the series not as good as it looks. ABC had an extremely limited budget shooting these & if you watch the first season a lot, you will find that many of the action shots are re-used in several episodes. No matter what plot is being followed, the same action sequence used in an earlier episode pops in.
The half hour format this series follows does not allow enough time for character development. COMBAT , the Vic Morrow series which was also on ABC, always had an hour to develop it's plots. There are some multiple parters to try & make up for this problem during the first season, but not enough. The main cast is quite good. Christopher George is a good actor & brings Sgt. Troy as close to being real as you can imagine. His three comrades in support are fine also. Hans Guidecast (now Eric Braden or Victor on THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS) does well as the German Captain in pursuit of our heroes. often though, the scripts are limp & sometimes the re-use of the action sequences does detract from the quality of the series overall.
If you pick up the DVD set, watch for Ed Asner (Lou Grant) & Gavin McCloud (Captian Steubing of the LOVE BOAT Murray on Mary Tyler Moore series) in guest roles. The three parter features Claudine Longet several years before her lover Spider Savage died in mystery circumstances. This series is watchable & the DVD pictures are so good you can see the characters sun tans. Overall though, not as good as you remember when you were a child as the plots look a little limp to a grown up.
Sometimes, the jeeps suddenly get new equipment when our heroes are nowhere near their own lines. Amazing how they can do that & always get what they need & never run out of ammo. The action theme and fine camera work make this watchable.
When I was a child, I picked up & read a series of 7 paper back books based upon the series characters. The books developed the plots & characters in much more depth than the show. This makes my view of the series a little more negative than it should be. -
craig_beatty95 January 2019Contrary to the trivia point, his hat is an Australian slouch hat and the pin, from the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). Fascinating he is wearing it. The Australian 9th Division was pivotal in the El Alemein battle. Without them, Churchill and Montgomery knew they would not of won, they acknowledged that post War. After Pearl Harbour all Australian units were ordered to return to Australia, to meet the Japanese threat. The 9th stayed because Churchill had Roosevelt promise US divisions would be sent to Australia. The 9th returned after El Alemein. It must of been the background that led George to wear it. The British regretted they didn't have an Australian Corps available for D Day.
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verbusen1 November 2006Update from my previous review after getting the series on DVD.
The Rat Patrol is a 1960s television show that was more comic book action than war drama, meant to appeal to teenage boys and young men at the time. I would watch this growing up in the 1970s. WGN would play it on the weekends as a filler and whenever I was channel surfing and ran across it I would watch. Later on I jumped at the DVD for purchase as I relieved my teenage television years. At only 30 minutes an episode often times the situation was joined in progress or narration would speed up the stories. The stories were mostly ridiculous with the entire war or at least battle based on the actions of 4 enlisted soldiers. Occasionally there was an officer involved but it was very infrequent much like the TV show Combat!, an obvious TV ploy to appeal to the general population. This show would get negative feedback when sold to the British and Australian markets for being so unbelievable with little involvement of any British or Australian soldiers. Inappropriate cultural appropriation also hurt the show overseas. The show's title has the word "Rat" in it which was the name of the ANZAC soldiers who held on to a besieged Tobruk "The Desert Rats." Also, star Christopher George is an American GI wearing a bush hat like an Australian soldier would and not an American helmet. Often the heroes will enter an enemy camp and obliterate it or take prisoners without any casualties. Sometimes the heroes would be shot but be OK by next week. Often they would fight head on with armored vehicles in their unarmored jeeps and win with just their machine guns. With all of this lack of realism, the show's makers could have extended its run longer than 2 seasons by offering some weapon improvements. My favorite suggestion is to have exploding bullets, followed by rocket launchers and as a really special treat have a special fighter plane circling them to be used only as a last resort. The overhead fighter could have a special call sign like Desert Bat or something. As a child I loved the grotesque amount of violence and death and as an adult now I like it for the same reasons except now it's to laugh at how silly this show is. If you are looking for comic book war action, the Rat Patrol is a good choice, too bad they took their show too seriously though as it could have evolved into more fun. 7 of 10. -------------------------------------------------------------- Nov 1, 2006 thoughts: I just bought season one set on MGM DVD. I got it today along with two other shows that I've watched before but had to have likes Linus needs his blanket (for comfort, I know its there if I need it, lol). Anyway, this was the one I popped in of the three I just HAD to see this show again. I would watch Rat Patrol (In Color!) probably during the early 70's (I was born in 1963 so you do the math), and THE ONLY part I remember is the introduction with the jeeps flying off of dunes. About that scene, I hope there was an experienced chiropractor there as those stunt guys in the back definitely got whiplash! So I just finished the first two episodes (I haven't checked but I'm sure the first in the DVD set was actually the first aired on TV). My thoughts going in were well this is going to be VERY cartoonish and I'm going to laugh at how ridiculous this is. Well I did chuckle a good bit, in the first episode the jeeps fly higher than in the intro! The one guy is hanging on for dear life and must have wrenched his shoulder the way he landed while still holding the 50 cal, strong dude for sure. The hardware used in the show is a mix of Vietnam era stuff and WW2 stuff, I guess whatever Spain had, lol. In the pilot they are using 50 cal guns but in the second they have 30 cal's. This show was made only 20 years after WW2 ended, the advances made in real life weaponry in so short a time is truly amazing isn't it? Anyway, one reviewer said that they never get even a scratch, well in the "pilot" one of the dude's gets killed, in the second episode one guy gets shrapnel in his gut, in both of those episodes the jeeps get damaged or destroyed, so I thought that was cool. This show is the antithesis of the A-Team (where NO ONE dies). In this show there are plenty of dead people, thankfully they are all Nazi soldiers, lol. Oh the second episode The Life Against Death Raid, has one super super hot chick in it, I looked her up here on IMDb and she was miss 1962 Austria, gotta love that. I liked the way in the first episode where it showed the Bedouin Arabs aiding the Nazi's, in todays PC world they'd probably be portrayed as neutrals. If you love the Rat Patrol like I do, you need to check out the movie "Play Dirty" with Michael Caine, it's like an R rated Rat Patrol. In that movie they machine gun the Arabs they run into so they don't warn the Nazi's, hard core. The Rat Patrol was the type of TV that Senator and Presidential nominee John Kerry described as creating a nation of monsters, which is total BS. The much more known show that compares is Combat!, a show that probably took itself too seriously, I would hate that show because they never showed any progress over the years it was always the guys in France, it could have been so much better. At least Rat Patrol knew where it was coming from, lots of bullets, tanks, explosions, jeeps, guns, and a cold beer and hot chick at the end, a guys fantasy for sure. The DVD set is lean and mean, its cheaply priced so don't expect any extra's (I don't think there are any) but its cheap and in a small package which for space reasons is a big plus. Highly recommended for fans. -
turtlecruzer4329 May 2019Watched the reruns as a kid and have both seasons on DVD they must have cleaned out every surplus depot to supply the Germans with wheels for the rat patrol to destroy from the half tracks, to the tanks,and 6x6's I think the old single axle trucks were made by Dodge lol gotta love Hollywood
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Mccadoo15 January 2021There were some quality television shows in the 60's about WWII; Twelve O'clock High, Combat being two that come to mind. Both have aged very well and I recommend checking them out. Unfortunately Rat Patrol hasn't aged as well.
This was one of my favorite shows when it was on...I was ten years old. I've watched it again recently on one of the basic cable classic TV stations and I was pretty disappointed...I guess not everything is as good as we remember it. But for a ten year old boy it was awesome.
Rat Patrol suffers from some major defects for any adult viewer, the first being that the main premise of the show is pretty absurd; four guys in two jeeps with machine guns taking out tanks, half-tracks, entire German bases...and sustaining nothing more than the occasional flesh wound in the process.
The second is that the plots are basic and completely unrealistic. And yes, I know it's just a TV show but when the heroes continually come up with any equipment they happen to need when they happen to need it, without going anywhere to get it, that's kind of an insult to the viewer. In one episode they wanted to trick the Germans into thinking they were a large armored column and suddenly they had huge speakers and sound equipment attached to the jeeps to make tank sounds and large metal grates to drag behind and stir up dust. Where exactly did all of that come from? It certainly hadn't been tucked away on two two-man jeeps! And because it was only a 30 minute show the storylines are resolved way too quickly and just as unrealistically.
The acting is pretty good overall, even if the characters are a bit cartoonish. Although when i was re-watching it I couldn't help thinking about the fact that the star, Christopher George, was injured during filming and suffered an injury to his heart that ultimately caused his death some years later.
If you watched this as a kid by all means check it out, just be aware going in that it's not going to be what you remember. If you enjoy not so serious, almost cartoonish shows about war then you should also check it out. -
bkoganbing9 July 2020The Rat Patrol was a half hour TV series set in the North African campaign of World War II where a mixed group of American and British soldiers had a kind of commando unit in two jeeps. The jeeps were fitted with machine guns and they dd all kinds of missions against the Germans.
Christopher George an American sergeant the group and the Germans were personalized by Eric Braeden. Braeden was a civilized man, a professional soldier and no Nazi. He was treated as one professional to another.
Notwithstanding the fact I doubt that Allies and Germans got on a name basiss with each other, I had to laugh at the idea that the Rat Patrol and their refitted jeeps gave serious battle with hose monster German tanks. The show wss ludicrous.
I'm surprised it lasted two seasons. -
Hessian4999 December 2001Rarely shown today in syndication, Rat Patrol was a pretty entertaining series, focusing on a small group of British and US soldiers in North Africa during the Second World War. Most episodes dealt with a raid of some kind the patrol would undertake, though often the small raids became larger battles against the Germans (particularly Captain Dietrich and his unit). While you could tell it was produced by Hollywood, the desert environment as well as the great uniforms, vehicles, weapons, and sets gave the series an air of authenticity. While the writing level may have been low in a number of episodes, the action definitely makes up for it, and the actors do well with their limited dramatic scenes. Well worth seeing for anyone interested in World War Two.
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Harry_Wild25 February 2019It is back on the streaming video platforms and I just purchased the DVD set too. I forgot how enjoyable this show was and now I can watch it all anytime I feel like it. It too bad that it not 4K and wide 16:9 format. But my 4K does a good job of upscaling it on my new 96" UHD TV and with the sound bar with 900 watt subwoofer, it rocks when the action gets going. It is fantasy but sill enjoyable escapism. I think these shows of 1960s are much better then what is on TV today's joyless programming of indoctrination.
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ernst-fritsch16 July 2008I watched The Rat Patrol a bit during the late seventies and early eighties when it was run on AFN Television Germany. It was definitely not an award winning show plot wise but it was entertaining nevertheless. What got me rolling around laughing however was Sgt. Moffit moving behind enemy lines because he was speaking fluent German. Being German myself I know that after no more than three words he would have been arrested every single time because of his broad English accent. I also remember the reuse of (expensive) action scenes but that was done in other shows as well. Watching it on DVD now this will probably look annoying but back then watching one show a week on TV it wasn't as bad.
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TV's "The Rat Patrol" (1966-1968) is one of those wartime-action programs that (IMO) had both its fair share of good moments, as well as its not-so-good moments, too.
Set during the height of WW2 (in the North African desert region) - The action in "Rat Patrol" focuses in on the activities of 4 allied soldiers (1 British, 3 American) who repeatedly come into direct conflict with the Nazis of the Afrika Korps who are hellbent on overtaking this territory at all costs.
Even though "The Rat Patrol" is obviously dominated by historical inconsistencies (and its story-lines are often noticeably repetitive) - This American "macho-man" TV show does contain plenty of violent confrontations (which are punctuated by high-powered machine gun attacks) that are sure to hold the viewer's attention long enough to keep one entertained for the full 30-minute running time of each subsequent episode. -
epopkoff6 December 2007I recently watched the Rat Patrol. Its maybe the most ridiculous war related series ever shown. The 4 men occupy two regular issue jeeps with 50 caliber machine guns mounted. As part of there "missions" they regularly destroy Nazi tanks, armored troop carriers and other difficult targets or roll with impunity into Nazi camps to destroy a target. Like a jeep with a 50 caliber machine gun was going to destroy a heavily armored German tank. In every episode except the first (where an unknown gunner was killed)the rat patrol members are NEVER killed.The Nazis are lead by a bumbling idiot called Capt. Detrich who had to be a reject in any army. In reality Rommels Afrika Korps was one of the best fighting units in World War II. If Rommel was still alive I am sure he would die laughing at this show. I wish that a more realistic series could have been produced such as Combat or 12 Oclock high where at least battles were portrayed somewhat accurately.
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sgspires21 September 2002To disagree with a previous post, The Rat Patrol was filmed in color. As a mater of fact, the tag before the show aired showed a background of the two jeeps roaring through the desert with The Rat Patrol -- In Color superimposed on the shot. Being that it was filmed in 1966-1968, color was one of the selling points of the series -- hence all those wonderful shots of military half tracks and trucks blowing up in huge fireballs. (Combat was aired in black and white. ) As for the show itself, it wasn't so bad. Sure, some of the scripts were kind of escapist. However, there were several episodes that were well done. One involved Sergeant Jack Moffitt (Gary Raymond) coming to grips with the death of his brother; other episode teamed the Rat Patrol up with the Germans a couple of times. Once they had to save a little girl who fell into a well, and another time Americans and Germans had to fend off an Arab tribe attacking them in some kind of old ruins in the middle of the desert.
Anyway, point being the show was escapist, but is still on the air today. WGN in Chicago airs the show sometimes and other outlets air it, too. -
another Hollywood hijacking effort.
such warfare was carried out by the British - LRDG -long range desert group- forerunner of the modern British elite SAS - strategic air services- - no Americans involved. period.
I hear the next illusion will be capture of a German enigma coding machine from a submarine - that help shorten WW2, all-British again, in reality.
ever since 'objective Burma', Hollywood has riled he British.
otherwise, a low.budget, old German vehicles and US jeeps running around the Arizona desert, affair, with unlikely plots....eg German medics saving US combatants.
I think Bogey did a tank special(sahara...something) in set in north Africa. in it, he outdid audie murphy's REAL exploits.(I am nothing if not fair :).
making a line to post this rant. :)
make up to 0 lines to post this. -
aeroscott8216 January 2008I hate it when people take a show like Rat Patrol, and try to show how smart they are when it comes to being a critic. It wasn't intended to win awards, or be a dramatic masterpiece. One of these reviews used the term escapism, like that single fact makes this show a disgrace. Well, that happens to be why I love this show, and many others from the the 50's, 60's, and 70's. This was before the loosely used term "reality TV", was even close to being thought of. I like to turn on the TV and be entertained by a simple show, that knows it's there to entertain me and take me away for awhile.As a kid I used to stay up until mid-night in the late 70's to watch Rat Patrol. I grew up in the D/FW(Texas) area, and this used to come on after the local Saturday Night Wrestling. And I had a little 13in. black&white TV. I loved it. And now I have both sets of DVD's and I'm over joyed that it's in color! So long live the Rat Patrol!!!
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sgttom11 April 2009I first saw the Rat Patrol when I borrowed season 2 from my Uncle. To put it in plane words, I don't really like the show at all. Why don't I like it? Most of the plots are weak. They are resolved way to easily. Even though they are often assigned challenging missions 90% of the time they pull through quite easily. The acting is OK, Troy however bothers me. His character isn't consistent. He'll lay down hard on his men but when it comes to himself he often does what he tells his men not too. I think his sternness or tough guy attitude is somewhat fake. And I am just personally annoyed by him too some extent. Well then there's Moffitt, he is much better then Troy, in my opinion a much better actor. The only flaw I have with him is his bad jokes get annoying at times. Tully and Hitch are OK. Dietrich is in my opinion the best part of the show. His character amuses me. He is perfect for the, bad guy who is not so bad, character he plays. The one thing that really ruins the show is; Captain Dietrich, who seems to be an intelligent man, is defeated again and again by the Rat Patrol. The show would be much more amusing if The two enemies had more challenging battles, where both would have to use there heads instead of the Rat Patrol super-manning through all their challenges and slaughtering their stupid Nazi counterparts. As for authenticity well it is poor. The uniforms have the WWII Look and are OK for most people but as a Reenactor I can pick them apart. First off the tan uniforms they wear in each episode would not be worn in combat. They look like Summer Khaki Dress Fatigues. The proper uniform would be Olive Drab Wool pants and shirts. Troy wears some kind of tall jack boot. Tully and Hitch wear German Low Quarter boots, with British Gators, and Moffitt wear US rough outs. Well all the US guys should be wearing low boots and leggings and Moffitt should be wearing low boots and gators. The worst thing of all is the bazaar guns they carry in the First season. They seem to be some kind of MP40 or MP41 with a custom wooden stock, and with a weird looking barrel added on. I think the Rat Patrol would be much better if they had done these three things: Made them into 45 minute episodes so the Plot could develop more. Strengthen the tension between Troy and Dietrich. Get rid of most of the Jeep battles and have more Guerrilla, Sabator type fighting. Yes I know a big part of the Show was the Jeep battles but they are just a bit corny. The German bullets just seem to completely miss the Rat Patrol's jeeps completely every time. Also I don't think a 50 cal machine gun can blow up a Half Track. My little brothers like it but it just doesn't take it for me.
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Joe_B_Carter30 August 2004I thought "The Rat Patrol" was pretty implausible. I mean, four guys tooling around the desert in a couple of jeeps with two .50-caliber machine guns taking on troop convoys, armored columns, and anything else the Germans cared to offer. And with all the lead thrown their way, the Rat Patrol always came through unscathed. (Extraordinary. Didn't the German Army teach its men to shoot during basic training?!) This show was essentially escapist stuff, and not based on military reality. I watched the show because of the actors' performances, while discounting its implausible premise. (I thought that Christopher George as Sergeant Troy was pretty good.)
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SipteaHighTea11 October 2006One of the episodes I like in the Rat Patrol was where a patch of penicillin was poisonous. Sgt. Mofft tries to warn the Germans and the British about the batch after the Germans show up and threaten to shoot up the British convoy unless they were given some penicillin. Well, both sides did not listen to Mofft and Mofft jumps on a jeep with a machine gun and shoots up the penicillin. Next thing you know the German soldiers are shooting up the convoy and stealing the rest of the penicillin. The amazing thing is that the German officer who is chasing the Rat Patrol is standing next to a half-track acting cool, calm, and collected while bullets are flying all over the place.