demelewis It's difficult to know what the film-makers were trying to achieve here. One minute it wants to be a serious low-budget sci-fi, next an homage to 50's B movies, next it's a parody, then a comedy, etc. And the trouble is, you get the impression that if it would have stuck to one of those genres, it wouldn't have been half bad.Because ironically enough, there is actually some good acting on show here from most of the cast, in spite of the vast majority of the them being slightly too old for their various roles, and the lack of a clearly defined tone for the movie. This is notwithstanding Jak Wyld's appalling attempt at a 'good old boy southern US drawl' for the character of Cpl Updike, which continuously lapses into his native Australian, detracting terribly from any semblance of the suspension of belief one manages to muster, particularly given the way it flips from genre-to-genre. Clearly Wyld can act, but he quite clearly can't do a consistent Yank accent, which makes one think that a few additional takes might have yielded a better result; something the director should perhaps have considered, instead of rushing to get it in the can, which certainly only adds to the problems this movie has.Similarly, there is decent camera-work and art direction on show for the many scenes, much of it referencing well-known war movies in a clever way if you are familiar with them, but then we come to the not-quite-so-special, special effects, which only serve to jar terribly with the good camera work. It's tempting to imagine that these effects are intended to be self-referentially bad as an homage to the 1950's era B-movies which the 25th Reich is obviously attempting to channel, but the trouble is, they are neither cheesy enough, nor convincing enough as to be either an in-joke or a serious attempt at persuading us of either intent.In fairness, one or two effects are pretty good. Similarly one or two are cheesy enough to almost convince us it was a deliberate attempt to 'do a Plan 9 from Outer Space', but the majority fall firmly between these two stools and the end result is that it just looks like bad film-making.As if these gripes were not enough of a problem, some scenes are appalling misjudged, notably one which was obviously intended to be an (ill-advised) humorous reference to the rape-scene in the movie Deliverance, but instead (of course) ends up being simply in very bad taste indeed. Not to mention the fact that it sticks out like a sore thumb as far as the rest of the movie's tone is concerned, especially when the movie is already having problems in this area.Comparisons with Iron Sky - largely because of the Nazi 'what if?' subject material - will doubtless be drawn, however, where Iron Sky succeeds massively in hitting its target, the 25th Reich is a film which attempts to mash up a few genres and ends up doing a disservice to all of them. There are flashes of genuine talent here from the director and indeed some of the cast and production crew, which leads one to imagine that we might expect great things from some of those involved in this thing, but this movie isn't one of them.

witj The 25th Reich Ozploitations new shoot Let's start with the poster. It looks very good. In the middle of a soldier aimed his machine gun at the viewer. Right and left of him soldiers in an offensive posture. Behind them a large fireball that we know of so many posters. Completely in the foreground we read in 'German metals' letters - known to many especially obscure titles - the name of the movie.The real attention is the back of the picture: a space monstrous creature that threatens the military or help ..? Super. Such works poster however high expectations. These expectations are further increased after seeing the optiteling of the film. A funny animation with a wink - and that's strange - to James Bond. Who did not join the war? After the title follows a long story about how and why we are a group of soldiers in a forest view. That is a known approach to b-productions. A story by a voice over to read and not think saving money. It is also a hint about the limited creativity of the makers. That limited creativity is confirmed by the image of the soldiers in a forest. The rented costumes are in order and we believe the Jeep. The sharp brightly lit camera-work (megarama 'as we read in the titles) is unconvincing to a picture of some sixty years ago to put down.The makers may want to remind Kelly's Heroes, in their ensemble actor is no Clint Eastwood or Telly Savalas. It does do their best to look thereon. There is chewed on cigars, gerocheld with voices and there are surly glances exchanged. There is humor: "God's absent without leave, Sergeant, or do not you watch the news reels". Best fun. Also, there is much talk, but not all dialogues kletsers his thighs. After 40 minutes there is no fireball seen and certainly no room monstrous creature. However, a great scene where the heroes are attacked by super-mosquitoes.Of course it is intended that we all do not take seriously. This is a b-movie from Australia and a new offshoot of the Australian exploitation variant: ozploitation. Director Stefan Armis was also the cinematographer of the documentary Oz Encounters: UFOs in Australia.JDW

Genegeoffrey This is a beautifully crafted low budget film from Australia. It plays with the old B grade movie style with a wicked and subversive sense of humour. The 25 Reich embodies all the was good about B grade films and plays and toys with all that was bad. An absolute must for film lovers with a great sense of humour. It have already been written about before but The 25 Reich has one of the must bizarre and disturbing scenes in cinema history. I will not spoil it but it takes the idea of alien "invasion" to a new level. This film plays with genre in a really refreshing manner and the Director has steered the narrative and characters on a wild and imaginative journey. In the cinema this film is great fun but also a great fun night for a DVD with friends.

robin-433 As a kid, I loved to watch old war movies. I still do! And back then, there seemed to be a never ending supply of them. Many of them, I later found out, made by B-movie specialist Sam Fuller. The 25th Reich took me back to those days. It is a film that seems to have been made with a desire to rekindle those nostalgic feelings, while also slipping off to places that the 50's war pics would never have dreamed of going, mainly due to 50's censorship. Set in Australia in 1943, a small unit of G.I.'s are tasked with tracking down some escaped pumas only to discover that they've been duped and their mission has a totally different purpose... Sam Fuller meets 50s science fiction pulp! Crazy stuff I admit, and I had a smile on my face all the way through it. Initially, I thought some of the acting and FX were coming across as a bit cheesy, but then I realised the filmmakers were deliberately echoing the spirit of the films of that era. I'm not sure if the younger generation will necessarily make that connection, but I sure did. Without a large budget, the filmmakers seem determined to throw everything they could at the screen, but not to cover up their lack of resources. They did it because they wanted to. They did it to make a film that was good and fun. With a nice sense of tongue in cheek bravado about it, they really delivered. I wasn't fully sure what to expect, and it took me a bit by surprise, but in a good way. Sam Fuller isn't really dead. His spirit just moved Down Under!