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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 film-making style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most of these Westerns were produced and directed by Italians.
3 Commando Brigade, previously called the 3rd Special Service Brigade, is a commando formation of the British Armed Forces. It is composed of the Royal Marine Commandos, alongside commando qualified sailors, soldiers and airmen from the British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force.
Frederick Robert Williamson, also known as "the Hammer", is an American actor and former professional American football defensive back who played mainly in the American Football League (AFL) during the 1960s. Williamson has had a busy film career, starring as Tommy Gibbs in the 1973 crime drama film Black Caesar and its sequel Hell Up in Harlem. Williamson also had roles in other 1970s blaxploitation films such as Hammer (1972), That Man Bolt (1973) and Three the Hard Way (1974).
Richard Harrison is an American actor, writer, director and producer. Harrison was very prolific and worked with most of the better-known names in European B-movies during the 1960s and 1970s, branching out to exploitation films shot all over the world in the early 1970s.
Gordon Mitchell was an American actor and bodybuilder who made about 200 B movies.
Bo Svenson is a Swedish-American actor, film director, film producer, published author and award winning 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 directed both very violent Spaghetti Westerns and bloodless Bud Spencer and Terence Hill action 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, often billed as John Garko and occasionally Gary Hudson, is an Italian actor who found fame as a leading man in 1960s Spaghetti Westerns. 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, the role played by George Hilton in the third film in the series.
Enzo Girolami 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.
Ian Yule was a British born South African actor and soldier. He had a film career that commenced in the late 1960s and lasted to around the early to mid 2000s. Many of the roles he has played are that of a soldier. The films he has appeared in include Killer Force, in 1976, One Way also released in 1976, Golden Rendezvous in 1977, The Wild Geese in 1978, —Safari 3000 in 1982, City of Blood in 1983, and many more. He was also a stuntman in a few films. He also was a screenwriter and wrote some screen plays including Shamwari in which he starred opposite Ken Gampu. He was a well known actor in South Africa.
Rossi, Stefano. Makkaroni Combat: The Italian way of war Movies (Kindle ed.). Amazon.com. ASIN B07RDL91M4.