Solemplex
To me, this movie is perfection.
StyleSk8r
At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
Maleeha Vincent
It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
Leofwine_draca
WHEN HELL BROKE LOOSE is a very early star vehicle for Charles Bronson, receiving an 'introducing' credit even though he'd been acting in the likes of HOUSE OF WAX some five years earlier. Perhaps it was the first time he used the Bronson surname. This film ostensibly sounds like a war film with plenty of battle footage, but it's not, and the action is rather limited due to budgetary constraints. Instead what we have is a mild thriller that's never as tense or exciting that it wants to be.Bronson plays a mild-mannered guy who doesn't want to be a soldier and who subsequently goes A.W.O.L. to romance a pretty German girl, played by Violet Rensing. Unfortunately for him, his girl's brother, played by the entertaining Richard Jaeckel, is a Nazi saboteur planning to take down some American high command. Nobody believes Bronson so he has to save the day, but the execution is never as exciting as it sounds.The film offers a decent fist fight (possibly the first of Bronson's lengthy career) and some other interesting moments, but is generally only a very average sort of picture, lacking the class and technical quality to make it genuinely enjoyable. It's on par with MACHINE GUN KELLY in that respect.
JohnHowardReid
"You know that guy would make a wonderful stranger. I don't know why you put up with him." — "Because he's my buddy, that's why." For this film that's a sample of scintillating dialogue. This movie was obviously shot on the cheap in a converted telephone booth. Newsreel footage is employed with a liberal hand by director/editor Kenneth G. Crane. Yes, it's a real cheapo, meanwhile-in-the-stock-footage effort with a few plyboard sets, a Mickey Mouse music score, a lot of dialogue and no action except a mild shoot-out at the climax.Bronson is not well served by the budget and this film would be a good example of how much the success of his films owe to their high- budget mounting. Without that back-up, he is a distinctly less attractive proposition. The support cast, the dull, wordy script, the routine direction and camera-work are not much help and though Bronson does his best he just cannot overcome these limitations. In fact, this film is worth seeing solely for the opportunity of viewing Misses Carlyle and Wakefield. Yes, Bronson is athletic. In one scene he jumps from a roof ledge to the street below. But otherwise he benefits little from Crane's relentlessly TV-close-ups style of unimaginative direction. Of course you can save a lot of money by making a movie this way — and saving money seems to be this picture's principal aim. Not only are the dialogue scenes in closet sets tediously dull, but the similarly economy-minded action spots are directed with an eye to the incorporation of as much stock footage as possible. Even the most undiscriminating action fans will find this one distinctly mediocre at best. When hell broke loose... Well, when did it?
MartinHafer
"When Hell Broke Loose" is one of Charles Bronson's earliest starring roles. Up until that time, he mostly played minor supporting characters but here he is THE star of this low-budget production. Bronson plays a rather amoral guy who is always looking out for himself--which is tough, as he's in the Army during WWII--a place where everyone must work as a team. Not surprisingly, he's often in trouble and has a horrible record as a serviceman. However, when he falls for a German woman, for once he thinks about another person. It becomes VERY complicated, however, when they both learn that her brother is a so-called 'werewolf'--a member of a team who dress like American G.I.s and who are dedicated to killing Eisenhower and disrupting the peace. What's next? See the film if you'd like...or not.While Bronson does a good job in this early role, the film is pretty cheap--with only fair actors in support and lots of poor, grainy stock footage. It is interesting but just seemed cheap. Worth seeing if you love Bronson, otherwise easy to skip.
revdrcac
Charles Bronson enjoyed one of the longest movie careers of any of his contemporaries. Although he has had his detractors, his appeal has reached across the generations , from westerns to war films to cop/vigilante films.All hell literally breaks loose here as Bronson tries to save the day.In this film, Bronson begins to gravitate toward the kind of action film that he perfected in the 70's and beyond. His tough, heroic GI faced with a tough & unusual mission is very well acted. Although the script was nothing spectacular, the film is worth a look to see a legendary star on the brink of his memorable tough-guy career.
