If you fell in love with the books of Sven Hassle, you might think this is a movie not to miss. Sorry, have to bring your hopes down.The movie doesn't catch anything from the books! The characters are nothing like in the books. Can it be so that they couldn't find any actors to resemble the characters in the books or was the directing so terrible? I don't know but I was SO disappointed after seeing this movie that I was sorry I bought it.As far as I'm concerned, this movie shouldn't have been done, at least not in the 80's! They probably had a very small budget which may be the reason for the terrible style of the movie and the story, that doesn't remind me of the exciting and cruel stories in the books of Sven Hassle. Skip the movie and stick to the books!

A very watchable low budget WWII action adventure in the same vein as Kelly's Hero's. You could say it's a cross between Kelly's Heros and the Dirty Dozen. It's a light-hearted adaptation of a Sven Hassle novel about a German penal tank crew sent to the Russian Front. On their return they are sent on a mission to destroy a train behind enemy lines with the promise of retirement if their mission is successful. The tone is one of anti-war and anti-nazism, with the laid back crew pushing insubordination to the limits. The movie has a good cast and characters. David Carradine is superb as the nazi Col. Von Weisshage; and indeed one of the things that make it enjoyable is that all the actors seem to be enjoying their roles. The other thing that makes it enjoyable is the solid humour that keeps a steady pace.

I have seen this film a couple of times and have found that I like the movie. It is not the quality of Stalingrad but I think if follows the basic premise of the books by Sven Hassle. Other people have ripped it to shreds and said that it was trash but I found that the books and the film are quite similar in tone. It does not follow the book Wheels of Terror exactly but it does a good job of capturing the flavor of the books. I would encourage people to try to find a copy. Used VHS tapes often show up on Ebay and even European DVDs can be found. Be sure to search for both titles as The Misfit Brigade seems to be only the USA title.

To tell the truth, I liked this movie. It's not great, it's not even good, but it's a very entertaining piece of budget movie history, and considering that I am surprised at how good it actually became. Basically it is a classical Dirty Dozen/Guns of Navarone mixture. Group of misfits in German penal battalion goes on impossible mission, shot lots of ruskies, loose some good men and have some strange/amusing/other encounters. The acting isn't bad, in fact it's downright good in a few spots such as Tiny and The Legionaire but generally it's pretty mediocre. What makes this movie something more than B trash is the fact that it has some pretty likable characters and some pretty funny scenes. For example; throughout the movie we are given propaganda bulletins on the German radio talking about the heroes of Bektovka, who are holding out against all odds far behind enemy lines. One is compelled to laugh at the absurdity when our heroes accidentally end up at Bektovka and discovered that the 'heroes' are living a quiet farm life together with the Russian defenders of the village.Another fun thing, at least for me, was how equipment and uniforms change continuously throughout the movie. At one point even the German tanks (which look suspiciously like Russian JS3s) are transformed, into Russian T-55s. Wheels of Terror gave me a feeling of watching an episode of the 60s WW2 series 'Combat' or the old Polish series 'Four Tankers and a Dog'. If you're looking for a good war movie see Peckinpah's 'The Iron Cross' or Stone's 'Platoon', but if you're looking for a trip down nostalgia lane Wheels of Terror is the movie for you.