Italian army regulars resist the orders of a cruel general whose rigid interpretations of the rules call for a man to be shot. Leone (Alain Cuny) orders the execution of an army regular who halted the troops while under enemy fire. A sympathetic lieutenant substitutes a dead body for that of the doomed soldier because he believes the general has been wrong and the man acted normally. Another lieutenant is shot when he refuses to shoot men who have exited quickly from a foxhole under bombardment. This anti-war film illustrates the enemy is not the only force of evil on the battlefield and that war is inherently wrong for everyone involved.
~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide