The Misfit Brigade (1987) Plot Summary Explained

After being promised a well-deserved furlough for completing the oil train mission, the squad learns they will instead be sent back to the Eastern Front for demolition training. When General von Grathwohl threatens them with court-martial for expressing their anger, an air attack provides the opportunity. The officers attempt to flee on a plane but the pilot is dead. The squad forms a line and executes both General von Grathwohl and Colonel von Weisshagen, exacting lethal justice for being betrayed and used as expendable soldiers.

Foreshadowing: The film's opening establishes the penal battalion as prisoners coerced into dangerous missions, setting up the eventual betrayal and violent retaliation.

• officers executed
• mutiny
• court-martial
• betrayal
• penal battalion
• von weisshagen
• von grathwohl

The squad was ordered to destroy a train carrying tanker cars of oil behind enemy lines. Success would earn themfurloughs and promotions, giving them a rare chance to escape the penal unit's harsh conditions.

• oil train
• sabotage mission
• train destruction
• behind enemy lines

Porta and Tiny survive the train operation and destroy the oil train using dynamite and a grenade after Muller is killed trying to blow it with a hand grenade. The survivors return to the penal unit and are reassigned to tanks.

Foreshadowing: The earlier scenes show Porta and Tiny working together as a competent team, foreshadowing their success in the final operation.

• Porta
• Tiny
• Muller killed
• survivors
• oil train destroyed

The 27th Panzers was Hitler's heavy-duty combat regiment composed entirely of prisoners, soldiers who had committed crimes or been convicted of offenses, making them expendable assets in the Nazi war machine. They were used for the most dangerous missions with little regard for their lives.

• penal battalion
• 27th Panzers
• prisoners
• expendable soldiers
• Nazi regiment

The crew mounts Bertha I and Bertha II and launch an assault on Soviet T-34s, with each tank scoring a kill. Bertha II is knocked out by a self-propelled gun, and Bertha I becomes immobilized. The crew must retreat toward German lines on foot, during which Freckles Fredericks is killed.

• Bertha I
• Bertha II
• T-34
• Soviet tanks
• Freckles Fredericks killed

Despite mixed fortunes from the mission, including casualties and the loss of tanks, Colonel von Weisshagen is promoted to a higher rank and presented the German Cross in Gold. This reflects the Nazi command's practice of rewarding officers for successful mission outcomes regardless of the cost to the penal soldiers under their command.

• von Weisshagen
• promotion
• German Cross in Gold
• officer reward

When the squad encounters two German deserters at an abandoned mill who direct them to a camp of Russian deserters, both Porta and Old Man debate whether to desert with them or continue the mission. They ultimately decide to press on with the mission, leaving the deserters behind to their fates.

• deserters
• abandoned mill
• Russian deserters
• Porta
• Old Man

After learning the promisedfurloughs are revoked in favor of more demolition training and a return to the Eastern Front, the men react with anger and disbelief. General von Grathwohl responds by threatening the squad with court-martial for insubordination, demonstrating the Nazi command's ruthless control over the penal soldiers.

• court-martial
• insubordination
• General von Grathwohl
• threat
• furlo ugh denied

As the squad covertly neutralizes guard posts and rigs fuzes to explosives at the train station, the Russian commander struggles to contact his sentries. When the train arrives, it comes on a different track than anticipated, forcing the team to make a rapid adjustment to their plan.

• oil train
• different track
• guard posts
• fuzes
• Russian commander

A fanatical Nazi intelligence officer is assigned to the squad as they sneak into a Russian barracks and seize uniforms, weapons, and explosives. A fight erupts with a Russian who feigns death; Porta is assaulted, Seigfried is mortally wounded, and the SS sergeant and the Russian kill each other.

• Russian barracks
• infiltration
• uniforms
• Seigfried mortally wounded
• SS sergeant killed

Multiple casualties occur throughout the film: Freckles Fredericks is killed during the retreat from the first tank battle, Seigfried is mortally wounded at the Russian barracks, and Muller is killed trying to blow the train with a hand grenade. The survivors, including Porta and Tiny, return and receive medals before the final confrontation with the officers.

• casualties
• Freckles Fredericks
• Seigfried
• Muller killed
• survivors

Bertha I and Bertha II are the main tanks used by the penal battalion in their initial assault on Soviet T-34s. Each scores a kill before Bertha II is destroyed and Bertha I becomes immobilized, forcing the crew to abandon their vehicles and continue on foot. This early action demonstrates their combat capability despite being prisoners.

• Bertha tanks
• tank warfare
• Soviet T-34
• combat
• penal battalion