Too Late The Hero, director Robert Aldrich's attempt to re-create his Dirty Dozen success, turned out to be a tough and gruelling filmmaking experience for Caine. Focusing on the World War 11 battle for a small, unnamed Pacific island, a group of commandos are dispatched on a suicide mission to destroy the enemy wireless station hidden deep in the jungle.

The studio advised Aldrich to shoot two endings, one, for the US market, which featured Cliff Robertson surviving the battle, the other with Michael Caine as last man standing for UK audiences. He didn't. In the final cut Robertson was given a dramatic death, leaving Caine as the only survivor.

Living only on a diet of tinned sardines and cheese, the unit spent six months in the Philippines. The location was hell. 'Bob had us work for 14 consecutive days and then gave us five days off, which was enough time to get out of the country,' remembers Caine. On reflection, Caine says the same effect could have been achieved had Aldrich shot the picture in the tropical house at Kew Gardens: 'It was just all of us looking out from behind a load of palm leaves.'

In the end, this is an exciting and violent, but rather too long (well over two hours) macho action picture.

Contans violence.