The Dirty Dozen
The Dirty Dozen
Directed by:
Robert AldrichCinematography:
Edward ScaifeComposer:
Frank De VolCast:
Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Richard Jaeckel, George Kennedy, Trini López, Ralph Meeker, Robert Ryan (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
An all-star cast energizes Robert Aldrich's classic World War II action drama about a group of 12 American military prisoners assembled by tacticians and ordered to perform a suicide mission: infiltrate a well-guarded château and kill the Nazi officials vacationing there. The incarcerated soldiers, most of whom are facing death sentences for a variety of violent crimes, jump at the chance to redeem themselves. Major Reisman (Lee Marvin), the noncriminal in charge of the group, whips the men into a crack unit, uses them to best the troops of his by-the-book superior officer, Colonel Breed (Robert Ryan), in war games, then leads the steely antiheroes on their perilous assault. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Reviews (3)
Ingeniously simple subject matter and charismatic actors. That's all it takes to make one of the best classic war films. The action itself is irrelevant here. The strongest passages are the training and the relationships within the unconventional unit. This movie has always been (and will continue to be) widely paraphrased, but probably never again will any of its (un)acknowledged variations achieve such "genre purity".
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Famous war movie, which later experienced several weaker follow-ups. It relies on charismatic actors, skillful direction, and differences from other war films of its time. With all due respect to its creators, the dirtbags are merely a heavily idealized perspective of the war reality by the film studio. The combat action is naive and exaggerated. If the German units were characterized by such helplessness, Poland alone would have been enough to defeat them. Combat units, similar to the dirtbags, utilized all Axis and Allied countries. They were generally characterized by lower combat morale but a significantly higher dose of brutality, especially on the German and Soviet sides, where they were used for the dirtiest tasks. Overall impression 50%.
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A good old war movie where a dozen convicts get the unique chance to escape the noose. The casting is excellent, with Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson in the leading roles. Lots of snappy one-liners and funny situations. I really had great fun watching this.
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