Rating: 
Summary: Silly WW2 Comedy
Review: To be honest I can't understand why this movie is so popular. To me it seems like another fantasy like "Devil's Brigade" or "Dirty Dozen". A guys movie with real tough, famous actors in it to make appealing. I guess you look at this tongue and cheek epic because of the cast. If you are a fan of Eastwood, Savalas, Sutherland et. al. then you will love this film. The sad thing about it is that there is good equipment and sets. These seem wasted by a slap-stick plot involving a bank heist behind German lines. The Sherman's and Tiger Tanks are real enough, which gets points from me, but the way the movie uses them is wasteful. One Sherman never could have taken on three Tigers! Sutherland seems a little before his time with the 60s lingo in 1944! Ridiculous. Telly Savalas plays his standard loud mouth tough guy, while Eastwood acts like he is in a Western! I guess I should take this flick a bit more lightly, its typical for its time, but I have always been a realism fanatic when it comes to war movies, and this film is a fantasy!
I hate to see good sets and equipment wasted. It sure is here!
Funny, at times yes. A good war movie? No way man, too far out!
Rating: 
Summary: A very good War Epic that could have been better...
Review: I've seen this movie dozens of time, both in theaters and on video. A few observations about Kelly's Heroes:My Dad was in the Sixth Armored Division (Oddball's parent command) from 1943 through the end of the war in Europe, during the time frame of the film. When I asked him about whether or not Oddball's situation was feasable, he replied that Oddball's platoon might have been able to avoid higher authority for a few days, but not for weeks as Oddball stated to Kelly in the Division Trains. My Dad reasoned that the tanks and the treadheads would need to be resupplied with Class 1, 3 and 5 (Food,Ammo and POL), in addition to any other sort of maintnenance that the vehicles would need. This film was a favorite of my classmates when I attended the U.S.Army's IOAC. It was a film that apparently got a lot of attention, judging from one discussion we had about it. Anyone interested in the history behind this film should read "48 Hours to Hammelburg: Patton's Secret Mission" by Charles Whiting and a companion peice, "Raid" by Major Abe Baum. Much of the background and events depicted in "Kelly's Heroes" were probably extracted from narratives of Patton's order and the subsequent raid on the Hammelburg POW camp. I read in some promo material about the movie that the tanks in the film were not T-34's or M113's, but real Tiger Mark V's that were rented from the Spanish Army - they still had them in their inventory and were servicable. Clint Eastwood said that the movie had all the potential to be one of the greatest war movies of all time, but fell a little short of the mark. I agree, but mainly from the standpoint that the film could have borrowed more from the story of the Hammelburg Raid, which would have made for a better story. That, and some of the tactics could have made a little more sense. However, when you compare this film with dogs like "The Battle of the Bulge" or some of the laugable combat sequences in the film "Patton", it's still far and away a superior testament to World War II combat.
Rating:
Summary: Tigers...
Review: I remember reading long ago that the Tigers in Kelly's were modified APC's [M113's???] and not T's as alot of folks have mentioned. I read it again not too long ago with reference to the making of a Combat! feature film that didnt pan out apparently....toocents.
Rating:
Summary: It's the Perfect Caper!
Review: "Kelly's Heroes" is one of the best wartime caper films available on DVD, which spins the lesson that for the enterprising grunt, the chaos of war presents truly lucrative business prospects. "Kelly's Heroes" is one of my family's favorite movies, and a rousing good time. The basic plot is that Kelly (Clint Eastwood) leads a squad of misfits and truly strange people ("we're not the U.S. Army, just a private business enterprise") on a jaunt behind enemy lines to liberate, ahem, rob, hundreds of gold bars from a German bank sometime in the waning months of WW II. There are just a few details - sneaking away from the U.S. Army, getting past the German army, finding bridges that haven't been blown up by Allied bombers, and three pesky Tiger tanks guarding the entrance to the bank. The plot is silly and fanciful, but who really cares? Clint Eastwood imports his"Man With No Name" cigar-chomping persona from his spaghetti Westerns, and there is a great Sergio Leone send-up toward the movies' finale. Telly ("shaddup, wiseguy") Savalas reprises his tough sergeant role from "Battle of the Bulge." Donald Sutherland's "Oddball" comes from some very weird space, and anticipates the modern hippie space-cowboy Owen Wilson. I was never much of a Don Rickles fan in the 60s ("you win a cookie"), but this script exploits the best points of his churlish humor. One of the fascinating things about this movie is the unusual attention to detail. Those are real WW2-vintage Sherman tanks (unlike "Patton" or "Battle of the Bulge", which used 1960s era armor), and those Tigers sure look real too. Where did they get them? The battle in the village is taut and well-paced, although since this is a comedy, nobody bleeds when they are shot. Like in a good Western, the Germans just grab their bellies and fall to the ground. Weird trivia point: the vapid closing tune in the movie, "Burning Bridges," is sung by a geeky Montovani clone called "the Mike Curb Singers." Mike Curb went on to become a Republican Lieutenant Governor of California. For parents: The movie is totally appropriate for ages 10 and up. The raciest line in the movie belongs to Savalas: "There's no booze! There's no broads. There's No Action!" For a bunch of hard cases, these are really nice soldiers you could bring home to Mom for dinner. This is a perfect DVD for pre-teen boy sleep-overs. The other great wartime caper movie on DVD is a modern one, "Three Kings" with George Clooney, set in Iraq, which is much darker but very, very good.
Rating: 
Summary: Aged cheese
Review: When I saw this film 25 years ago back in High School it was pretty hip. Now its crude and rude and just not as much fun.
Rating:
Summary: This Time We Are Doing It For Us...!
Review: Lt. Kelly goes behind German lines to bring back an important German officer, the mission is simple. What he doesn't know is that the German has a gold bar in his case, and there is alot more where that came from. After Kelly (Clint Eastwood) gets the German officer drunk and gets all the information he needs, Kelly is bent on getting some men from his unit to go with him, far behind enemy lines to steal the gold. The only problem is that Joe (Telly Savalas) is not so sure the plan will work. And it takes some smooth talking to get him to go in on the plan. Along with the help of Oddball (Donald Sutherland) and his tanks, the plan is a go. With all the supplies they need and intel thanks to Crapgame (Don Rickles) who will go along to protect his investment, the unit tries to get the job done. But the plan that was perfect doesn't go the way they had hoped, after several men are killed and, more have to be brought in from the rear to help build a bridge. Kelly still wants to keep the unit as small as possible, but they get a little spread out and have to fight hard to get to the town with the gold. The final is worth seeing after a long hard fight and the arrival of General Colt (Carroll O'Connor) to liberate the town. Good acting and a clever script make this worth the time. Not to mention the good action as well.
Grade:B+
Rating:
Summary: Always with the negative waves, Moriarty
Review: This film has stuck with me since I first saw it as a teenager. To this day I still crack Oddball lines. Donald Sutherland's interpretation of his character as a perpetually stoned tank-driver works for me, regardless of its apparent incongruity. You have to understand that when it was made stoners were funny - come to think of it, they're always funny. Highly entertaining, it even pokes fun at Eastwood's spaghetti westerns as they face the Tiger tank, and the German dude in the tank has to be the most caricatured Nazi soldier a real human could possibly be. Great music, we used to just listen to the soundtrack in high school (OK, we were a bit strange, but we were drummers. OK, redundant). Great music, loaded with 60's stars, and if you like tanks a good choice as well.
Rating:
Summary: There really were "Odd Balls" in WWII
Review: This film, like "The Dirty Dozen" and "The Devil's Brigade" features an all star cast, humour, and lots of combat. Like the above mentioned films, this movie does not take war scenes ligthly, but finds humour in absurbity and chaos, much like Bill Mauldin's Willy and Joe. I know that alot of reviewers find the character Odd Ball, and his tankers, to be out of place with WWII but actually the beats and the outlaw bikers came out of the war. There was, at least one ace, in Pappy Boyington's Black Sheep Squadron that was very much like the "Odd Ball" character, and in the nature of citizen soldiers he excelled. Watch this movie, enjoy it, and lighten up.
Rating:
Summary: A technical dispute with the other reviewers.
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed "Kelly's Heroes". It had the right blend of comedy and serious action. I was impressed with the attention of the movie people in getting the technical detail correct for this WWII movie. I do not agree with the other reviewers that these "Tigers" were mockuped Russian T-34's. In no way did they look like T-34's. The body and turret of the tank definitely looked liked a Tiger I, even the 88 mm gun with the barrel evacuator and the pivoting base plate: the Russians didn't use this style. From the back, you could definitely see the characteristic oil filters and exhaust stacks of the Tiger. Unfortunately, and I think that this is where the reviewers are confusing these tanks with T-34's, the tread that was used is incorrect for combat. The Tigers used a narrow tread and small drive sprocket only when being tranported on railroad flatcars, and they used an extra wide tread and large drive sprocket when in the field in combat. At 60 tons, they needed it. The movie people forgot to change out this tread to the correct combat track. That made these Tigers look kind of goofey when seen head on. Also, when the actual 88 mm gun was fired, it recoiled about 40 cm. These movie Tigers' guns did not recoil, giving away the fact that FX people used some kind of small explosive in the barrel to simulate actual fire. Also, when they did fire, the gun looked to be elevated too high: there's no way a high-velocity 88 mm shell would fall that fast. All this technical stuff aside, I highly recommend the movie anyway.
Rating:
Summary: Kelly's Heros: A Timeless War Classic!
Review: Although the movie is aging, the comedy is not! This movie mixes comedic timing with war scenes in a smooth and witty manner. The all-star casting clicks extremely well, especially the role that Caroll O'Connor plays - small, but very effective and funny. My friends and I were reminising about this movie recently and reciting lines like you would from Animal House or Stripes ("Where are you from soldier?" - "Jersey City." - "That's not your fault, son."). The filming of this war movie did not show any skimping of budget - the scenes looked real and made the movie come to life. Very detailed wardrobe and props. Clint Eastwood provides a smooth and strong presence, while his supporting cast provides the comedy, knowingly (Don Rickles, Donald Sutherland) or not (Telly Savalas, Caroll O'Connor). Don't be afraid to purchase this one - it's a must have you'll enjoy watching anytime.
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