Rating: 
Summary: Tiny war movie, big meaning...
Review: Hell is for Heroes is indeed a statement.A year before the release of "The Great Escape", Steve McQueen starred in a quite different role and kind of war movie. A squad of G.I.'s, cut off from its lines has to convince the Germans that they actually are the main strike force and in order to do so they have to permanently keep them on their toes. A bunch of brave but desperate soldiers with a limited armament and scarce ammunition holding in check a still well equipped and greatly outnumbering German Army? Unthinkable?
Watch this movie and learn. These are all poor guys who, against their will and against all odds have to choose how to die. There's no right or wrong. Their heroic actions originate from the desperate hope to keep alive a little bit longer, even if just for an hour, a minute, a second... This is also war. Sometimes you simply can't choose your destiny. You simply are and simply want to remain... alive. It's a simple straight forward story that could very well be an ideal companion to two other movies of this kind: "The Men", starring Marlon Brando and "Attack!", starring Jack Palance. It's the first time I have watched it on DVD and I was highly impressed by its quality. Unfortunately there are no extras, nor documentaries, whether of the movie or of that Historical period. It would be nice if the Studios included some documentary footage referring to the various war movies made. For instance, how would you like if 20th Century-Fox included some news or documentary reels on the actual attack on Pearl Harbor with "Tora! Tora! Tora!" for you to compare reality with recreated fiction? Or further, wouldn't you love to have footage of the actual Battle of Midway with Universal's "Midway", or the battle at Kasserine Pass with "Patton" or "The Big Red One"? Sometimes it's not enough to have trailers included, a bit history and culture, combined with entertainment wouldn't be so bad after all. Pity, but still worth your hard earned money.
Rating:
Summary: McQueen at his best!
Review: Hell is For Heroes is one of the best movies to ever be released about WW11. With Steve McQueen as John Reese, the quiet, die-hard soldier, how can you go wrong. This is one of the first roles where McQueen played the loner which he made famous in The Sand Pebbles and Bullitt. A great supporting cast with Harry Guardino, Fess Parker, Bobby Darin, Bob Newhart, and Nick Adams. The battle sequences are incredibly realistic especially the fight in the minefield. Filmed in black and white the film is very effective in showing that war is not won by huge armies but squads of men bent on survival. Excellent ending. One of my favorites! Buy the VHS instead of the DVD(only contains theatrical trailer and widescreen presentation). A must have for Steve McQueen fans or war movie fans!
Rating:
Summary: McQueen at his best!
Review: Hell is For Heroes is one of the best movies to ever be released about WW11. With Steve McQueen as John Reese, the quiet, die-hard soldier, how can you go wrong. This is one of the first roles where McQueen played the loner which he made famous in The Sand Pebbles and Bullitt. A great supporting cast with Harry Guardino, Fess Parker, Bobby Darin, Bob Newhart, and Nick Adams. The battle sequences are incredibly realistic especially the fight in the minefield. Filmed in black and white the film is very effective in showing that war is not won by huge armies but squads of men bent on survival. Excellent ending. One of my favorites! Buy the VHS instead of the DVD(only contains theatrical trailer and widescreen presentation). A must have for Steve McQueen fans or war movie fans!
Rating: 
Summary: Good Old Fashioned War Film
Review: HELL IS FOR HEROES is probably one of the best WWII war films of the early 1960's. Basically this is almost a movie-length version of the television series COMBAT!, but a bit grittier and with more movie stars. Fess Parker (Davy Crockett)plays the infantry unit's company commander. The story opens in late 1944 with Parker's infantry company deploying across from the pillboxes of Germany's vaunted Westwall. To complicate matters, most of the company is temporarily detailed to another assignment leaving little more than a platoon to hold a frontage barely sustainable by a company. Steve McQueen plays his usual role as the angry young loner who plans to fight the war on his own terms. Look for other stars such as Harry Guardino, James Coburn and a youthful Bob Newhart. Filming took place on an Army training range complete with rows of ersatz dragons teeth left over from World War Two obstacle training (Some of rows of these aging California concrete replicas survive to this day). The story is told primarily from the American point of view. Much like BATTLEGROUND, don't expect to see too many closeups of German soldiers except for a handful of bayonet-toting Landsers wearing sterotypical uniforms with World War One helmets direct from Hollywood wardrobe warehouses. No matter, the action is great and the story is simple and easy to follow. This is one of the few movies to focus on that period of time when the US Army was stalled against the Siegfried Line in the months between the dash across France and the Battle of the Bulge. In wide-screen, this DVD is a must for your collection.
Rating:
Summary: Great Movie, pity about the price
Review: I agree with Brian. For a dvd with no extras the price is crazy. I did buy it though and can say that the quality of the dvd is very good. However, at this price i wish I had just stuck to my vhs copy.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting film
Review: I tend to shy away from WWII movies made from the 40's till the early 60's, because they lack a certain realism. This film is one of the first, however, to break out of that ultra-patriotic, propaganda ridden era that Hollywood defined as World War II. Within the censorship limits of the time, this movie shows warfare at it's ugliest. The film follows a squad from the 95th Infantry Division as they face the Siegfried Line in the fall of 1944. The filmakers have researched the technical aspects of the film fairly well. The G.I.s are correctly uniformed and equiped, which is somewhat of a rarity from Hollywood at the time. ( Unfortunatly the Germans in the film are not so lucky. They could have used a better tech advisor.) Overall a good movie. Someone must have gained inspiration from it when they made the movie WHEN TRUMPETS FADE in 1998. Very similar story line and just as well done.
Rating:
Summary: One of the all-time greatest War movies! Not to be missed!!
Review: I was born in 1954 and went to see this one when it first came out. I was all of eight years old. What an extremely profound impact it would have on my life. I eventually went on to serve as an officer in the USMC, partly because of the heroism depicted in this movie. Each time that I watch it now, I sympathize with the characters that are sent to cover a sector of the Sigfried line and one morning wake to find that the rest of the company has pulled leaving only their squad to defend the company-sized front. How desperate their reaction! They do the right thing - they go on the offensive! I won't spoil it for you. It is an excellent movie well worth adding to any collection. No war movie collector would be without it. Great performances by Fess Parker, Steve McQueen, Nick Adams, Bobby Darin, James Coburn, Bob Newhart, Harry Guardino and others who also went on to become famous character acters. Well worth owning at any price!!!
Rating:
Summary: This Is the Only Movie About the Siegfried Line Campaign
Review: I've seen them all, and this is solely about the campaign from September, 1944, until the Battle of the Bulge in December, 1944. Since the Newhart character mentions his Division headquarters being at the French town of Thionville, it means that this fictional outfit was located at the sector just a few miles east, i.e., south of Trier, Germany and probably a part of Patton's Third Army. My uncle fought in that campaign. His letters home confirm the rough time his outfit had in September and October, 1944. Most of the units were understrength after a few days at the front line. The Germans had constructed their defenses so that the pillboxes, mostly camouflaged, had interlocking fields of fire so that they were mutually supporting. Also, they had excellent observation points for artillery fire direction. Thus, the "Amis" (the nickname for the U.S. troops given by the Nazis) were under fire at all times. The replacement troops usually were so green that they didn't last a month, and many died after a day or two without knowning even what outfit they belonged to. Thus, this movie captures the realism of what that combat was like. I especially liked the attention to detail, e.g., the night patrols, the minefield, the concertina wire, etc. Both sides sent out nightly patrols. These were the days before spy satellites and infrared or night vision devices. The only way to get good intelligence was to send out some men to capture prisoners for interrogation. That explains why Reese was so concerned about the Germans finding out how thin his sector was held, and why the squad tried to take measures to fool the enemy into thinking they were a larger force. Another good realism was having the mortar squads fire for effect on the approaches to the pillbox. However, in the real war the troops tried to outflank it. The veterans I have talked to say the best way to knock the pillbox out was to get in the rear of it and drop some grenades down the ventilation pipe. The Germans usually came out running after one of the grenades exploded. However, due to the need to provide a heroic end for Reese, the movie has him going directly in front of the firing aperture and making a fatal but explosive end to the machine gun. The U.S. Army lost about 50,000 troops during this 3 month campaign. The lines of supply were outstretched, and the equipment, e.g., tanks, trucks, artillery, were in need of resupply and repair due to the long trek across France. Hitler had the West Wall(the actual name for the Siegfried Line) defended to give his forces time to reorganize in preparation for the Ardennes Campaign in December, 44. My uncle's unit was restricted in its' battle against the West Wall to the point where the Division Artillery could only fire ten (10) rounds per gun per day! This movie has to be seen in order to understand how this happened, and to appreciate what our ancestors had to endure. This, in my estimate, is the best WW II movie before Saving Private Ryan since it captures the gritty and violent world in a realistic way, before all the advances in special effects.
Rating:
Summary: A war film ahead of its time.
Review: Like Citizen Kane this movie plays more like a movie made yesterday that just happened to be in black and white. Cheesy musical scores, guns that never run out of bullets, and ...Germans are WWII movie elements this one leaves out. Like Saving Private Ryan, there is little music and very realistic fighting that detail the horrors of war. Certainly dark, this movie consists almost soley of 5 characters on one set. But there's still plenty of action and suspense. Although no really large battle scene, we really feel for these characters and understand the dispare of their position.
Rating: 
Summary: Steve McQueen gives this film its power
Review: Not a bad war movie but not enough to get too excited about. Mr McQueen however makes every move count, even when turning around, and it remains an excellent study in how to make your presence felt on screen. Mr Siegel and Mr McQueen made a formidable pair.
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