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Summary: Guess what? Some women like it too! :)
Review: Recently, some meathead friend of a friend was perusing my video collection and asked me with a sneer on his face, "What kind of girl owns The Dirty Dozen?"Can I help it if this chick has taste? Of course I completely understand the assumption that this is a guy's movie. After all, the only females to feature in the film are whores. While women played an important role in the WWII victory, they were more in the factories than on the front lines. I refrain from saying only men enjoy watching stuff get blown up, but I will venture to say that if my father had had sons, he might have introduced them to this film genre rather than his daughters. But this is a quality film with enough substance for both genders to enjoy. After all, this is a film about redemption. Lee Marvin must struggle to make worthy soldiers out of men who would steal, rape, and murder. The importance of a meaningful death is the motivation behind his troop's transformation. The movie is a little slow, but the script is good and the action alternates between wildly humorous and intensely suspenseful. Furthermore, this film is full of amazing moments of character development. Charles Bronsen's failed attempt at a word-association exercise. Telly Savalas's portrayal of chilling insanity. Donald Sutherland as the idiot "general" inspecting the troops. Jim Brown, who does not care to fight the white man's war but can not suppress his own heroic nature. And John Cassavantes as the tricky, irrepressible Victor Franco, the guy we love to hate. Or is that hate to love?
Rating: 
Summary: A great cast helps this movie to shine
Review: The Dirty Dozen is one of the classic movies about World War 2 with an all star cast. Released in 1967, it tells of a mangy group of men which bands together to pull off an amazing WW2 escapade. The target is a German-controlled chateau in Reims, Brittany. Lee Marvin is the Major that gathers the group together. The cast includes Donald Sutherland, Charles Bronson, Telly Savalas and many other greats. John Cassavates, who plays "Franco", was nominated for best supporting actor. The movie did win an oscar for best sound effects. The group heads out to an English field , creates a camp, and begins to train. With a series of ups and downs during six weeks they become a strong fighting force. The test comes during divisional maneuvers in Devonshire, when they have to take on an elite force and take control of the HQ. Of course they do the job, with a good dose of cunning and subterfuge. On to the French chateau. Amazingly, this was a huge set built just for the film that is destroyed in the finale. Indoor scenes were done at the MGM British Studios in Borhamwood, England. While some might find the storyline unbelievable, the following year's release was a movie which told a true story of The Devil's Brigade - about a run-down group of misfits who went on to fame and glory.
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Summary: High action war classic
Review: The Dirty Dozen is one of those classics you can watch over and over again. It tells the story of Major Reisman, who has to train 12 convicts for a suicide mission behind enemy lines. We see the training and then finally the Dirty Dozen's attack on their target, a French chateau full of high-ranking German officers. The action scenes are excellent. The movie never slows down from the beginning even with a running time of 150 minutes. The performances in the movie are great. This huge list of Hollywood notables took part in this movie. Lee Marvin is awesome as Major John Reisman with Charles Bronson, John Cassavetes, Jim Brown, Donald Sutherland, Telly Savalas, Clint Walker, and Trini Lopez as some of the Dirty Dozen. Also starring are Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Ralph Meeker, and George Kennedy. This is a great movie that shouldn't be missed. The DVD transfer is perfect. Also included are a trailer and a behind the scenes documentary about the movie. If you like the movie, check out the book by E.M. Nathanson.
Rating: 
Summary: A few major flaws in an otherwise entertaining film
Review: The Dirty Dozen is quite an entertaining action film, and is occasionally exciting. However, it's far from perfect with several mistakes, particularly the excessive running time. At 150 minutes the film takes too long to get to the actual mission itself. Another flaw is the cartoonish attitude the film has. Sure, it's also a comedy but the tone is far from the hard edged feeling of the action-packed finale. The musical score is also poorly done, resulting in a track that sounds out of sync with the situation. But don't let all the flaws dismay you. The Dirty Dozen is a funny and entertaining film. The characters do become likeable and you feel for the ones who are killed in combat. Credit this to the solid acting job, most notably to Lee Marvin and John Cassavetes. The film has only one action sequence, but it's an jolting ride in those last 20 minutes of mayhem. This sequence is probably what makes the film as famous as it is and it does make the film worthwhile to watch for this setpiece alone. The Dirty Dozen is not as exciting or thrilling as Where Eagles Dare, but it's very much a notch above other guys-on-a-mission films such as Guns of Navarone.
Rating:
Summary: "Death by Hanging"
Review: THE MISSION: To pentrate a French chateau where German High command is quarted , and kill as many generals as possible throwing the enemy into D-Day confusion. THE MEN; Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine plus John Cassavetes, Charles Bronson, Telly Savalas, Jim Brown, Clint Walker, Donald Sutherland, Trini Lopez, Ben Carruthers, Al Mancini , Stuart Cooper , Tom Busby, Colin Maitland. THE MASTERSTROKE: Select men from death row saves on paperwork if they get killed. THE UPSHOT:Many dead jerries ,11 dead dozeners, posthumos pardons fot the rest.
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Summary: The ultimate World War II classic
Review: The mission: Train twelve military convicts to go behind enemy lines. The objective: Destroy a French chateau and kill the Nazi officers occupying it, causing a major disruption in the German Army ranks. If mission is successful, prisoners will be pardoned for all crimes under the Visiting Forces Act in Britain. Easier said than done. However, for U.S. Army Major John Reisman, it is a task that he will accomplish by any means necessary. And that sets in motion one of the greatest World War II films ever made for the cinema screen. Released in 1967 by MGM, The Dirty Dozen changed the way we looked at soldiers and war heroes. Instead of the clean-cut types we have been used to watching in war films, we are introduced to the most psychopathic, anti-social bunch of soldiers ever to take on the Third Reich. Nevertheless, the film is still entertaining, and explosive to boot. With a cast that includes Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, the great Donald Sutherland, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, Telly Savalas, Clint Walker, Richard Jaeckel, Robert Ryan, George Kennedy, and the late John Cassavetes (in a hateful role that earned him an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor), The Dirty Dozen proves that you can find heroes in the most unlikely of all places. These twelve men fight like twelve hundred when it comes to taking on the Imperial German Army, and in the end, it becomes an explosive confrontation between two forces that are bent on annihilating each other. If you enjoy war movies, you'll enjoy The Dirty Dozen. Trivia note: The movie was filmed on location at MGM British Studios in Borhamwood, England. Lee Marvin appeared in another classic WWII movie thirteen years later. The 1980 classic The Big Red One. Both Jim Brown and Ernest Borgnine appeared in the classic 1968 Cold War Thriller Ice Station Zebra. Like in The Dirty Dozen, Brown's character gets killed off. Apparently, some execs were a bit racist.
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Summary: One of the best 1960's WW2 films.
Review: They made some great WW2 action films in the 1960's. These include "Where Eagles Dare", "Von Ryan's Express", "The Great Escape", and of course "The Dirty Dozen". The film takes a while to get going but you will not be disappointed. The last half hour is as action packed and exciting as any any one could hope. Although I feel anti-war movies such as "Platoon" or "Paths of Glory" are more realistic. This is great escapist fare.
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Summary: Cleansed by Heroism
Review: This is a difficult film to discuss because it consists of so many components which are usually not combined within the same narrative: executions, strict confinement and isolation of "volunteers" for a seemingly impossible military mission (especially given who the "volunteers" are), mutual distrust, and war games prior to the mission; meanwhile, camaraderie, racism, teamwork, psychosis, sexual perversion, and patriotism guide and inform the men as they somehow complete their preparations and then begin a mission from which only one of the twelve survives. Their leader is Major Reisman (Lee Marvin), himself something of a pariah among the officers reporting to General Worden (Ernest Borgnine). Why is this film so popular? Others have their reasons. Here are mine. First, it is fascinating to observe Reisman as he employs all manner of unorthodox strategies and tactics to forge the effective teamwork on which the success of the mission ultimately depends. Also, under Robert Aldrich's brilliant direction, the quality of acting among the ensemble of "dirty" soldiers is consistently outstanding. Also, the hostility between Reisman's group and their nemesis Colonel Everitt Dasher-Breed (Robert Ryan) creates all manner of situations in which to develop teamwork in preparation for the mission, meanwhile humiliating Dasher-Breed at every opportunity. He is their enemy and they prevail against him. And finally, the concluding portion of the film during which Reisman and his men invade the French chateau, killing most of the German officers and their companions, offers a sequence of events which are genuinely exciting. Although knowing what to expect when I saw this film again recently, I was still caught up in the plot as elaborate preparations and then the mission itself are completed. Great entertainment.
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Summary: The Dirty Dozen
Review: This is one of my favorite guy films. The Actors are some of the biggest names at that time and icons today. Let's see, Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, George Kennedy, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland, and Clint Walker. Come on, I'd pay to see a movie of these guys just sitting around playing poker.
Basically, a hard nose "do it his own way" or maybe I should say "a Lee Marvin Type" Colonel is given the assignment of taking condemned or life imprisoned military criminals and turning them into a cohesive group of commandos to be sent behind Germany lines on an impossible suicide mission. Impossible for today's acting pansy's maybe but not this crew. These guys have always been the toughest guys around in movies. Hell, Charles Bronson could take out a battalion of Nazis by himself. And, who else could play the gentle giant named "Posey" that makes Hulk Hogan look like a Smurf better than Clint Walker. What's interesting is during the course of the film you begin to believe that all these guys have some type of redeeming character and even though they might be murderous psychopaths, they're all true Americans. Lee Marvin is Stupendous in his role as the "Lee Marvin" type as well as all the people in the film. I even like they way they introduced the romance part which is apparently required under all circumstances by the movie studios. They had a party, got drunk and had sex with a bunch of hookers. They should've done that in the Titanic. Of course the comedic sections are during the course of training these misfits. Once they set out on their mission, then it gets tense and serious. By then the characters are well known and you really want these guys to succeed. I won't give away how it turns out but,who could have played the Psychopath better at the end than Telly Savalas? I've seen this movie many times and still love it to this day but, I no longer feel a tear well up in my eye when Jim Brown dies. When I was a kid, I balled like a baby cause that was Jim Brown. Now after seeing what a jerk he's turned out to be, I feel more like good riddence. Too bad they can't use CGI to put the Late Great Walter Payton in instead. Bottom line is this is one of the great all time "war but, have a good time" guy flicks and the DVD is great.
Rating:
Summary: Laughed a lot, didn't cry, though
Review: This is one of those films that I watched "because I should see it." It is part of our cinematic language and, I found out, it was much more entertaining than I expected. I had thought is was going to be a rough-and-tough war film with lots of machismo to spare. I didn't expect the level of humor displayed throughout. It really helped to relieve some of the more tense scenes. This is actually a very funny film and a good action film. I had heard (most notably from Sleepless in Seattle) that this was a film at which men cry, but I did not have the same experience (although I did feel a slight twinge at the final roll call). Perhaps it is more effective if you have been in the service. It is entertaining as all get out, though, and Lee Marvin gives a standout performance, consistently surprising me with his take on the character. John Cassavetes is also excellent as Franko, the troublemaker--and the showiest role. It does not surprise me that he was nominated for an Oscar, as the Academy does tend to gravitate toward those in supporting roles.
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