Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
3/4
Good War Film
Gabe - wrote on 10/19/2015
Lee Marvin is great as always as the leader of a group of convicted men to go on a dangerous and ultimately futile mission to kill a bunch of NAZI leaders. What I find interesting about this film is, you really don't learn anything special about these men. You learn what they did to be thrown in jail and that's about it. But, you don't really need that backstory because that's not the point. But, you would think that this is about that final, climatic battle at the chateau, but it's not really about that either. That final 20 minutes or so is a great set piece, but it doesn't matter. The film is about community building and building relationships between 13 individuals that should have nothing in common. Basically, what basic training is supposed to do in real life. It doesn't …
Rating of
3/4
The Dirty Dozen review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 03/13/2013
"You've seen a general inspecting troops before haven't you? Just walk slow, act dumb and look stupid!" It opens with an execution then 1944 in London, Major John Reisman (Lee Marvin) was assigned top-secret pre-invasion mission. Most interesting characters were Joseph Wladislaw (Charles Bronson) and the Major. The rest felt like fillers though the artists played their parts well. The soundtrack fitted the mood and action though some dull, were suffice. It's humor during the training seemed to lessen the thrilling final act during the invasion. Screenplay was well written with lines: "I never went in for embroidery, just results," "They got to function as a team." - Major Reisman and "This war was *not* started for your private gratification, and you can be damned sure it's not …
Rating of
3/4
"The Dirty Dozen" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 03/25/2012
Lee Marvin stars as a maverick colonel who is "volunteered" for the task of whipping a dozen death row inmates into shape to attack a target behind enemy lines. On more than one occasion, female acquaintances have refused to watch certain films because they are "boy's films", something I find irritatingly dismissive. But where The Dirty Dozen is concerned, it's a case of guilty as charged. If Star Wars is the film that reminds me of being 8 again, this film takes me back to the 12 year old me, playing with my Action Man (GI Joe to you colonials...) Lee Marvin is at his gruff best, and Charles Bronson, John Cassavetes, Jim Brown et al dole out the testosterone soaked heroics to have at the dreaded hun. It's the kind of old fashioned boy's own war film that Aldrich excelled at, and a …
Rating of
3/4
An excellent movie
The M.O.W. - wrote on 08/01/2008
"The Dirty Dozen" is a classic World War 2 movie where Academy Award winner Lee Marvin plays a US Major who is ordered to put together a unit made of imprisoned US soldiers, most whom are on Death Row, and train them for a Top Secret mission to infiltrate a well-guarded château and kill the Nazi officials who are there.
The movie was wonderfully directed by Robert Aldrich and Nunnally Johnson. Both used every angle they could find to film the scenes. None of which seemed to be at odd angles.
The all-star cast is equally incredible. Not one of them put in a poor performance, or uttered a line poorly. Each put in a great performance worthy of an award in my opinion. The only bad part is many of the cast are in roles I would have liked to have seen more of.
One of the best …
