Review of Cross of Iron (1977) by Martin K — 31 Dec 2010

It really isn't surprising that Peckinpah decided to direct a war film after films like Ride the High Country (1962), The Wild Bunch (1969) and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974). His kickass violent and aggressive style had already been established and it would perfectly work on a WWII film... or at least that is what we would think.

I have mixed feelings about this film. First of all, the direction and image quality/cinematography are totally different from the ones we were used to with his previous violent gems. It looks more like a foreign film. Although I find that attractive, it is brutally contrasted with the opening sequence which consists basically in historical footage and photographs. I really loved the way the film was introduced and certainly it was very promising, but after two hours of film I was sort of dissapointed thanks specifically to the way the initial credits were presented. However, he uses the same techniques and style we know talking about the action it contains, such as frequent slow-motion explosion shots and bloody overkillings.

The plot was very decent and interesting and so was the setting, but the leading actors could've been a bit better. So bottom line is, Sam Peckinpah tried fairly good enough with a different genre and he succeeded overall. Very cool WWII film not to be missed.

84/100.