Review of Kelly's Heroes (1970) by Dave H — 23 Feb 2013
Saving Private Ryan by way of M*A*S*H* (the anarchic film, not the sentimental TV show). Yeah, its original. Post Omaha-beach squad of disparate head into occupied France in search (not of Matt Damon, but) a bunch of gold bullion to heist.
Premise = great, plot = ok, heist angle = ultimately disappointing. Great location work, but minimal finesse in action scenes - either standard or too repetitive with the explosions. Anti-war satire in sensibility and perfs - but still it loves to show us Nazis getting mowed down by the truck load.
Yeah, its original. Best thing about it is the cast and their chemistry. This was one of Clint's last "for hire" roles, and its one of those (rare, pre-90s) examples of how good it could be to watch his laconic charisma balanced against OTT perfs from other star-quality actors.
Rickles and his one liners are good, but the best scenes feature droll Eastwood getting bounced off by a brilliant-shouty Savalas and a wacked out Sutherland (who himself has some good stuff with Captain Stubing).
"Always with the negative waves Moriarty, ALWAYS with the negative waves." Definitely inspiration for "Three Kings", not to mention Abe Simpson's "Flying Hellfish".
This review of Kelly's Heroes (1970) was written by Dave H on 23 Feb 2013.
Kelly's Heroes has generally received positive reviews.
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