Review of The Dirty Dozen (1967) by Ross M — 28 Feb 2009
Although not the best war film of the bunch, it is the most macho and kick-assof the lot.
The male heavy, top notch ensemble that includes the greats such as Charles Bronson and John Cassevettes as the convicts and Lee Marvin and Ernist Borgnine as the men instructed to train them. John Cassevettes really deserved his Oscar Nomination for supporting actor, and his character is my favourite of the film.
This film mixes comedy, action and war drama into one epic film successfully and with entertaining results.
However, the film does often lose itself in its own plot, darting all over the place with some very useless scenes. However, when it shines, it shines. Director Robert Aldrich does do a fanatstic directing job yet again, but I do prefer he very different (and very much better) suspense thriller classic Whatever Happened To Baby Jane. An odd contrast from a woman heavy film to a man heavey film such as this.
The penultimate scene has one of the best shootouts I have ever seen in a war film, with the action really packing a punch and delivering on what we have all been waiting for the entire duration of the film.
This may not be the most flawless film of the genre, but it does rank as one of the best.
This review of The Dirty Dozen (1967) was written by Ross M on 28 Feb 2009.
The Dirty Dozen has generally received very positive reviews.
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