TotalTelly.co.uk
Devoted to Popular, Cult and Retro TV
The Dirty Dozen [DVD] [1967]
![The Dirty Dozen [DVD] [1967]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41DD7RT192L._SL160_.jpg)
RRP: £13.99
Our Price: £2.49 (subject to change)
Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
A model for dozens of action films to follow, this box-office hit from 1967 refined a die-hard formula that has become overly familiar, but it's rarely been handled better than it was in this action-packed World War II thriller. Lee Marvin is perfectly cast as a down-but-not-out army major who is offered a shot at personal and professional redemption. If he can successfully train and discipline a squad of army rejects, misfits, killers, prisoners, and psychopaths into a first-rate unit of specialised soldiers, they'll earn a second chance to make up for their woeful misdeeds. Of course, there's a catch: to obtain their pardons, Marvin's band of badmen must agree to a suicide mission that will parachute them into the danger zone of Nazi-occupied France. It's a hazardous path to glory, but the men have no other choice than to accept and regain their lost honor. What makes The Dirty Dozen special is its phenomenal cast including Charles Bronson, Donald Sutherland, Telly Savalas, George Kennedy, Ernest Borgnine, John Cassavetes, Richard Jaeckel, Jim Brown, Clint Walker, Trini Lopez, Robert Ryan, and others. Cassavetes is the Oscar-nominated standout as one of Marvin's most rebellious yet heroic men, but it's the whole ensemble--combined with the hard-as-nails direction of Robert Aldrich--that makes this such a high-velocity crowd pleaser. The script by Nunnally Johnson and Lukas Heller (from the novel by E.M. Nathanson) is strong enough to support the all-star lineup with ample humour and military grit, so if you're in need of a mainline jolt of testosterone, The Dirty Dozen is the movie for you. --Jeff Shannon
Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
A model for dozens of action films to follow, this box-office hit from 1967 refined a die-hard formula that has become overly familiar, but it's rarely been handled better than it was in this action-packed World War II thriller. Lee Marvin is perfectly cast as a down-but-not-out army major who is offered a shot at personal and professional redemption. If he can successfully train and discipline a squad of army rejects, misfits, killers, prisoners, and psychopaths into a first-rate unit of specialized soldiers, they'll earn a second chance to make up for their woeful misdeeds. Of course, there's a catch: to obtain their pardons, Marvin's band of badmen must agree to a suicide mission that will parachute them into the danger zone of Nazi-occupied France. It's a hazardous path to glory, but the men have no other choice than to accept and regain their lost honor. What makes The Dirty Dozen special is its phenomenal cast including Charles Bronson, Donald Sutherland, Telly Savalas, George Kennedy, Ernest Borgnine, John Cassavetes, Richard Jaeckel, Jim Brown, Clint Walker, Trini Lopez, Robert Ryan, and others. Cassavetes is the Oscar-nominated standout as one of Marvin's most rebellious yet heroic men, but it's the whole ensemble--combined with the hard-as-nails direction of Robert Aldrich--that makes this such a high-velocity crowd pleaser. The script by Nunnally Johnson and Lukas Heller (from the novel by E.M. Nathanson) is strong enough to support the all-star lineup with ample humor and military grit, so if you're in need of a mainline jolt of testosterone, The Dirty Dozen is the movie for you. --Jeff Shannon
Dismal
Review date: 2010-01-13 Rating: 2 out of 10
This popular war film from the 1960s epitomises all that is bad about the standard type Hollywood war film: jingoism, implausible plot, an enemy that is evil/stupid and falls down dead at the first blank, violence for its own sake.
The star-studded cast slogs through the thin and absurd plot (could a bunch of criminals really pull off a daring commando mission in enemy territory?) for all of 143 minutes, although everything that this film 'accomplishes' could really have been achieved in 80 or so.
The 'grand finale' of the film comes when the US squad manage to trap a large number of German officers and their wives/gilrfriends in a cellar and douse them with petrol before dropping hand grenades on them.
I think it is worth reflecting for a moment on what the American reaction would have been if a German or Japanese director had made a similar film which showed his own country's troops treating American soldiers and their womenfolk in the same way...
I really don't know which is sadder: that films like this are made - or that people still enjoy them.
Similar Products
- Kelly's Heroes [1970] [DVD]
- The Dirty Dozen - The Deadly Mission [DVD] [1987]
- The Dirty Dozen - The Fatal Mission [DVD] [1988]
- Where Eagles Dare [1968] [DVD]
- The Guns Of Navarone [DVD] [1961]
Reviews
Dirty Dozen
Review date: 2009-11-16 Rating: 10 out of 10
I read the original book by E M Nathansen and it was a book I read many times, the film I also watched many times, it is excellent, the vehicles are right, the detail is generally good and Lee Marvin is superb in the lead role.
The supporting actors like Charles Bronson and the others all dovetail into their roles beleiveably.
The action scenes are brilliant and the tension kept up when you think that they may not complete even the training and to the end of the film keeps you watching.
A pity some modern Directors don't watch and learn from this masterpiece!
The Dirty Dozen
Review date: 2009-03-25 Rating: 10 out of 10
The Dirty Dozen is an above average war story based around the premiss of using soldiers condemned to death or long terms of imprisonment to take on a suicide mission behind enemy lines with the chance of a reprieve - if they survive. The story begins at the prison where they are offered this second chance and follows them through their training on on to the mission itself. This is not just another shoot 'em up, blood and guts war movie but a well cast and well acted story that does not have to rely gallons of fake blood and bad language to hold our attention. The action scenes are good with excellent special effects and I, for one, thoroughly enjoyed it.
Good Movie
Review date: 2009-03-08 Rating: 8 out of 10
Its a good movie, u dont need to like war movies to enjoy this one. Watch it!
Incredibly over-rated
Review date: 2009-02-16 Rating: 4 out of 10
What this is, is in effect a very long, cast-heavy feature length episode of The A-Team, with no redeeming features whatsoever, and an abundance of pointless violence. There's an average 90 minute movie inside its two and a half hour length.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Ernest Borgnine
Lee Marvin
Telly Savalas
John Cassavetes
Charles Bronson
Creators:
Lee Marvin (Primary Contributor)
Ernest Borgnine (Primary Contributor)
Edward Scaife (Cinematographer)
Michael Luciano (Editor)
Kenneth Hyman (Producer)
Raymond Anzarut (Producer)
E.M. Nathanson (Writer)
Lukas Heller (Writer)
Nunnally Johnson (Writer)
Director(s):
Recording label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
EAN: 7321900650793
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2005-04-18
Number of discs: 1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 143 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1967-06-15
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: French (Original Language)
Language: German (Original Language)