The Dirty Dozen(1967)

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This was among one of the early WW2 movies I watched as a kid, along with Where Eagles Dare, Guns of Navaronne and Great Escape, and remains a favorite to date. The Dirty Dozen was what you would call a complete guy's movie, bunch of guys on a mission, and there is no female character here at all.

The movie's plot, centers around a plan by the US Army to interrupt the German chain of command, and the target is a rather secluded mansion, where the top ranking Nazi officers come to party with their mistresses. The purpose is to bomb the mansion when they are at a party, however being a completely suicidal mission, they decide to hire a bunch of convicted criminals who are either on death row or facing life imprisonment.

And the man choosen to lead this mission is Maj John Reisman( Lee Marvin) , a rather thankless mission, considering whom he is dealing with.

Doesn’t give me anything. But along with these other results, it gives YOU just about the most twisted, anti-social bunch of psychopathic deformities I have ever run into! And the worst, the most dangerous of the bunch, is Maggott. You’ve got one religious maniac, one malignant dwarf, two near-idiots… and the rest I don’t even wanna think about!

In effect he has to deal with a bunch of scumbags, train them, and then set them on the mission. There is actually only one major action scene in the last 20-30 minutes, what really works is the way Reisman trains the dozen, in his own rough and ready style. The training scene, the internal politics of the army, considering he is hated by most of his colleagues is superbly shot.

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It helps that Lee Marvin is just the kind of guy whom you believe can whack the sense out of the most hardened criminal. Not many can pull off a bad ass action character, the way he does. and being an actual veteran, who fought in the War, he makes it look even more believable.

The 12 characters are some of the most iconic ones ever, and all of them helmed by some great actors.

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Telly Savalas as Maggot a religious fanatic who hates women, as nasty as ever can be.

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John Cassavettes as the rebellious Viktor, who does not get along with anyone, brilliant in his role. He was nominated for this.

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Donald Sutherland as Vernon Pinkley, a crook who is facing charrges of rape and harassment. That scene where he masquerades as a Colonel, and does a troop inspection was just hilarious.

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Charles Bronson as Joseph Wladislaw, a Pole facing imprisonment, one of the relatively saner guys in the group.

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Jim Brown as Robert Jefferson, the lone black guy in the group, who has to deal with the racism.

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Apart from them Reisman also has to deal with a jealous fellow officer Col Everett( Robert Ryan), who wants the mission to fail. He does have support though from Sgt Clyde Bowden and Maj Max Armbuster (George Kennedy) .

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The movie was actually quite violent for it's times, especially the ending scene, and it shows how brutal war can be.

Dirty Dozen has one of the best cast ever Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, John Cassavettes, Robert Ryan, Ernest Borgine, George Kennedy, Donald Sutherland, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas, Jim Brown and each one of them delivers perfectly.

This is one of those movies to be seen on weekend, great mix of fun and action, and some real kick ass moments. Go for it.