Sunday, March 24, 2013

The Dirty Dozen (1967)

Director: Robert Aldrich

Starring: Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Richard Jaeckel, Geroge Kennedy, Trini Lopez, Ralph Meeker, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland, Clint Walker, Robert Webber

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Train them! Excite them! Arm them!...Then turn them loose on the Nazis!

Plot: In late March 1944 a rebellious US Army Major is "volunteered" to train twelve convicted military criminals for a suicide mission - to parachute to a heavily-guarded Nazi general staff officers' retreat to try and assassinate German officers on leave. To get his unorthodox assignment done the Major must convince Army brass to grant pardons to the men, then try to mold the twelve recidivists into a functioning unit, a task made more daunting by the doubts of a by-the-book General and by the suicidal nature of the mission.


My rating: 10/10

Will I watch it again?  Yup.

#42 on Project: Badass Charles Bronson

BRONSON'S AGE: 46
LEVEL OF BADASSICITY (10 being the highest): 10 (he single-handedly brought WWII to an end...OK, he allowed a few other fellas to tag along.)

I'm willing to bet that if you asked every American adult to comile a list of their top 5 favorite WWII movies are this would be on nearly every single one and the top of the list more than any other movie.  This movie oozes manliness.  Having Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson on screen at the same time is deadly.  Someone's going to get hurt and you can bet it ain't going to be Bronson.  See DEATH HUNT (1981) for more on that.


Do you recall that scene in DD where Bronson is attacked and has his ass handed to him by two huge guys in the bathroom at the paratrooper school?  He should have gotten an Oscar for that scene alone because that could never happen in real life.  Bronson is such a badass that he'd never been beaten up by anyone.  In fact, to prepare for that scene, Bronson beat the snot out of some local punks to keep it fresh in his mind what it looked like.  I think he did a remarkable job.  You'll notice who's left standing at the end of the picture.  'Nuff said.  DD is a great flick and a lot of fun.  It made the template for dozens (ahahahaha) of movies to follow trying to recapture they're success.  With a great ensemble cast and great Nazi killin', you'll be hard-pressed to find a more enjoyable WWII flick that delivers the goods like this one.

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