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The Dirty Dozen

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The Dirty Dozen (1967)

June. 15,1967
|
7.7
|
NR
| Adventure Action War
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12 American military prisoners in World War II are ordered to infiltrate a well-guarded enemy château and kill the Nazi officers vacationing there. The soldiers, most of whom are facing death sentences for a variety of violent crimes, agree to the mission and the possible commuting of their sentences.

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Micitype
1967/06/15

Pretty Good

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StyleSk8r
1967/06/16

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

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Juana
1967/06/17

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

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Isbel
1967/06/18

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

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writers_reign
1967/06/19

This film stands up remarkably well after half a century and the casting separates the men from the boys in the sense that the real actors like Robert Ryan went on getting work for years afterwards while the flavor-of-the-month school like Telly Savalas plus the out-and-out novelty castings like Trini Lopez enjoyed a mayfly moment and then found their natural level. It was a workable idea and movies with numbers - The Magnificent Seven, Ocean's Eleven - tended to score by a combination of potent names and a decent script. This is no exception and it has another factor going for it i.e. the three stages; 1) Recruitment, 2) Training, 3) the caper and/or mission, all designed to generate interest segueing into suspense. Whilst it can be faulted if one puts ones' mind to it it is also easy to score it eight out of ten for all three stages.

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Claudio Carvalho
1967/06/20

During the World War II, Major Reisman (Lee Marvin) is a tough and efficient military with problems with his superiors. He is assigned by General Worden (Ernest Borgnine) for an almost impossible top secret suicide mission: to kill as much senior German officers as possible in a retreat on the eve of the D-Day. He must train twelve undisciplined convicted soldiers, most of them sentenced to death, to accomplish the mission. He joins the twelve men under the positive leadership of Joseph Wladislaw (Charles Bronson) and the negative leadership of the insubordinate Victor Franko (John Cassavetes) and tries to form a team. He makes General Worden to promise to release them all if they are well succeeded. Meanwhile his enemy Colonel Everett Dasher Breed (Robert Ryan) tries to make his life more difficult but Reisman and his twelve men prove that they are efficient. Will they succeed in their mission? "The Dirty Dozen" is one of the best movies about war, with the perfect combination of action and comedy. Despite the 2h 30 min running time, this film is never boring; indeed it is highly entertaining. Director Robert Aldrich makes another masterpiece and the performances of the magnificent cast are top-notch. The conclusion is quite moralist and predictable with most of the soldiers dying but it is part of the American culture in the 60's, since it would be unjustified killers convicted to death by hanging be proclaimed national heroes and stay alive. My vote is ten.Title (Brazil): "Os Doze Condenados" ("The Twelve Convicted")

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atlasmb
1967/06/21

There have been plenty of films about small groups of soldiers pitted against superior forces or given special training to achieve a seemingly impossible task. And many of those films involved ragtag misfits given a chance to avoid far worse ends than death in battle.But "The Dirty Dozen" is notable for its less biased portrayal of Americans at war. Unlike the war films produced during WWII, "The Dirty Dozen" paints both sides of the conflict with the brush of realism. We see American soldiers commit crimes and act out of malice.Another notable aspect of the film is that one of the dozen was portrayed by Jim Brown, active NFL running back. As an Ohio native and a fan of Brown (and the Cleveland Browns), it was novel to see the athlete--certainly one of the best athletes of all time and the best running back ever by most accounts--on the big screen.The story, which portrays the hellish nature of war, including the slaughter of noncombatants, still has a humorous side. The dozen, who are recruited for a mission behind the German lines, have no respect for authority or discipline. Their recruiter (Lee Marvin) uses novel ways to gain their respect and to convince them that he values them as men and soldiers. On one occasion, he imports prostitutes into the training camp for their entertainment. And the men display cleverness and outside-the-box thinking (something most soldiers have drilled out of them) to prove their mettle and earn the chance to attempt the mission.As in detailed bank heists, Marvin trains his men thoroughly and tests them repeatedly. But things never go exactly as planned. During the mission, they have to be creative.In an odd way, this film probably appeals to those who like films of wartime and those who possess more anti-war sentiments. The all-star cast is largely responsible, though the story is certainly engaging.

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TankGuy
1967/06/22

In the months leading up to the allied invasion of Europe, the U.S army gives Major Reisman a top secret assignment. He must transform twelve condemned men into a crack commando unit for a clandestine mission behind enemy lines. The tough Major is able to match the rebelliousness of the convicts and over time they come to respect him as their superior officer. After completing vigorous training, the Major will lead the "dirty dozen" in a daring attack on a French château which is being used as a German base. They must kill as many Nazi officers as possible so the third Reich will be plunged into chaos on the eve of the D-day landings. However, Reisman is at odds with his superiors, General Worden and Colonel Breed, a factor that threatens to place the mission in jeopardy...Robert Aldrich does it again with this spectacular action epic. A real classic with a somewhat contemporary feel, The Dirty Dozen is everything today's actioners should be. As noted by another reviewer it is very comic book-esque, a statement echoed by myself. It has fine characters, each embodied by masterful acting talent and the narrative itself comprises of several engaging scenarios which build to a huge action sequence. Granite edged Lee Marvin excels in the lead as the cynical Major Reisman. This character has more in common with the rough and ready dozen than he does with the clean cut bureaucrats who assign him to the mission. Whilst not half as critical of the military as Aldrich's previous war movie Attack!, the aforementioned plot device is cleverly exploited so as to take subtle shots at the establishment. The Dirty Dozen also contains a restrained anti-war message, which may or may not go over the head of you as the viewer. Anyway as I was saying about performances, Ernest Borgnine also acquitted himself well as General Worden, as did Robert Ryan as Colonel Breed. A group of better actors couldn't have been selected to make up the dozen. We have the brilliant John Cassavetes, the always reliable Charles Bronson and everybody's favourite Greek, Telly Savalas. Jim Brown brings his energetic skill as a professional footballer to the role of Jefferson and George Kennedy and Richard Jaeckel were equally impressive as regular soldiers. There is a fine chemistry between the characters and the script contains some great and indeed very quotable dialogue. Apart from the climax, the movie has two highlights, the inspection of Colonel Breed's troops and the dozen proving their worth by capturing Colonel Breed and his staff during a war games exercise.The explosive assault on the château is preceded by a gripping infiltration sequence which adds a tense air to the final half hour of the film. Epic in style, the climatic battle is just as taut as it is exhilarating. The entire sequence is constructed in a truly professional manor which removes the corniness present in the action scenes of so many other war movies. Aldrich gets plenty of mileage from the thunderous special effects, the château seems to be built to scale which makes for chilling realism when it is blown up. The machine guns discharge their bullets at such an extreme rate and there are some fantastic stunts too! Blazing a new trail in it's genre, The Dirty Dozen redefines the war movie whilst alluding to the angst of 60s America. It would also be responsible for the birth of an amazing slice of cinema, the combat flick. 10/10

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