The Dirty Dozen

May 30, 2006

Rated: NR Runtime: 166 min Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

The Dirty Dozen is pretty much the perfect movie. There’s war, fights, shooting, honor, humor, prostitutes, defiance, heroics, revenge, explosions, stabbings, and much more. There’s no real nudity but I’ll give it a pass on that considering how good everything else is. This one would be a classic even if it wasn’t 39 years old.

The Dirty Dozen Lee Marvin is an Army Major who is rather outspoken and likes to do things his own way and as a result he’s made a few enemies. It’s starting to look like his career is over when he’s given a mission right up his alley. His task is to take a group of twelve prisoners who are either on death row or have long term sentences, train them in special forces type skills, then take them behind enemy lines to knock out a heavily defended Nazi retreat.

This may sound like a formula action movie, and it is… but this is the movie that MADE the formula. It’s all here, from the “strong yet gentle” inmate, to the total nut job. Watching this group transform from a bunch of criminals into a tight knit team is a pleasure due to the amazing cast. How’s this list sounds for you: Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, George Kennedy, Charles Bronson, Trini Lopez, Jim Brown, Clint Walker, Telly Savalas, John Cassavetes and Donald Sutherland.

My only complaint with the movie has to do with the hookers. Some of those ladies looked like grandmothers which was quite disturbing. I know there was a war on and all, but damn you’d have to be hard up to mess around with some of these ladies!

I’m embarrassed to say that this was the first time I’d seen The Dirty Dozen all the way through. Previously I’d caught bits and pieces of it on TBS but never bothered to watch it all due to the commercials and edits. If you haven’t seen this one before you really should take the time to watch it. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

Posted by John | Filed Under 5 Stars, Action, DVD, Donald Sutherland, Ernest Borgnine, Jim Brown, Lee Marvin, NR, Telly Savalas