Solid yet rough around the edges war epic.

Rating: 8/10 (6 August 2003)

Solid yet rough around the edges war epic (the only war movie that Sam Peckinpah made) that closely examins a soldier's ability to deal with life, death, and other issues while fighting on the front lines in any war.
In the movie, a bitter and war weary German staff sergeant, Rolf Steiner (the late James Coburn) is forced to deal with another dilemma besides trying to keep the moral of his recon unit up instead of down on the Eastern Front. The dilemma being is his new superior officer, Captain Stransky (Maxmillian Schell), who is a Prussian and is determined to get what Steiner already has - The Iron Cross (the highest military award that a German soldier can earn for those who don't know) at any cost.
The film is marvelous although it has some areas where it's weak yet the harsh battle scenes depicted here would give another WWII movie a run for its' money. Coburn and Schell are good here and so are the supporting performances turned in by James Mason and David Warner who both portray high-ranking German officers. Plus, the camera work of John Coquillion and Ernest Gold's musical score does make the movie much more effective.