James Coburn in his best role?

Rating: 8/10 (24 October 2013)

I had been aware of this film but it wasn't until recently I purchased it on DVD. Others have noted its similarities in some respects to Stalingrad, but I feel CoI is a superior film. The acting is sharper and we are presented with a range of characters all with different views and attitudes to why they are on the Eastern front, and what they hope to achieve be it glory, sanity or to just survive and get the hell out of there. All of the lead and support actors are very good in their roles, and it is possible this is Coburns best. The villain of the piece here of course is the vain glorious Prussian aristocrat who seeks the Iron Cross for purely personal yet family reasons. He needs to return home as the hero and patriarch and is quite happy to betray the ordinary soldier to obtain his lofty aims. Yet he hates the Nazi's and the 'little corporal and failed painter'. He clearly sees that regardless of how the war ends it will be his class that will eventually rule Germany. The Iron Cross will just be a trophy of his superiority. A good bookend to Stalingrad but IMHO a somewhat more satisfying film.