Cross of Iron

Rating: 9/10 (13 January 2020)

It is 1943 on Taman Peninsula in Russia with the invading German army now in retreat. James Mason (Col Brandt) is the pragmatic regimental commander, David Warner (Cpt Kiesel) his cynical, war-weary adjutant, Max Schell (Cpt Stransky) a naive but by-the-book Prussian blue-blood who's determined to win metallic glory by hook or by crook, and James Coburn (Sgt Steiner) the ultra anti-hero (Elias & Barnes) who holds what his new Captain so desperately wants but lacks wherewithal to win: The Iron Cross.
It's an odd thing to find yourself rooting for the Germans (No apparent Nazis are present, but no surprise there, with the rank & file soldiers in the midst of battle) and laugh at Stransky's incompetence, the Clouseau of the Crimean ("The phone is ringing!!") while death swings its sickle through the bunkers with an eager ease.
Fully out-fitted with the standard Sam Peckinpah blood & guts, but this time strewn with ribbons of sentiment (Co-written by Julius Epstein who shared an Oscar doing the same on Casablanca). You'll cry, then you'll cry again, realizing only the insignia (those who kept them visible) separate most of these soldiers from any other who've endured the hells of War. So, here's to "surviving (4/4) (1.12.20)."