Fighting the war- The Peckinpah view

Rating: 9/10 (14 January 2009)

Cross of Iron shows us WWII fought at the losers' side.We see a squad of German soldiers fighting on the Eastern Front in 1943.Unteroffizier Steiner leads the Wehrmacht infantry platoon in the Kuban bridgehead.He doesn't get along with the new commander, a Prussian officer called Stransky.His only goal is to get the Iron Cross to maintain the family honor.The legendary Sam Peckinpah is the man behind Cross of Iron (1977).Peckinpah was brave when he decided to make a movie about German soldiers.The movie certainly doesn't sympathize Hitler or the Nazi Party in general.These men here don't belong to the Party and we see some harsh criticism portrayed by Coburn's character.James Coburn is truly amazing in the role.Other actors do superb job as well.Maximilian Schell is Hauptmann Stransky.The aging star James Mason plays Oberst Brandt.David Warner is Hauptmann Kiesel.Klaus Löwitsch is Unterofficier Krüger while Vadim Glowna plays the part of Gefreiter Kern.Slavko Stimac is the Russian boy soldier Michail.Senta Berger plays the part of the beautiful nurse Eva.One of the most detestable character is Lieutenant Triebic, who's played by Roger Fritz.One terrific scene in this movie is when Steiner is in the military hospital and he sees visions.Also the moments before he's sent to hospital are pretty fantastic.The war portrayed here doesn't look beautiful or glorious.It's one big bloodbath for both sides.But it does look good on screen.