A rather dated film

Rating: 4/10 (28 November 2004)

Kelly's Heroes does not really know what type of film it wants to be. Perhaps a war drama? Perhaps a dark comedy? With a simplistic plot, an oddly anachronistic soundtrack and only a cursory effort at historical authenticity, this movie should have been made as a light-hearted comedy. However, the scenes of occasional death and subsequent characters being depressed made the comedic angle rather forced. Add to this the now-dated anti-establishment themes and hippie character and this movie just doesn't have the charm of say, a Dirty Dozen. Perhaps in 1970 this flick was seen as a good movie involving WW2, but since then the bar has been raised numerous times and this movie simply isn't good enough to stand on its humorous elements alone. Perhaps it is now a cult classic, but it probably isn't a very good movie.