Formulaic

Rating: 6/10 (13 November 2010)

Although it was considered to be a pretty ground-breaking movie in its time, today it comes across as over-long, predictable, and formulaic.
The story premises that a bunch of criminals can be trained to commit slaughter behind enemy lines. Quite why such a dangerously rebellious team would be considered more fit for a stealthy mission than specialised outfits is never made clear. And really; the disbelief begins there.
Once selected, they are trained in various techniques. About three-quarters of the movie (I never actually timed it) is dedicated to this whipping-them-into-a-team business. It's far too long and discursive. We don't actually see much of the training, just vignettes. There's also a lengthy war-games episode where they get to prove their worth.
Along the way there are plenty of little gags with humorous twists of military music lending it the flavour almost of a comedy drama. 'Kelly's Heroes' comes to mind.
The cast contains some of Hollywood's top drawer. Lee Marvin, Ernie Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas and many more give decent turns for their money. The script isn't too bad either. Otherwise the mission is just another standard juvenile shoot-em-up. The Nazis are - as usual - arrogant and stupid (you wonder how they managed to conquer Europe). The 'Dirty Dozen' get winnowed down to one. Curiously, one of the stockade MP guards also goes on the mission. Did he volunteer? For a fantasy war-time actioner, it doesn't get close to 'The Guns Of Navarone', 'Where Eagles Dare', or the already mentioned 'Kelly's Heroes'. It's got more in common with 'The Wild Bunch'.
As to the mission itself: Herding a large group of German Army Officers along with their wives & girlfriends into a cellar and incinerating them alive with gasoline would surely amount to a war-crime by any reasonable evaluation. It's outrageous, scarcely any different from what the Nazis did to the Jews. Sadly, it also typifies the inveterate sense of western moral superiority that has dogged its international relations for so many decades. We are in the right so we can do as we like.
If you haven't yet seen this movie then it's well worth a look. But far more tense or humorous, intelligent and believable wartime actioners both fantasy or otherwise are out there, not least the three just mentioned.