A baker's dozen plus one

Rating: 9/10 (6 November 2012)

This is one those "fantasy" films that piques the imagination as you contemplate who'll survive, who'll get punted and who'll rise like the phoenix from the flames. Will it be John Cassavetes, the smart-mouthed rebel without a cause, Charles Bronson on death row for an apparently justifiable mutiny on his commanding officer, dim-witted Donald Sutherland, misogynistic religious zealot Telly Savalas, or quiet achievers Clint Walker and Jim Brown.
Lee Marvin cements his star status following the success of "Cat Ballou" (1965) with his well-measured portrayal of the only man who can turn a rag-tag bunch of thugs and no-hopers into an efficient, special-forces outfit charged with one of the most daring, and deadly, undercover missions (fictitious) of WWII. In spite of their pasts (each is on death row or serving life imprisonment for various crimes-in-service), you want them to succeed.
Ernest Borgnine, Richard Jaeckel, Robert Ryan, George Kennedy, Robert Webber and Ralph Meeker occupy the key supporting roles in a glossy epic that spawned a sequel (albeit some twenty years later), and a short-lived series. While it occasionally sags, the momentum is generally pretty well handled by veteran director Aldrich, as he tells the story of twelve degenerates who attempt to make good on their second chance, and for some, the courage and valor to earn hero status.
Humour, drama, suspense and all-important action combine to produce a highly entertaining romp that has become a TV staple, light on the rhetoric and ideal for weekend afternoon viewing.