On C List of Movie Reviews
(For optimum viewing, adjust the zoom level of your browser to 125%.)
Cross of Iron (1977)
Rate:
6
Viewed:
6/17
6/17:
Sam Peckinpah is finally back in Cross of Iron after directing four straight stinkers with each
being successively worse: The Getaway,
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid,
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, and
The Killer Elite.
Showing nothing in the likes of The Wild Bunch,
Straw Dogs, and Junior Bonner,
these pictures are garbage and possess no movie magic or coherent storytelling qualities. At that point, it
seemed like Sam Peckinpah drank himself to death, failing to see the difference between crap and shit.
Enter Cross of Iron. This one has it all. Yet it's not a great movie. The trouble is that there's no
story, just a weak subplot about the chaos of a WWII battle. But it's not enough to sustain a picture for over
two hours. The poorly conceived ending must have happened because the filmmakers ran out of money.
The acting is decent but not believable enough. Everybody is too American or English to pretend to be Germans.
Plus, they all speak English. James Coburn stinks while James Mason is forgettable and therefore is of no
consequence. When it comes to medals, the former had already starred in
The Blue Max. I don't know how many times Maximilian Schell had played a
Nazi, but it's been a lot in his lifetime.
All in all, Cross of Iron is the last good Sam Peckinpah picture, so enjoy it for the sake of editing.