On D List of Movie Reviews
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The Dirty Dozen (1967)
Rate:
8
Viewed:
4/05, 8/13, 1/25
8/13:
The Dirty Dozen is a well-known war picture despite the misleading title because there are actually
fourteen altogether for the mission.
Performance-wise, none of the actors stands out. So, it's been the chemistry of the group that makes the film
watchable. Of course, having Lee Marvin on board is a bonus, but it's not his best role anyway. That will
be The Big Red One.
If anything, the editing can be poor at times. There are awkward transitions from one scene to another, and
no explanation is provided for two separate events: the training game and the actual mission. The casting of
Telly Savalas is a mistake because his character is ridiculous and self-serving.
All in all, tighter editing while cutting out the swarthy bald idiot would've made The Dirty Dozen better.
1/25:
The Dirty Dozen remains a war classic.
But the movie is too long. The best part is the mission. That means the training segment has to be much shorter.
Worse is the lack of getting know to the last seven men. In fact, I still don't know their characters' names.
Let's break them down:
Memorable: Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Telly Savalas, and Donald Sutherland.
Uh...Who?: Tom Busby, Ben Carruthers, Stuart Cooper, Trini Lopez, Colin Maitland, Al Mancini,
and Clint Walker.
In other words, when somebody asks you to name all of the Dirty Dozen, don't even try. That being said,
Robert Aldrich should've either gotten famous actors for the last seven or spent more time on developing these
unknowns. As usual, Telly Savalas plays a useless character; what's the point of bringing him along
when it's clear that he's psychotic?
The editing can be bad at times with the parachute scene being the most prominent (it just cuts
away with everybody back on the compound). And what the hell happened to Clint Walker at the château?
By the way, this is the film that Jim Brown was forced to pick between football and acting
when the production ran too long; obviously, he went with the latter and never looked back.
All in all, The Dirty Dozen should be seen, regardless of the negatives.