The Dirty Dozen Movie Review

The Dirty Dozen (1967)

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Written by: Nunnally Johnson and Lukas Heller (screenplay), E.M. Nathanson (novel)
Directed by: Robert Aldrich
Starring: Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Donald Sutherland
Rated: NR (PG-13)
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Plot
During World War II, a rebellious U.S. Army Major is assigned a dozen convicted murderers to train and lead them into a mass assassination mission of German officers.

Verdict
It's an early example of a group of rogues on a suicide mission. While it's slower than current movies, that character building pays off at the conclusion. This movie isn't concerned about saving characters for sequels. The suicide mission is just as dangerous as described, and the mission portion of the movie is riveting.
Watch it.

Review
It's easy to see how this movie influenced cinema. DC's Suicide Squad is a recent and inferior example. Making the pace of this movie quicker robs it of the character development that makes it meaningful.

The "Dirty Dozen."

It's a great premise. A bunch of prisoners are promised a commuted sentence for a World War 2 suicide mission. This group are complete underdogs and dismissed entirely for obvious reasons. Their commander, Reisman, pulls them together and argues on their behalf. He establishes his dominance early by easily defending himself when a prisoner attacks. Everything Reisman does is calculated. He's not a model soldier himself, stuck with this command because those in charge don't want to put him anywhere else.

Lee Marvin plays Major Reisman.

Part of what this movie does is humanize prisoners that have been dismissed by society. Not all of these prisoners are good people, but Reisman realizes it's important to treat them as people.

Ernest Borginine plays General Worden.

This group excels because they don't play by the rules. A war game training exercise sees them completing an unlikely task. Underdog movies are popular because you want to root for the unlikely. Making the underdogs criminals, makes it more difficult to root for them. The movie has to humanize them first, but it acknowledges that some men can't be humanized.

All of this is runway for the actual mission. The mission is as advertised: suicide. It's thrilling as they achieve objectives and overcome obstacles.