I saw first saw this during it's initial theatrical release and have seen it many times since. A group of prisoners are led by a renegade Major with disciplinary problems of his own to penetrate enemy lines in preparation for D-Day and disrupt the German chain of command by killing a gathering of top Nazi brass at a château. If the prisoners succeed and survive they will have their sentences commuted. If the Major pulls it off he'll save his career. This is adapted from the 1965 best selling novel by E.M. Nathanson and based on a story told to Nathanson by sexplotation film director Russ Meyer. Meyer was a cameraman in the signal corps during World War II mostly assigned to General Patton. In the real dirty dozen story, they were parachute dropped into occupied France on an assassination mission. They never completed their assignment however. Being typical undependable criminals once they hit the ground they hightailed it for Spain for the rest of the war. The real dirty dozen scenario is much more plausible than this far-fetched tale made into a film by director Robert Aldrich. Proliffic writer/director/producer Nunnally Johnson wrote the screenplay. Aldrich had made some good films in the 50's including Kiss Me Deadly and had a string of good films in the 60's leading up The Dirty Dozen including Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, Hush Hush, Sweet Charlotte and Flight of the Pheonix. He dealt with prisoners again in the Longest Yard and would revisit the violence of the Dozen with Ulzani's Raid. A great cast here with film veterans Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Ralph Meeker and Charles Bronson and actors who would become well known including Donald Sutherland, Telly Savalas, George Kennedy, John Cassavetes in his only Academy Award nominated performance (he lost out to Kennedy who won for his performance in Cool Hand Luke)and Jim Brown, who retired from the NFL while filming this for an acting career. Also in the cast are Richard Jaekel, Robert Webber and Trini Lopez. Nominated for four Academy Awards the MGM Sound Department took home it's only win for Best Sound Effects. It's a good action film with a great cast but it's too much like a comic book action story than an actual war drama story. The entire plot is so implausible and unnecessary that if there is a message in this film about war, double standards, senselessness, hypocrisy etc.. it gets lost in the mayhem. If you remember World War II themed comic books from the 60's like Sgt. Rock, Our Fighting Forces or GI Combat, this movie more resembles them than a typical war picture. There are some good lines and dialog and this is well made film but not my favorite war picture. I would give it a 7.5 out of 10.

Many viewers of film, myself include, rate this as one of the most exciting "mission"'' stories of all time. Adapted from an intelligent but Freudian source novel, the plot theme is a subtle one for a movie; it's about convicted men in WWII being given odds for life in the form of a suicide mission that may wipe their slates clean-- or perhaps not... its main theme is self-assertion, set against its opposite, enforced repression. The key to every action men undertake in this very tough and and tough-minded Nunnnally Johnason and Lukas Heller script is: "Is that person dealing with the reality of the world of and his/her own responsibility to act?" From convict Telly Savalas' character, mystical murderer of women who claims a divine calling to punish their sexuality, to Charles Bronson and Jim Brown who reacted to persecutions and are innocent by reason of self-defense, to their leader, the mission's architect, Major Reisman, who wants his plan to go forward his way despite resistance from brass, every man of the outfit is tried against the same standard. Jimenez is climbing a rope and says he can't make the tower; Franco refuses to shave because the officers have hot water and he does not, Posey can't control his temper, control-freak Col. Breed hates any man who does not go by the book; etc. As a production, Robert Aldrich's direction is probably his masterpiece; the acting is far above average, especially Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Donald Sutherland, Clint Walker, Robert Webber, energetic John Cassevetes and Al Mancini; the inspired casting of powerful top-sergeant-level Ernest Borgnine as an obviously far-beyond-his element general works brilliantly. The art direction, special effects, sets, and music (by Frank de Vol) all complement a taut script filled with memorable terse dialogue. Entire sequences such as the selection interviews for the mission team, the building of the camp, a visit to Breed's hq, Breed's invasion of the camp, the training regimen, the "graduation party", Reisman's verbal defense of his men, the war games' challenge, preparing for the mission, the early invasion steps, Maggot's adlib, the attack by Reisman's team, the escape and the hospital climax and denouement--all these sections are made memorable to many admirers of this beautifully made and unusual story. As officers attached to the mission, George Kennedy, Richard Jaene-too-subtle secondary theme of the film is: the wrongness of arbitrary power in anyone's hands, including Nazis, US army officers or their brutal agents (such as Breed's men who beat up Charles Bronson for information). The film is about individuals who when they harm no one else and are effective human beings, men who can always get the job done, always control themselves. who need to be free to operate. Such men the film says are "heroes"--men with an unusual ability to create results on Earth; the sort of men films ought to be made about in a nation that talks individualism and claims to value capability. This is a great adventure, of enduring artistry, occasional brutality and intelligently-developed dialogue. It has logical actions, and spectacular physical performances and This is a strong and well-thought-out adventure film, one of the richest of its genre, to be watched many times.

I have seen a lot of films over the year--meaning, I guess, I need to get a life! However, despite all the hours I have spent on films, I rarely watch a film twice and practically never see a film more than that. It is a tribute to the greatness of this film that I have probably seen it four times over the years and each time I marvel at the film with its wonderful ensemble cast and excitement that just oozes off the screen! There are very, very few war films that are better than this and I almost found myself giving this movie a score of 10. However, since I RARELY give films a "10", I am hesitant to do so here but I mean no disrespect against this nearly perfect film. If you asked me what three features made this film great in particular, I would say the excellent direction, the long but always engaging script and most importantly, Lee Marvin--in his greatest role of his career.

Marvin is placed in charge of a group of 12 demented sociopaths who are given the choice to either join him in a suicide mission or have their full sentences enforced (and in many cases, this means the death penalty). While a few of the 12 are naturally just faces in the film, there are so many wonderful standout performances that give the film so much color and depth. Telly Savalas was given perhaps the most exciting and depraved role in the film and he milked it for all its worth. Charles Bronson and Clint Walker both played strong but decent men who seemed to transcend their circumstances. Jim Brown had a great role that seemed to justify his early retirement from football. Donald Sutherland was a freak--and a very lovable and cool freak at that. But the best role of the 12 was that given to John Cassavetes as the malignant jerk, "Franko".

Apart from these 12 twisted men, Marvin was given TONS of support from some terrific character actors--Ernest Borgnine, George Kennedy, Richard Jaekel, Ralph Meeker, Robert Ryan and Robert Webber. With all these wonderful actors gathered together, it's natural that you'd have an excellent film. What was amazing is that with all this talent, Marvin STILL managed to upstage them all with his tough as nails role as the group's commander! As for the plot, it's so very long and complicated I'd rather not get into it, since it's already listed on IMDb. However, when I say long, this is NOT a complaint. I love long movies provided the script is tight and merits the extreme length and complexity. THE GUNS OF NAVARONE and GONE WITH THE WIND both fall in this category, while THE English PATIENT seems like one of the longest movies ever because it is so dull and needed to be desperately shortened.

The bottom line is that this is an exciting film from start to finish thanks to every aspect of the film working perfectly together. I also appreciated some parts of the script that were risks--injecting humor into such a gritty film as well as the horrific way the film ended. Both aspects of the film worked but could have easily fallen flat with the audience.

A great film and a must-see for any serious fan of cinema.

By the way, many years later, a follow-up to THE DIRTY DOZEN was made for TV. It was totally unnecessary and is very skipable. As the old expression goes, "you can never go back".