The Dirty Dozen - Dozens of reasons to watch this film

Well, maybe not ‘dozens,’ but here’s a few at least...

1.  It’s a war movie which doesn’t really contain an awful lot of ‘war’ stuff, meaning that fans of the genre will appreciate it as much as those who aren’t into the Second World War
2. The stellar cast.  Okay, so some of the twelve prisoners conscripted into Lee Marvin’s secret task force aren’t that memorable, but there are plenty who are... Charles Bronson and Telly Savalis to name but two.
3. Naturally, a great cast produces great performances.  There’s no room for a ‘weakest link’ here.
4. Everyone roots for the ‘antihero.’ And here we not only have twelve convicted felons to cheer on, but also their leader – the allegedly pure Lee Marvin – is also as prone to ‘rule-breaking’ as his new charges
5. Black humour.  Yes, there may be a war on, but there are a handful of light-hearted moments dotted about here and there that to lighten the tone enough.
6. It’s epic.  The two hours it runs for don’t feel like it.
7. It doesn’t pull any punches.  As I said... there is a war on and you may find yourself grinning one minute before being completely horrified by the level of brutality that transpired during the historical period.
8. One hell of a tense finale – when the mission comes, it’s worth the wait.  You’ll be on the edge of your seat as you cheer all your newfound antiheros on.
Basically, ‘The Dirty Dozen’ is a war film that’s more akin to simply being put in the ‘action’ bracket, rather than classed as a straight ‘war film.’ The mission never actually happened.  This film is total fiction.  But there’s always that feeling at the back of your mind regarding how, although it never transpired, it probably very well nearly did.

You don’t have to be a war film fan to enjoy this, just enjoy a mismatched bunch of rag-tag antiheros, working together (and sometimes against each other!) on a mission to kill Nazis.

9/10 almost as perfect as The Godfather