Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4891 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-04-18
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English, French, German
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 143 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
A model for dozens of action films to follow, this box-office hit from 1967 refined a die-hard formula that has become overly familiar, but it's rarely been handled better than it was in this action-packed World War II thriller. Lee Marvin is perfectly cast as a down-but-not-out army major who is offered a shot at personal and professional redemption. If he can successfully train and discipline a squad of army rejects, misfits, killers, prisoners, and psychopaths into a first-rate unit of specialised soldiers, they'll earn a second chance to make up for their woeful misdeeds. Of course, there's a catch: to obtain their pardons, Marvin's band of badmen must agree to a suicide mission that will parachute them into the danger zone of Nazi-occupied France. It's a hazardous path to glory, but the men have no other choice than to accept and regain their lost honor. What makes The Dirty Dozen special is its phenomenal cast including Charles Bronson, Donald Sutherland, Telly Savalas, George Kennedy, Ernest Borgnine, John Cassavetes, Richard Jaeckel, Jim Brown, Clint Walker, Trini Lopez, Robert Ryan, and others. Cassavetes is the Oscar-nominated standout as one of Marvin's most rebellious yet heroic men, but it's the whole ensemble--combined with the hard-as-nails direction of Robert Aldrich--that makes this such a high-velocity crowd pleaser. The script by Nunnally Johnson and Lukas Heller (from the novel by E.M. Nathanson) is strong enough to support the all-star lineup with ample humour and military grit, so if you're in need of a mainline jolt of testosterone, The Dirty Dozen is the movie for you. --Jeff Shannon

Special Features

• Making of featurette
  
• Trailer

DVD Technical Information:

• Running Time: 143 mins
  
• Region Code: 2
  
• Subtitles: Arabic, Bulgarian, Dutch, English, English for the hearing impaired, French, German, Italian, Italian for the hearing impaired, Romanian, Spanish

Synopsis
An all-star cast energizes Robert Aldrich's classic World War II action drama about a group of 12 American military prisoners assembled by tacticians and ordered to perform a suicide mission: infiltrate a well-guarded chateau and kill the Nazi officials staying there. The incarcerated soldiers, most of whom are facing death sentences for a variety of violent crimes, jump at the chance to redeem themselves. Major Reisman (Lee Marvin), the noncriminal in charge of the group, whips the men into a crack unit, uses them to best the troops of his by-the-book superior officer, Colonel Breed (Robert Ryan), in war games, then leads the steely antiheroes on their perilous assault.
The film is studded with standout performances, including Telly Savalas as a religious psychopath with a febrile animosity toward Germans and John Cassavetes in an Oscar-nominated portrayal as an insubordinate, poison-tongued hothead. Ernest Borgnine, Donald Sutherland, Charles Bronson, and football legend Jim Brown further round out the impressive collection of talent. Aldrich, who by the time of THE DIRTY DOZEN had been fathoming the darker side of life onscreen for more than a decade (KISS ME DEADLY, WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE

Customer Reviews

The Dirty Dozen
I don't know where to start praising what has to be the most exciting action adventure based on WWII. The story of 12 convicts chosen for what is best describes as a suicide mission is played out by one of the strongest cast every to be united on one film. The names Marvin, Bronson and Sutherland to name but three shows instant quality. To show this film doesn't age i am only in my early twenties so this shows quality isnt controlled by the special effects but by storyline and sheer excitement something sadly lacking in most modern films. I have been waiting patiently for this DVD release as in my opinion it is one of the most own titles for any self respecting action fan.

A 60s classic; one of ALDRICH's finest + a great cast
Top Director Robert Aldrich's most commercially successful movie. Wartime action heroics from a motley bunch of hardcore death row convicts, led by a brilliantly cynical LEE MARVIN, a reluctant commanding officer for the gang. They're given a suicidal mission to destroy a key German command post in return for a chance of freedom after the war if they succeed. No brainer film fans!??

In a generally excellent ensemble cast of seasoned character actors (ERNEST BORGNINE, TELLY SAVALAS (KOJAK!!), JOHN CASSAVETES, CHARLES BRONSON et al), DONALD SUTHERLAND is a standout, quite superb in a smaller but crucial role.

Great action set-pieces and inspired, brutally appropriate direction from ALDRICH at his very best make this movie a fondly remembered 60s classic. Unmissable and unbeatable entertainment!

One of the best films ever made
wow

What more can you say, An unforgettable film in the like of 'The magnificent seven' or 'The great escape' (with many of the same outstanding cast members). It combines a strong story with great acting and a spectacular finale. You simply have to watch it, it's a classic.