The Dirty Dozen

Director Aldrich manages to zero in on the griping and grime, the chaos and cohesiveness of Americans at war, and in so doing, makes The Dirty Dozen a clean hit that packs the highest-echelon example of wit and wallop.

The Dirty Dozen with a fairly sharp script, plenty of excitement and adventure and a good cast still doesn't swim above the flood tide of over done World War II movie themes.

In spite of an intelligent performance from Lee Marvin as the officer, director Robert Aldrich spins it out at such length that by the time the men actually get to France one has lost all interest.

The picture's glorification of these swaggering, vicious criminals as heroes, its constant ridicule of discipline and authority and its depiction of the sadistic zeal with which the party goes about [killing] are grossly distasteful, sometimes revolting.

An abundance of hilarious humor, injected by Mr. Aldrich, the star, Lee Marvin and the cast, is a blessed relief from the strain of gory details and grim aspects of war, fought by a mere handful of American on foreign soil.

The hours fly by, the action is well directed and the laughs are numerous. But relevant connective tissue between the episodes seems to be missing.

There was no shortage of grand-slam WWII action flicks in the 1960s&#59; this is one of the best.

The Dirty Dozen is every bit that an epic war thriller with an all-star cast should be.

There’s action aplenty and male bonding under fire, but with a real dark side: [Lee] Marvin’s final solution just seems nasty, not the way we’re used to seeing American heroes behave on the screen

An exciting war drama of World War II that will make the viewer cheer "the bad guys."