Movie · 1970 · Adventure, Comedy, War · 2h 24m · PG · English
Curator score: 5.2/10 (81.7K ratings)
They set out to rob a bank... and damn near won a war instead!
Overview
A misfit group of World War II American soldiers goes AWOL to rob a bank behind German lines.
Ratings
Curator score: 5.2/10
IMDb: 7.6/10
Letterboxd: 3.72/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 79%
Metacritic: 50
TMDB: 7.4/10
Director
Brian G. Hutton
Production
Katzka-Loeb, Avala Film, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Cast
Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland, Don Rickles, Carroll O'Connor, Gavin MacLeod, Hal Buckley, Stuart Margolin, Jeff Morris, Richard Davalos, Perry Lopez, Tom Troupe, Harry Dean Stanton, Dick Balduzzi, Gene Collins, Len Lesser, David Hurst, Fred Pearlman, Michael Clark, George Fargo
Where to watch
TCM
Curator Review
Verdict
A breezy, cynical WWII caper that turns a war movie into a buddy heist with real personality. It’s lighter and looser than the great anti-war classics, but the cast chemistry, comic timing, and genre mashup make it easy to recommend.
Best for
Viewers who like war films with a satirical or anti-establishment edge
Fans of ensemble heist movies and misfit-team dynamics
People who enjoy 1970s studio films with a relaxed, shaggy tone
Viewers who want action and comedy without heavy melodrama
Skip if
You want a serious, historically grounded war drama
You dislike broad humor mixed with wartime violence
You prefer tightly plotted heist films with clean stakes
You want a darker or more emotionally punishing anti-war statement
Overview
Kelly’s Heroes is one of those movies that sounds like a joke on paper and mostly gets away with it. The premise is absurd in the best way: a group of American soldiers goes AWOL behind enemy lines to steal Nazi gold, and the film plays that setup with a grin, a shrug, and just enough danger to keep it moving.
Worth noting
What makes it work is the cast. Clint Eastwood gives the film a cool, dry center, while the supporting players bring the chaos: Telly Savalas as the hard-nosed muscle, Donald Sutherland as the blissed-out wildcard, and Don Rickles as pure comic disruption. Their chemistry carries the movie through its episodic structure and gives the whole thing a loose, hangout quality.
Bottom line
It’s not the sharpest anti-war film of its era, and some viewers may wish it pushed harder into darkness or satire. But as a war-heist hybrid with memorable characters, playful cynicism, and a surprisingly satisfying payoff, it remains an easy watch and a durable crowd-pleaser.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Will Menaker (3.5★) · 540 likes
I love any movie that makes the unspeakable horrors of World War II seem like having fun with the boys.
Matt! (4★) · 297 likes
“Feel-good war movie” is kind of an oxymoron, but I’ll take it.
Clint Eastwood, again acting as the symbol of peak masculinity in cinema, plays a disgraced WWII officer with a chip on his shoulder who leads a rag tag group of American soldiers behind enemy lines after discovering the location of a secret stash of Nazi gold in this buddy adventure that ends up being 70% heist mission, 30% lighthearted comedy.
Along for the ride are Telly Savalas, Don… more
matt lynch (4★) · 210 likes
"We're just soldiers, right? We don't even know what this war's all about. All we do is we fight and we die, and for what?"
this is a terrific caper film; rollicking, hilarious, cynical...war as an act of pure self-interest. nobody seems to care just where all that Nazi gold came from.
David Whitman (4★) · 182 likes
When a lieutenant (Clint Eastwood) finds out about 16 million dollars in Nazi gold, he concocts a scheme to go across enemy lines in WWII France and get it. He enlists a ragtag group of men with names like Oddball (Donald Sutherland), Crapgame (Don Rickles), and Big Joe (Telly Savalas).
This film maintains a steady comic tone throughout, though it’s almost too light hearted. I would have actually preferred the film went a tad darker and made valid observations about… more