Movie · 1967 · Action, Adventure, War · 2h 29m · NR · English
Curator score: 7.3/10 (129.2K ratings)
Train them! Excite them! Arm them!...Then turn them loose on the Nazis!
Overview
12 American military prisoners in World War II are ordered to infiltrate a well-guarded enemy château and kill the Nazi officers vacationing there. The soldiers, most of whom are facing death sentences for a variety of violent crimes, agree to the mission and the possible commuting of their sentences.
Ratings
Curator score: 7.3/10
IMDb: 7.7/10
Letterboxd: 3.83/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 82%
Metacritic: 73
TMDB: 7.6/10
Director
Robert Aldrich
Production
Seven Arts Pictures, MKH, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Cast
Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Richard Jaeckel, George Kennedy, Trini López, Ralph Meeker, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland, Clint Walker, Robert Webber, Tom Busby, Ben Carruthers, Stuart Cooper, Robert Phillips, Colin Maitland, Al Mancini
Curator Review
Verdict
A brash, influential WWII commando caper with a great ensemble, rough-edged humor, and a hugely satisfying final assault. It’s long on setup and short on realism, but the swagger, cast chemistry, and anti-authority energy still play well.
Best for
fans of ensemble war movies
viewers who like macho, cynical 60s action
people who enjoy long build-ups to a big payoff
audiences interested in proto-suicide-squad team dynamics
Skip if
you want tight pacing
you need historical accuracy
you dislike old-school war-movie violence and attitudes
you prefer emotionally transformative character arcs
Overview
The Dirty Dozen is one of those studio-era crowd-pleasers that feels both polished and unruly at the same time. It takes a wildly implausible premise and sells it with conviction, charisma, and a parade of hard-faced personalities who seem half at war with the mission and half at war with each other.
Worth noting
The movie’s reputation rests on the ensemble, and for good reason: the cast gives the setup weight, humor, and a sense of danger. The training section can feel overextended, but it’s also where the film establishes its mean streak and its comic rhythm, letting the eventual mission land with real force.
Bottom line
What lingers most is the movie’s attitude. It’s not a noble-war-story picture so much as a dirty, cynical action machine that turns criminals into reluctant heroes without ever pretending they’ve become better people. That bluntness, plus the explosive finale, is why it remains such an easy movie to recommend.
Top Letterboxd reviews
matt lynch (2.5★) · 419 likes
No matter how many times I try, I simply can't forgive Aldrich or his film for the endless 90 minutes of training and setup. There's no reason all that characterization and humor couldn't have been put into the narrative while the guys are actually on the mission. For me a movie like this -- even with such an incredible cast -- thrives on economy more than anything else.
Todd Gaines (4★) · 293 likes
12 soldiers serving time in an army prison during WWII. All, have long sentences, and some are looking at a date with the hangman. What's a dozen dirty convicts doing in an epic war movie? Well, there's an "I do things my own way" low-level officer, played by one of my idols, Lee Marvin, and Uncle Sam has a mission for him. His mission? Train 12 convicts, and lead them on a suicide mission to kill Nazi officers at some… more 12 soldiers serving time in an army prison during WWII. All, have long sentences, and some are looking at a date with the hangman. What's a dozen dirty convicts doing in an epic war movie? Well, there's an "I do things my own way" low-level officer, played by one of my idols, Lee Marvin, and Uncle Sam has a mission for him. His mission? Train 12 convicts, and lead them on a suicide mission to kill Nazi officers at some… more
Filipe Furtado (4★) · 230 likes
One of the glories of the incoherent text. Robert Aldrich got one of the biggest hits of the late 60s starring a bunch of anarchist thugs sneering at authorities by also making them cook nazis. That final raid remains amazing.
Rafael "Mister Movie" Jovine (4.5★) · 215 likes
Action! - The Postwar Hollywood 3: Reworking Aldrich
So apparently I don’t have very much to say based on what I originally wrote in my original review. Other than three years later, we haven’t gotten that David Ayer’s remake of this film; in fact, I'd totally forgotten that was a thing until I checked my first writeup.
In regards to the film, I got to enjoy the humor a bit more this time around. Sutherland, especially, was chopping his comedic… more
Edgar Cochran ✝️🍋 (5★) · 151 likes
Before any group of "basterds" stepped on film territory, Robert Aldrich's quitessential action feature of macho bravura and moral filthiness was the defining picture that asked the real question first: "Who are the real Nazis?" It would take a U.K. production back in the 60s to gather a whole ensemble of incredibly varied psychopathic behaviors and portray the U.S. army as authoritarian, undisciplined, disorganized and xenophobic and make literally everybody blow up in flames of hatred. Predating Tarantino's shocking conclusion,… more Before any group of "basterds" stepped on film territory, Robert Aldrich's quitessential action feature of macho bravura and moral filthiness was the defining picture that asked the real question first: "Who are the real Nazis?" It would take a U.K. production back in the 60s to gather a whole ensemble of incredibly varied psychopathic behaviors and portray the U.S. army as authoritarian, undisciplined, disorganized and xenophobic and make literally everybody blow up in flames of hatred. Predating Tarantino's shocking conclusion,… more