The Dirty Dozen (1967)

 Do you know the difference between a good movie and a great movie?

A good movie is one that makes you feel what the characters are going through when you watch it and leaves you with a sense that your time has not been in vain.

A great movie makes you feel what the characters are going through even if the movie is 43 years old.

The Dirty Dozen is a great movie.

I'm not usually one to watch Army movies and especially not war movies. I figure if I had to live through a real one I shouldn't have to waste precious moments of my life watching a fake one on TV. But something about this movie grabbed me right from the beginning. Nothing like a hanging to really make you pay attention. Maybe it was the jaded, slightly disgusted look on Lee Marvin's face. It's the look that says he'd seen far too much for far too long. Yet he persists. He latches on to the new assignment and gives it every ounce of enthusiasm, even though he is expected on all sides to fail miserably. After all, who would think that a bunch of lifers could put aside their inherent selfishness and come together as a team?

The men themselves are shrouded in mystery. We are told very little about their sentencing, or background, only the bits that move the story along. Wadislaw speaks German, Franco is a malcontent, Maggot is appropriately named. You don't need a complicated exposition for these guys because the story isn't about them as individuals. They are the Dirty Dozen. Men whose previous circumstances have caused their lives to be forfeit. Some of them unfairly, like Posey who killed a man with one punch of a sledgehammer-sized fist, and at least one of them who probably deserved much more than a simple hanging: Maggot.

Seriously, Telly Savalas was about the creepiest mo'fo I have seen in a while. He's just so believable as a giggling rapist doing "the Lord's vengeance." The giggling is what really sets it over the edge. Everything else would be pretty manageable if it weren't for the maniacal cackle that makes your skin crawl.

I'm going to stop dwelling on that before my eye starts twitching.

Anyway, the movie stands up as a classic and if you haven't seen it, you should. No discussion. But do yourselves a favor, and don't watch Telly Savalas in the dark.