Enzo Castellari's cheesy, DIRTY DOZEN ripoff has finally been released on DVD. I bought the 3-disc version.
France 1944: A group of courtmatrialed American soldiers on their way to the firing squad escape and head for Switzerland. However, before they reach their destination they end up volunteering for a mission to hijack a train carrying a V2 warhead before it falls into the hands of the Nazis.
Bo Svenson and Fred Williamson lead the rag-tag group (which includes many Italian actors whose voices are dubbed). There is plenty of shooting and explosions, and slow-motion scenes that rip off Sam Peckinpah. Not a good movie, but definitely entertaining and will stand up well to repeat viewings. Some things to watch for:
* One guy who is blown up by a grenade is obviously being hoisted into the air on a cable.
* Many of the soldiers have hairstyles and big, bushy moustaches that certainly would not have been regulation for the U.S army in 1944 (and look much more like late 1970s styles that 1940s styles).
* Some of the buildings and vehicles are very obviously miniatures (especially at the end).
There is an interview with Quentin Tarantino (who is remaking this movie and IMDB says Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio are rumored to be in it) and Enzo Castellari on the DVD. Tarantino mentions that this movie was released on videotape under alternate titles such as DEADLY MISSION and G.I. BRO (making it look like a blaxploitation movie).
The tag line is: "Whatever the Dirty Dozen did, they do it dirtier."
