The Dirty Dozen (1967)

World War II suicide mission classic “The Dirty Dozen” is mean, violent, carries enough cruelty and anti-PC credentials to offend everyone from patriotic zealots to liberal pacifists, and lays absolute waste to its stellar tough guy cast. The ass kickers include Lee Marvin, John Cassavetes, Jim Brown, Terry Savalas, Donald Sutherland and Charles Bronson. The puppet masters include Robert Ryan, George Kennedy and Ernest Borgnine. What a cast! This is the kind of film guys drink scotch – straight – to, and stare in awe. From the first scene of a weeping soldier being hanged to the raid-the-castle finale, director Robert Aldrich makes this action flick a subversive 1960s social drama: God takes a beating, Jim Brown smiles as he kills rich whites, all military brass are pompous idiots. We are essentially rooting for killers and scum to walk away free. The violence still plays tough, including a hairy scene where one of the 12 goes Judas bonkers. It seems common place now, but “Dozen” may be the first American film to say if you’re not dirty going into war, it’ll sure as hell grind you down into the muck and mire. Classic. A