The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission (1985)

Best movie ever!

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

News has got out that a senior German general is planning to kill Hitler; one would expect the Allies to be pleased but it is feared that the war could drag on for years if Hitler were to be replaced by a competent general. It is known that the general will be on a train in France soon so a mission to assassinate him is planned. As in the original film Major John Reisman is called in and ordered to assemble another team of military criminals facing death or long sentences. They spend a little while training before heading to France where things don't quite go according to plan.'The Dirty Dozen' was a great Boy's Own style war film full of well-known actors and lots of spectacular action… this is not 'The Dirty Dozen'. In many ways it is trying to replicate the success of the original but sadly fails; not enough time is spent on the training/team bonding so it is hard for the viewer to care about this team. The mission itself more far-fetched; it starts with them flying into a German airfield in a Dakota that is painted in German colour and have a shootout with the Germans. When they realise the train has gone they somehow get back on the Dakota and parachute to a site near the train without any explanation of how they got to the plane or how they could successfully jump without parachute training. The ultimate shootout is exciting enough in a televisual way but nowhere near as good as the finale of the original film. On the plus side Lee Marvin is still pretty good as Reisman even though this was made almost twenty years after the original film. Overall I wouldn't call this a must see film but if like me you get the original on DVD that includes this as a bonus feature it is worth watching… although the fact that it is hidden amongst the extras rather than sold as a two-film box says a fair bit.

Nearly 20 years after the blockbuster success of "The Dirty Dozen," Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, and Richard Jaeckel re-teamed for a sequel, "The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission." While Borgnine and Jaeckel retain their dignity and acquit themselves reasonably well, Marvin seems bored and tired throughout; "show me the money" is written all over his face. But the lead is not the only casting problem with this lackluster followup. The original dirty dozen were a motley crew of psychopaths and criminals, embodied by such great character actors as John Cassavetes, Telly Savalas, and Donald Sutherland. The dirty dozen in "Next Mission" are well scrubbed, clean cut young guys, who look as though they were former boy scouts recruited from a male escort service. To suggest these choir boys had committed crimes worthy of hanging or life at hard labor is laughable.Mercifully, "Next Mission" is about an hour shorter than the classic original. The assignment this time is to assassinate a Nazi general, who is intent on killing Hitler. However, the reasoning for saving Der Fuhrer's life is never explained. The mission not only lacks justification, but also seems to lack any logical plan. The team lands at an airport inside Nazi controlled territory, calmly walks from the plane dressed in German uniforms, and boards a waiting bus. One of the team is an African-American, but that only seems to occur to anyone at the last minute, just before they deplane. If that is not howler enough, the team member who has only flown crop dusters suddenly becomes expert at flying a German war plane. Marvin tells the group they will not parachute, because they have not been trained and would be killed; later, the entire group parachutes safely in the dark. Michael Kane is credited with the "writing;" he should have sued to take his name off.Director Andrew V. McLaglen is a competent director of such TV westerns as "Gunsmoke," Have Gun will Travel," and "Rawhide;" occasionally, he turned out a decent movie as well: "Shenandoah," "McLintock," "The Undefeated." However, the script for "Next Mission" defeated McLaglen and his career was over six years later, not long after another misguided sequel, "Return from the River Kwai." "The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission" should be required viewing in film school, The Pitfalls of Making Sequels to Successful Films, 101. "Mission" is unnecessary, howlingly inept at times, and only tarnishes the image of Lee Marvin. Not surprisingly, none of the new dirty dozen became household names afterward; all involved should have passed on this mission and so should viewers.

Part II picks up a few months after the first(despite coming out 18 years later!) which has Lee Marvin returning as Major Reisman(older looking but still game) along with Ernest Borgnine and Richard Jaekel in their original roles. Reisman must once again recruit 12 condemned military prisoners, only this time, the group seems even less trustworthy than the first...Belated TV sequel tries to provide a seamless transition from the first film, and almost succeeds, but plot is uninspired, even silly(stop the assassination of Hitler? Unlikely in late World War II, but OK...) Works as well as it does by the good cast(Lee Marvin is still appealing, as are Borgnine and Jaeckel). Not bad at all, but hardly necessary! Still, there would be two more TV sequels, then a series.(Which I haven't seen).

"OK, let's make a Dirty Dozen sequel". "Right - What happens in this one?""Well, since it's a sequel of a massively successful film, I reckon we're on to a winner so long as we do *exactly* what they did in the first film...."And thus was born this film. Aside from the reprised roles, almost every other character is a vague and pale imitation of their 1967 counterparts. The plot has feeble attempts to be different, such as inclusion of a 13th convict to make a "Baker's Dozen" (but he gets killed in a random act of rebellion - Oh, the drama). Lee Marvin especially is lumbered with pretty much the exact same dialogue from the first film and in fact his line delivery often seems tired and bored - It's as if this ain't the first time he's dragged a bunch of condemned military convicts out for a suicide mission... or the second... or the third... Marvin probably knew this was a complete BS movie, but did his best anyway. So too do Ernie Borgnine and Richard Jaeckel. The three seem like very old friends just going through the motions in an oft-encountered, unwinnable situation (perhaps because they are). I rarely fail to see a film through to the end, but I would have switched this off had it not been for this kinda cool early example of Ricco Ross's work. A consistently solid and dependable actor, he actually gets an interesting role here as a former Policeman (but still playing "Token Black soldier mkII" based on Jim Brown's 1967 Pvt Jefferson). Indeed, about the only other actors who stand any chance of carrying this film are Ricco Ross and Sonny Landham. Sonny shows that quiet inner strength that later becomes legendary as Billy in Predator. Ricco has a cool outward exterior, which belies the complex character beneath, later shining through as Pvt. Frost in Aliens. Notable also for featuring Gavan O'Herlihy, famous as the bearded warrior Airk Thaughbaer in Willow and Captain Leroy in Sharpe's Eagle.