The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission (1987)

Fresh and Exciting

A different way of telling a story

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Wow after "The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission (1985)" they managed to scrape out another two more late 80s straight-to-TV sequels. I didn't even know there was a fourth, yet alone a third. No more Lee Marvin, instead we have Telly Savalas barking the orders. Actually amongst that tough impression is a reflectively moralistic manner that shows he's not your typical by the book soldier. He pushes his men, but for that he grows attached to them. Again it follows the chewy formula of its influencer's; during WW2 a group of misfit stock criminals facing the death penalty are hand picked and trained up in England by Savalas' character to go on a virtual suicide mission behind enemy lines in France to destroy nerve gas containers hidden in a Monastery. Some familiar faces (some slumming it) do pop up in this group; Bo Svenson (who gets a memorable introduction), Vince Edwards, Randall 'Tex' Cobb, Vincent Van Patten, James Van Patten and Thom Mathews (who'll horror fans might recognize). Also featuring is Ernest Borgnine and Wolf Kahler as a German Colonel. It's a sturdily brazen little action joint, as the drama thickens and it builds up to a thrilling climax battle where the act of bravery and redemption shines through. There are enough bangs, secret phrases, cheerful marching music, character conflicts and tension to be entertained within its quick moving time frame.

If you're counting, "The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission" is the second made-for-television sequel to the 1967 theatrical original about twelve convicted U.S. Army soldiers who volunteer for a suicidal mission behind enemy lines during World War II. In this sequel, Telly Savalas takes over as the leader, Major Wright, from Lee Marvin who had died,and Ernst Borgnine reprises his original role as General Sam Worden.This time out the dozen have to blow up stashes of Hitler's secret nerve gas that they Huns have hidden in a monastery in France. "Le Mans" director Lee H. Katzin keeps the action moving ahead at a fast pace in the contrived, occasionally exciting script by "Let's Kill Uncle" scenarist Mark Rodgers. Katzin and Rodges maintain the formulaof Major Wright touring an English prison that the Army has established and selecting suitable prisoners scheduled for execution to take with him. They don't pick anybody like Jim Brown, and they shun people of color. Anyway, Vince Edwards plays the sergeant that ramrods the dozen, and Wright puts them through the rigors of training before he lets them enjoy themselves with prostitutes before the mission begins. There is the inevitable scene during training when the men must negotiate a course while live ammo is fired over their heads. Predictably,one of the men cannot take this and catches a bullet when he stands up. Meanwhile, the Germans kill their contact and General Worden warns Wright that things are going to be a little different. The dozen this time is no great shakes, though "Walking Tall, Part 2" actor Bo Svenson makes a particularly nasty rapist. World War II fans of the series will enjoy the firefights, especially when the dozen attack a German patrol boat and shoot it to ribbons. Again, only a handful of the dozen survive as they destroy the nerve gas and rescue the scientists that the Nazis had working for them. Altogether, despite its obviously hokey title, this "Dirty Dozen" mission is pretty tame. They link up with the French Resistance and Wright masquerades as a monk to survey the monastery. Naturally, this sequel lacks the bite of the original. Rather surprisingly, the theme of killing enemy generals and the general mistrust of officers is not played up in this installment.

I highly recommend picking up the two Dirty Dozen double feature DVD sets. The first one includes the classic 1967 film The Dirty Dozen with it's 1985 made for television sequel Dirty Dozen: The Next Mission. There's also a documentary on the making of the original Dirty Dozen and a historical documentary on the real life Filthy Thirteen. The other double feature DVD contains the 1987 made for television sequel Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission and it's 1988 made for television sequel Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission. Fatal and Deadly make an affordable DVD package that is infinitely re-watchable and highly entertaining if you don't take 'em too seriously. There's plenty of humor and action in this double feature. It's a great way to spend a few hours kicking back with a quality beverage. Give the Deadly Mission / Fatal Mission double feature DVD a spin.

Surprisingly good and fairly entertaining thriller as Telly Savalas (who had appeared in the original as one of the twelve convicts not to mention one of the most menacing members of the group) takes over as Wright, the new officer chosen by General Worden (Ernest Borgnine) to recruit and train twelve convicts (Randall "Tex" Cobb, Gary Graham, and Bo Svenson among the bunch that are selected for the operation) to attack and destroy several containers of nerve gas hidden in a French monestary and bail out the six scientists who are developing the gas under the close watch of the German SS.I'll admit that I did like the "Deadly Mission" a lot better than its' predecessor and there's a few reasons (the performances are respectable, the plot twists some of which are slick, and the characters are actually interesting) to back it up. This movie is worth a look.