DIRTY DOZEN - Blu-ray review

There are times when a movie can review itself by title alone. "The Dirty Dozen" is one of those films. How many people honestly do not know about Robert Aldrich's incredible film "The Dirty Dozen"? There are other times when a film's cast is so strong, that the plot can hardly matter. Lee Marvin. Ernest Borgnine. Charles Bronson. Jim Brown. Telly Savalas. Donald Sutherland. This is an absolutely stellar cast and I didn't even mention always funny George Kennedy. The fact is, I don't really need to review "The Dirty Dozen" to push or pull anybody towards watching the film. This isn't "Lucky Number Slevin," a film that was easily one of the best in 2006, but missed by far too many. This isn't "The Marine," a film that can harm an adolescent for life if they are subjected to it. This is "The Dirty Dozen," one of the greatest war movies ever made.

However, there are people out there that have lived sheltered lives and never actually seen "The Dirty Dozen" and may think it has something to do with a large family and their children who have poor personal hygiene habits. "The Dirty Dozen" is the story of an Army Major, John Reisman (Lee Marvin), a hard nosed major that finds himself in trouble with his superiors when he refuses to follow certain army regulations and engage in activities that are to the chagrin of his superior officers. To keep from facing a strong discipline, Reisman is volunteered into a very risky operation that is to occur before the large invasion of Normandy. He is to take twelve convicted felons that are former Army soldiers and train them for this operation and succeed, regardless of cost. To get these twelve soldiers to embark on the mission, Reisman is allowed to dangle reinstatement into the military and amnesty from their crimes.

After being given the assignment from Major General Worden (Ernest Borgnine), Reisman finds a motley crew of misfits who have committed crimes ranging from murder to theft. Joseph T. Wladislaw (Charles Bronson) has the ability to speak the German language. Robert T. Jefferson (Jim Brown) is the lone African American of the group; a problem considering the German's views towards on Anglo-Saxon persons. Victor R. Franko (John Cassavetes) has a serious problem with seniority and with Reisman. Archer J. Maggott (Telly Savalas) is a racist who doesn't much care for Jefferson and doesn't care much for helping his fellow members of the "Dirty Dozen." Vernon L. Pinkley (Donald Sutherland) takes nothing serious and pushes Reisman to the limits of his patience with his antics. These are just some of the misfits that must work together and help Reisman murder as many high ranking German officers at a large French Chateau before the Normandy invasion.

"The Dirty Dozen" is simply a classic film and has a classic cast. Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson were serious badasses in their day and their characters are representative of their personalities. This dirty dozen of soldiers who do not shave and do not bathe succeed purely because of the strength of their cast. Lesser known actors such as Trini Lopez and Richard Jaeckel do not spend as much time on-screen as their more famous co-actors, but they hold their own nicely when they are given screen time. Much of the draw and desire to watch "The Dirty Dozen" is purely for the strength of the famous cast. Some of these actors have passed away and we are no longer entertained by them in new films, but it is these timeless classics like "The Dirty Dozen" that allows to forever enjoy and remember them.

The story itself is very nicely done. The band of misfits do not like one another and do not want to spend much time with one another during the early stages of the film. Through strenuous work and difficult situations, Lee Marvin's character brings them together and the hard laborious training the Dirty Dozen is subjected to is a truer look at basic training than most other military films. The crack teams methods of defeating their competing team during a training exercise is the film's more lighthearted act and allows the audience to relax and enjoy themselves before the film's third and final act. The Dirty Dozen has bonded and share a brotherhood and they enjoy their new skills as elite soldiers. This is not long lived, as the film's climax may not be the most engaging combat sequence in cinematic history, but the film's brutal honesty in systematically eliminating the members of the Dirty Dozen is something you do not routinely see. In most films, the heroes win. In "The Dirty Dozen," the heroes learn the harsh reality of war and that is the fact that people die. When the third act reaches its conclusion, there is no doubt in knowing that the audience has just watched a classic film.

Video:
"The Dirty Dozen" is presented in a finely detailed and great looking 1.85:1 transfer. The VC-1/1080p compressed image brings new life to this forty year old film. Before thinking this is the end-all, best looking catalog title of all time; I must inform you that it is not. The overall look of "The Dirty Dozen" is very good, but it is not without its blemishes. There are certain amounts of film grain and scratches that are a result of the older source materials. Some of the scene transitions are also noticeably soft, but this lengthy two and a half hour film finds the vast majority of its running time looking absolutely fantastic. The film's color was remarkably vivid. I had honestly expected a lot of the film looking washed out and about as exciting as Green Drab. It easily exceeded my expectations and even little elements such as the red and blue armbands of the film's second act were wonderfully done. Contrast is good and black levels are good. There are times when the blacks were not as deep as I would have hoped, but this was not a hindrance to the overall enjoyment of the film. "The Dirty Dozen" won't unseat the amazing "The Searchers," but it is an above average transfer for an older catalog title.

Sound:
The English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is another solid aspect of this Blu-ray transfer. "The Dirty Dozen" is not as aggressive and dynamic as today's war films and extremely mild and tame when compared to the audible assaults heard in "Saving Private Ryan" or "Letters From Iwo Jima," but it is better than expected for a forty year old film. The film's final climax is the audible showcase of "The Dirty Dozen" and the explosions, gunfire and theatrical score are all powerfully done and inhabit not just the three primary speakers, but the rear surrounds and the .1 LFE subwoofer. Though much of the film's running time, the front speakers handle most of the load, but when the familiar musical score populates the soundtrack, it comes alive. The overall sound spectrum is handled valiantly by the remastered soundtrack. Higher range sounds sometimes feel harsh, but the rest of the sound range has no problems what-so-ever. Dialogue is overly clear and the "Dirty Dozen" are never dirty in their vocals. If you aren't expecting a modern soundtrack, then you will certainly not be disappointed by "The Dirty Dozen."

Extras:
Warner Bros. needs to be commended for fitting the lengthy supplements it has onto the dual layered Blu-ray disc. Everything that was included on the previous 2-disc DVD set and the more recent HD-DVD release has been carried over to this Blu-ray title. Warner Bros. has also not stopped at just including standard EPK, Making-Of and lost footage of "The Dirty Dozen." They have pulled an Anchor Bay and provided a complete film as a bonus material. The 1985 television sequel, The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission is provided in its entirety as a "Bonus Movie." Running at ninety seven minutes, the relatively poor sequel finds Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine and Richard Jaeckel returning to the roles they had in the original film. Typically, any film that has both Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin is never a waste of time and I certainly think that sitting down and enjoying this sequel once is worthwhile, but it is certainly not worth a purchase and shall be considered simply an awesome bonus feature.

After the bonus movie, another very nice features comes in the guise of a running audio commentary. The Commentary by Cast Members Jim Brown, Trini Lopez, Stuart Cooper and Colin Maitland, Producer Kenneth Hyman, Original Novelist E.M. Nathanson, Film Historian David J. Schow and Veteran Military Advisor to Movies Capt. Dale Dye is a very busy commentary track that doesn't include any of the big names from the film, but is represented by a lot of those that were part of "The Dirty Dozen." Not everybody featured in this lengthy list of names provided fresh material for the commentary track. Some of those included were from interviews that were included into the commentary track. The cast members had many great stories to share about Lee Marvin and the others that are sadly missing from this commentary track due to death. The more technical guests provide a wealth of information on the film and its production. The only part of the commentary I did not particularly enjoy was the inclusion of Dale Dye, who continually spoke on the inaccuracies of the film. It's a movie, not a documentary. Aside from Dye, this is a very good commentary track.

The features become less lengthy, but still are worth sitting through. A three minute Introduction by Ernest Borgnine is short, but very nicely done by the veteran actor that is still very much alive at near ninety years old. Two Exciting New Documentaries are touted on the Blu-ray packaging. The first is Armed and Deadly: The Making of the Dirty Dozen. This documentary was created for the 2-disc special edition DVD set and runs for roughly a half an hour. A lot of the information provided in this documentary was also included in the commentary track, but with visuals. There was so much information in the commentary track that I did not mind hearing it again. The second documentary runs for three quarters of an hour, titled The Filthy Thirteen: Real Stories from Behind the Lines, this documentary surprised me by detailing a true story that "The Dirty Dozen" is loosely based upon. An army officer, Jack McNice, details his story about leading a group of paratroopers behind enemy lines during the Second World War. This was highly interesting and was another surprising inclusion on the disc. This list has now surpassed the five hour mark in supplemental materials. And there is still more…

A vintage recruitment documentary that was created with the involvement of Lee Marvin is included and titled Marine Corps Combat Leadership Skills. Running for another half hour, this feature adds yet another worthwhile item to the great list of value-added features and finds Lee Marvin hosting a very gung-ho recruitment film for the Marine Corps. The sensibilities of the time when this feature was made are quite different from today and it is hard to not laugh at times during this recruitment video. The Operation Dirty Dozen vignette is another vintage bit and is the shortest feature at just ten minutes in length and is a quick marketing look at the film. Once again, the sensibilities of yesterday are quite different than those today. The remastered soundtrack is listed as a supplemental feature, and the final inclusion to the six hours of bonus materials is the films original Theatrical Trailer. Though the list is not that long, this is one of the absolute best Blu-ray releases when it comes to bonus materials.

Closing Thoughts:
"The Dirty Dozen" is a classic, classic film and has an amazing cast. Sadly, Lee Marvin, Telly Savalas, Charles Bronson, Richard Jaeckel and director Robert Aldrich have all passed on, but "The Dirty Dozen" stands as a testament to their ability to entertain and the impact each had on the entertainment industry. This is not a straightforward and fully factual war film. It cannot hold a candle technically to today's visceral war films. However, "The Dirty Dozen" is captivating, entertaining and exhilarating. At the tender age of forty, this film hasn't lost anything and it is a very nice thing to be able to own this classic film on Blu-ray. The video quality is far from perfect, but it was an impressive effort for a film of this age. The soundtrack was given the Dolby Digital 5.1 treatment, but its age prevents it from fully utilizing the full range available for this modern sound format. Where this Blu-ray release really shines is the six hours of extra bonus materials provided. The film's first Made-For-Television sequel is included, as are three long and informative documentaries. The commentary track doesn't feature any of the big names from the film's production, but is another informative and entertaining entry on this Blu-ray disc. This is easily one of the top ten releases, value wise, on the Blu-ray format and should be a defining example of how to treat a classic catalog title.