#65: THE DIRTY DOZEN (1967)

THRILL SCALE 1-10

4.5

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Never

BEST SEQUENCE

The explosive finale to the assault on the chalet

BEST LINE

"Boy, oh boy, oh boy. Killin' generals could get to be a habit with me"

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

81%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"Amoral on the surface and exuding testosterone, The Dirty Dozen utilizes combat and its staggering cast of likable scoundrels to deliver raucous entertainment."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"During World War II, a rebellious U.S. Army Major is assigned a dozen convicted murderers to train and lead them into a mass assassination mission of German officers."

DIRECTOR

Robert Aldrich

MAIN CAST

Lee Marvin and twelve other guys

THOUGHTS

• This movie's tone fluctuates wildly, and not very successfully in my opinion. The third act, depicting the primary mission undertaken by the Dirty Dozen, is exciting and visceral and brutally violent in a way I didn't expect. The first two acts, in comparison, are much tamer - not very exciting, and downright cutesy at times. The second act, in particular, almost plays like it's trying to be a wacky slobs vs. snobs comedy - war games by way of Animal House, with the rough-and-tumble Dirty Dozen taking down a technically superior squad in a training exercise. If I were just reviewing the third act, I'd probably give it a 7 or 8; the first two acts would be around 1 or 2. So I split the difference and that's how I landed on 4.5
• Perhaps the intention was to give us some time to get to know all of the main characters, but that didn't really happen either. When I reviewed The Magnificent Seven I found that some of the characters were pretty indistinguishable from the others, and it's even more so when we bump that number up to twelve. Lee Marvin makes a big impact as the leader of the group, but when it comes to the titular dozen only about half of them stand out: Charles Bronson and John Cassavetes are what I would consider the two main guys, you've got a very young Donald Sutherland in one of his first noteworthy roles, football player Jim Brown is fine as an actor, and Telly Savalas plays the only member of the group who's legitimately objectionable, the racist and misogynistic, but delightfully named, Archer J. Maggott
• Inexplicably, Ernest Borgnine is second billed; he's barely in this movie. I'm almost positive that this will be the last we see of Mr. Borgnine in these movies, and it's been a rollercoaster. I hated him in The Poseidon Adventure, he was pretty good in The Wild Bunch, and he barely registers in The Dirty Dozen. All along it's been a bit of a funny experience seeing him as these blustery tough guys, since I most associate him with Marty, a delightful little movie from 1955 in which he plays a mild-mannered butcher who just wants to find love. Marty won the Best Picture Oscar for that year, and Ernest Borgnine won Best Actor, and I think his performance in Marty is better than all of these combined
• Huge parallels between this movie and Inglourious Basterds: a rag-tag group whose main priority is to kill a bunch of high-ranking Nazis, which they achieve through infiltration, impersonation and a lot of explosions. The whole Suicide Squad concept also must have been influenced by The Dirty Dozen, what with a bunch of death-row convicts given the option between probable death or certain death; the mission or the noose
• I assumed that the nickname "The Dirty Dozen" would be more metaphorical than literal, a reference to their rough ways or hard demeanours. But no, in the movie it's actually quite literal. The men refuse to wash and shave with cold water while their superiors get to use hot, so they get filthy. A little less intimidating than what I had in mind
• And that's about all I have to say about The Dirty Dozen! If I ever get the urge to watch it again, I'd probably just watch the last 45 minutes and know that I didn't miss much

Up next: We've already seen him act in The Third Man, but this is the only movie on the list directed by Orson Welles: Touch of Evil from 1958

#66: THE MATRIX (1999)

THRILL SCALE 1-10

9

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Yes, multiple times in the years after it came out, but it's been a while. Probably not within the last 15-20 years

BEST SEQUENCE

Lobby shootout

BEST LINE

"This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes." - Morpheus

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

88%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"Thanks to the Wachowskis' imaginative vision, The Matrix is a smartly crafted combination of spectacular action and groundbreaking special effects."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"When a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence."

DIRECTOR(S)

The Wachowskis

MAIN CAST

Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Joe Pantoliano

THOUGHTS

• As a movie that has probably been seen by most of the people reading this, I'll be curious to hear what people think of my 9/10 rating. I wavered a little bit, but if anything I maybe could have gone higher, even flirting with a 10/10 at times
• Part of that could be how old I was when it came out. For anyone who's a little bit younger or a little bit older than I am, The Matrix may have hit differently. I was 12 at the time of its release, so it's a pretty seminal action/sci-fi movie for me
• The action is thrilling and the special effects are fantastic. The Matrix was imitated so much after its release that I feel like its impact may have gotten a little watered down in our collective memories. I think it's important to remember that The Matrix's stunts and special effects weren't just there to look cool, everything's tied into the plot. But damn, the whole movie certainly does look cool. It's got visual style for days, even if some aspects (like the fashion) place it very firmly in 1999
• Also, speaking of things that place it very firmly in 1999, that soundtrack
• Keanu Reeves seems like a genuinely kind and generous person. I love the world's appreciation for him, and I'm happy he continues to work. In the right movie, he's terrific - John Wick and its sequels, for example. All that said, is he bad in this? I honestly haven't made up my mind. He sells the action, which is probably the most important part for this movie, but when it comes to the way he reacts to everything going on around him, I think most of us would have slightly more emotion in our voices ("I know kung fu") and on our faces. But, then again, could the argument be made that he's actually giving the perfect performance for this movie? Everything happening around him is so wild and incredible that perhaps his more muted performance is fine for our viewing experience (I felt similarly about his role in Speed). I'm legitimately open to dissenting opinions on this one, but even if I think his performance is skewing towards bad I think the movie as a whole is so solid that Keanu doesn't affect it negatively
• Laurence Fishburne, on the other hand, no complaints whatsoever. He takes the movie seriously, but with a sly smile that tells you he's enjoying the ride. His stunt work is also impressive, and the dojo fight scene is probably my second choice for best sequence. I've also always loved his "come get me" hand gesture (which Neo also uses later)
• I think Agent Smith is one of the best movie villains ever, largely thanks to Hugo Weaving's performance. He's so unnervingly calm and otherworldly. And I don't know how much of it is a character voice versus Hugo Weaving's natural way of speaking, but Agent Smith's voice is indelible; just the way he says "Mr. Anderson" is one of those movie details that has burrowed itself into my brain ever since the first time I heard it
• I picked the lobby shootout as my favourite sequence of the movie, but everything that happens after that is also awesome. The whole movie is great, but the last 40 minutes really kick it into high gear
• The scenes set in the real world are important for the stakes and plot of the movie, but I did find them less exciting than everything set in the Matrix itself
• In going into this rewatch, I considered watching the sequels too, but I just couldn't get excited about the idea of doing so. I saw Reloaded and Revolutions back when they came out, I think in the theatre, and in my memory they both barely compared to the original. I haven't seen the newest one, Resurrections, at all. Any sequel defenders out there? I'm not against the idea of giving them a look, but I'm also not in any hurry to do so

Up next: Another war movie! The Dirty Dozen, from 1967