The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission

.Lee Marvin returns as Major Reisman, who is once again charged with training a dozen convicted and condemned felons for a suicide mission behind enemy lines in the latter days of WWII. Ernest Borgnine also returns as the commanding general, as does Richard Jaeckel as the MP sergeant. Among the flavorless 12 are Ken Wahl, Larry Wilcox, Sonny Landham, Ricco Ross, Gavan O'Herlihy, and others who in no way measure up to the original's cast. Wolf Kahler plays the German general that's the target of the mission. He's intent on assassinating Hitler, and the Allies don't want that, as Hitler's many military blunders are hastening the war's end. The script is pedestrian at best, and many chunks of dialogue are repeated verbatim from the first film. I'm glad I saw it, as it was a Lee Marvin picture I had yet to see, but I'm not in any hurry to see it again.

Maj. John Reisman gets another mission, where he has to train convicted army soldiers.This time they have to kill a Nazi general, who plans to assassinate Adolf Hitler.And there's some talk about a Nazi treasure.The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission (1985) is directed by Andrew V. McLaglen.Lee Marvin reprises his role as Maj. Reisman.As does Ernest Borgnine as Gen. Worden.And so does Richard Jaeckel as MP Sgt. Clyde Bowren.Ken Wahl plays Louis Valentine.Larry Wilcox plays Tommy Wells.Sonny Landham is Sam Sixkiller.Ricco Ross is Arlen Dregors.Gavan O'Herlihy plays Conrad E. Perkins.Jay Benedict plays Didier le Clair.Stephen Hattersley is Otto Deutch.Rolf Saxon is Robert E. Wright.Wolf Kahler plays S.S. General Sepp Dietrich.Michael Sheard plays the part of Hitler, as he did in a few other movies.The movie has some tight action scenes.And at one point Dregors has Hitler at his target.That is quite fascinating to watch, when he's pondering should he pull the trigger.The sequel, although not gaining the level of the original, still manages to entertain.In these kind of movies you don't have to ask for more.

This movie had all the warning signs of a horribly cheesy comical re-make. Based upon "The Dirty Dozen," this almost unbearable 90 minutes of film made me almost rethink such masterpieces as Conspiracy Theory, The Blair Witch Project, and Batman and Robin. The movie itself was a mix between the worst Naked Gun humor, and a mildly serious Police Academy 7. Since it was also a "made-for-TV" movie, and since it was also a "made-for-TV" movie comedy, it is among the very cheesiest of the cheesy. So be warned, and watch out for Sonny Landham who played Billy in Predator.Particular attention should be payed to the German scene, which was one of the cheesy-funny scenes in the movie. But as a rule, avoid most movies with "The Next Mission" in the title, or comedies made for TV.

Hopefully this was the Dirty Dozen's last mission, or rather the "Baker's Dozen's" last mission!

Flat and unconvincing follow-up to the original where Major Reisman (Lee Marvin) is ordered to lead another group of convicts into France to take out a German SS general who is planning to eliminate the Fuhrer.

Besides Marvin reprising his role here, Ernest Borgnine and Richard Jaeckel also return "nearly" two decades after the original came out.

It's almost impossible for me to decide which was worse, watching the three cast members (from the first movie) forced to carry the burden on their backs and/or how terrible the story (and the apparent lack of character development and humor if there is any). I bet a college freshman could come up with a far better story that anyone would enjoy.

Stick with the original.

This film is definitely more of a remake of the classic THE DIRTY DOZEN than a sequel. (Although the events here are said to take place in September 1944.) There's a lot of the same dialog as in the original movie and even the same type of characters! There's a Telly Savalas clone, a Jim Brown clone, a Charles Bronson clone, Marvin, Borgnine and Jaeckel reprise their original roles, and all three look about ready to drop dead on the set. At the time of filming, Marvin was about 60, Borgnine almosty 70 and Jaeckel is almost 60. All too old to be in combat operations.) You'll feel as though you're watching the same characters (meaning the 12, not the officers leading them) from the original, except played here by new actors. The mission is even similar: kill a Nazi general, rather than the many of the first movie. This time there is no character development and little training. (It's almost an hour shorter than the original film, too) The men land and trek across France, whining all the way, always about to rebel but turning to Marvin's widsom in the end. Same stuff as before. The climax was decent and I liked the action theme more than the music of the original movie.

I'd watch this only to see how badly a movie can be remade / followed-up when a studio tries to make money. Here they failed miserably. I paid $.50 cents to watch this at a rental store. It's not worth much more if you've seen the original 1967 film.