The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission

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).

According to an article written many years ago, the original "The Dirty Dozen" novel was actually based on real life story. US military convicts were offered pardon in exchange for similar suicide missions in Nazi occupied France. They agreed, but after the drop they turned their tails and spent the rest of the war in neutral Spain. In real life, use of pardoned convicts as soldiers is rather common phenomena, as experiences in former Yugoslavia indicate. In WWII Red Army and Wehrmacht employed such practice. The operation that actually resembles this movie the most was conducted by Germans. In May of 1944, frustrated with unsuccessful attempts to chase down and destroy the core formations of Yugoslav Partisans, German High Command planned the daring parachute raid on the headquarters of Partisan leader Tito and trained entire battalion of convicts for that very purpose. At the end of the day, Tito, although initially surprised, managed to get away and the convict paratroopers, decimated in a hellatious battle, took only Tito's freshly tailored Field Marshall uniform as their only trophy.

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.

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.

Dirty Dozen got its sequel, what, 18 years later. I don't know whose idea it was that this is an important movie to make. I mean, watching the sequel it looks like there should be more new ideas invented during all those years. But no, it starts almost like the same movie over again. Lee Marvin plays again the major who is assigned to gather a new team of misfit soldiers. Even the dialogue seems similar to the first film (when Marvin is giving instructions to the new guys). I was a bit disappointed that Charles Bronson is not in this one because his character survived the end battle of the first film. My guess is that he was busy making Death Wish 3 at the time (well, I don't blame him for that choice).

So, Lee Marvin is the main guy who holds this movie on his shoulders. It's actually strange his face hasn't aged much even despite the long gap between the movies. The new actors are not bad but their characters are left paper thin. The training part is very short and straightforward. Instead of character drama we have a short but cool training montage, and then it's time for action. For the merit of this film I must say its length is a lot shorter than the first one. That makes the lack of new ideas a bit easier to digest. It's an action film that doesn't try to accomplish anything deeper.

I happened to find this movie as bonus material on the dvd of the first film. That's pretty much how you should take this film - a bonus feature for fans who can't get enough of the first movie. Just go with low expectations.