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Amazon.co.uk Review
In Cross of Iron Sam Peckinpah weighs in on World War II from the German point of view. The result is as bleak, if not quite as bloody, as one expects from the director of The Wild Bunch, in part because this 1977 film was cut to ribbons by nervous studio executives. The assorted excerpts that remain don't constitute an exhilarating or even an especially thrilling battle epic. The war is grinding to a close, and veterans like James Coburn's Steiner are grimly aware that it's a lost cause. The battlefield is a death trap of sucking mud and barbed wire, and the German generals (viz., the martinet played by James Mason) seem to pose a bigger threat to the life and limbs of Steiner's men than the inexorable enemy. Not even Peckinpah's famous sensuous exuberance when shooting violence is much in evidence; the picture is a depressive, claustrophobically overcast experience. The bloody high (or low) point isn't a shooting; it's a wince-inducing de-penis-tration during oral sex. For a fun time with the men in (Nazi) uniform, try Das Boot instead. --David Chute, Amazon.com
Product Description
United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Mono ), WIDESCREEN (1.78:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Interactive Menu, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: Cross of Iron (1976) proves the extent to which human beings will go in order to destroy themselves. Set in 1943, with the German army facing destruction by the Russians, it focuses on a doomed platoon. And without sentiment, it shows us a set of complex relationships between officers and other ranks in which the instinct for war proves greater that the instinct for survival. Sam Peekinpah is a director who doesn't wrap the comforter of a liberal message round many of his films he made The Wild Bunch an in this battle-piece, photographed as a thunderous map of hell by John Coquillon, Peekinpah is in his element, 'In war, anything goes', is the message to the troops a message relayed in every sour grimace and belligerent gesture by the platoon's problem hero, played by James Coburn, who has a long list of medals and a longer record of insubordination and 'dumb insolence'. The colonel, played by James Mason, recognises his sort and the danger he represents for since he is good at war to satisfy, his enjoyment of it fuels the conflict. Also in the fox-hole is a Prussian officer, played by Maximilian Schell, who needs war to satisfy not so much his bent for destructiveness, but his lust for personal glory. While the enemy are raining down shells, these two are locked in a struggle of personal vindictiveness conduct that would be absurd, if they themselves were not part of a greater absurdity called war. As always with a director who seems hell-bent on having his characters' guts for raw film stock, Peekinpah, using his celebrated technique of slow-motion mayhem, delivers his gory-covered message with brutal effectiveness. If such men are necessary to fight wars, that's one more reason for not having wars.
...Cross of Iron (UK)
...Cross of Iron (UK)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Right from the start, this film grabs you by the lapels and forces you to watch - the titles appear over stills of Hitler Youth errecting a Swastika flag, German soldiers suffering in the Russian winter, partisans being executed... all to the tune of a children's rhyme, interspersed with a military marching tune. An unrelenting artillary bombardment ensues, amidst the mud of Russia, where the Wehrmacht are being forced back. Steiner (Coburn) is the battle-weary veteran corporal, trying to keep himself and his squad of men alive, and at odds with his superior officers, particularly the newly-arrived Prussian aristocrat, Captain Stransky (Schell). The attention to detail will delight afficianados of the war - real T34 tanks, Germans preferring captured Russian weapons rather than their own - and the impending sense of doom as the story approaches it's bloody climax - well, this IS a Peckinpah film, after all!
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Sam Peckinpah's only war movie, and his interpretation of war itself. The body count in his movies were so high he hardly needed the excuse to commence death in a WWII epic. But we're all glad he did, praised by Orson Welles as "Greatest war film I ever saw". Coburn (who plays the part of Corporal Steiner) is a seasoned combat veteran, and is sick of war in the eastern front and of the arrogance of his commanding officer (played by Maximilian Schell) who can't see past his own need to win the coveted Iron Cross. A bittersweet drama portraying the true gritty realism of war along the eastern front (not unlike Das Boot). This is a typical Peckinpah movie: slow motion death sequences of enemies/allies being shot or blown to hell and scenes of sexual violence. Although I thought the ending was a little abrupt - Coburn and Schell taking on the might of the advancing Russian troops just as the movie comes to a close. All-in-all a fantastic war movie not just for Peckinpah fans but all movie lovers alike.
32 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Cross of Iron is still, nearly 30 years later one of the great (anti) war movies. Its 1943 and the Germans are being overrun on the Russian front. Peckingpah's trademark slow motion is used to good effect in the battle scenes. Yes this being Peckinpah the battle scenes are very well done.
The cast give marvellous performances:
Maximilian Schell as Captain Stranszky perhaps steals the acting honours as a cowardly Prussian seeking the Iron Cross.
Coburn pushes him close as the officer hating Steiner.
In a supporting role an ageing James Mason gives a seemingly effortless demonstration of how doing very little can amount to a superb performance.
There are occasional lighter moments, but mostly this film is relentlessly grim. Even if you don't see their deaths, you know that all the characters will die.
Strangly though this is a film I want to watch again (and look forward to watching). This is because the main characters are so well drawn (and acted) and as I said above you don't see them all die.
In a typically perverse move Peckinpah ends the film on a moment of black comedy relating to Stranszky's incompetence; Steiner can't stop laughing. A great film.
The cast give marvellous performances:
Maximilian Schell as Captain Stranszky perhaps steals the acting honours as a cowardly Prussian seeking the Iron Cross.
Coburn pushes him close as the officer hating Steiner.
In a supporting role an ageing James Mason gives a seemingly effortless demonstration of how doing very little can amount to a superb performance.
There are occasional lighter moments, but mostly this film is relentlessly grim. Even if you don't see their deaths, you know that all the characters will die.
Strangly though this is a film I want to watch again (and look forward to watching). This is because the main characters are so well drawn (and acted) and as I said above you don't see them all die.
In a typically perverse move Peckinpah ends the film on a moment of black comedy relating to Stranszky's incompetence; Steiner can't stop laughing. A great film.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A Superb Piece of Cinema
This is a brilliant film that manages to fully capture the realities of combat on the Eastern Front of the Second World War . Read more
Published 1 month ago by Terry J
Cross of Iron, Blu-ray DVD version
The only Blu-ray version of this movie I could find, so I ordered it. This is an excellent movie and has
always been one of my favorites. Read more
always been one of my favorites. Read more
Published 4 months ago by G. Snyder
Cross of Iron
Must see war film, blood guts sex and rock & roll, a SP classic,I enjoyed every second. The Wild Bunch eat your hearts out.
Published 4 months ago by dc_rider
ANOTHER FILM TO WATCH
If you found CROSS OF IRON of interest, take a gander at Douglas Sirk's A TIME TO LOVE AND A TIME TO DIE..... Read more
Published 5 months ago by C. GAYNOR
Great Anti-War Movie
Terrific anti-war movie from Sam Peckinpah. James Coburn and James Mason on fine form trying to salvage some dignity from the harsh realities of life on the Russian Front. Read more
Published 7 months ago by N. Blaney
Region info
Can anyone who owns this Blu-ray tell me if it's region-free, or if it's coded region B? I'm from the States and region B won't work on my player. Thanks.
Published 8 months ago by Alwood
Great looking Blu.
Cross of Iron is one of my favorite Peckinpah films and it's great to see that it's finally available on Blu. The picture and sound quality is good and the extras decent. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Omar Orn Hauksson
War is Peckinpah's survival hell.
Out on the Eastern Front 1943, battered by the war itself, a war they are losing, a platoon of German soldiers must also cope with a new aristocratic commander who deeply covets... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Spike Owen
Another improvement.
I'm not going to review the fim. Sufffice to say it is a brilliant but mostly underrated classic from the tale end of Peckinpah's career. Read more
Published 11 months ago by DJ Rockula
Cross of Iron blu-ray
For any fans of Cross of Iron this blu-ray is a MUST-BUY!!!!
The picture quality is the best it,s ever going to be,a huge jump in quality over the standard dvd,it,s not the... Read more
The picture quality is the best it,s ever going to be,a huge jump in quality over the standard dvd,it,s not the... Read more
Published 11 months ago by mr david cairns
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