Dirty Dozen: Fatal Mission & Deadly Mission [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

Here is a short explaination for those of you that are on this page going "what the hell are these films?" If your on this page I'm sure you know about the film The Dirty Dozen. That likeable tough-guy WWII film was a box office success back in 1967 but it seems few people today know that it inspired three sequels. Yes the sequels were all roughly made 20 years after and for TV but three sequels did follow. The first sequel "The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission" was released in 1985 with Lee Marvin returning. The film must have brought a good crowd to the TV as two more sequels were soon made: "Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission" and "The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission" both which are featured here in this double feature ("Next Mission" is availabe in the Special 2 Disc Edition of the first Dirty Dozen)

Lee Marvin opting out of these last two entries (perhapes by his death) was replaced by Telly Savalas who reprises his role from the original Dirty Dozen. To be honest I wasn't all that hot with the second Dirty Dozen film "Next Mission". It was alright entertainment for a TV made film but I doubt I will be watching it much. I however was surprised by how much I liked these other two sequels with Telly Savalas. I'm not sure but Savalas, even in his old age, has a screen presence to him that makes these sequels very enjoyable. The plots arn't all that enthrawling or great but Savalas makes these films worth checking out. Savalas in each sequel is surrounded by a cast that many seasoned film enthusiests will recognize such as Bo Svenson (Walkign Tall Parts 2 & 3), Thom Matthews (Return of the Living Dead I & II), Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters 1 & 2), amongst others. I had a great time playing "spot that actor".

For TV made sequels these are pretty entertaining. Sure the plots lack but Savalas and the rest of the cast keeps the films trucking along. The production value on these films are also great considering the hinderence fo being shown on TV. If your fan of the film The Dirty Dozen then I highly recommend picking up it's now rarely seen TV made sequels. Now only if they would release the short lived 80's Dirty Dozen television series to DVD...

When I first ordered this DVD I was expecting a "flipper" (a double sided disc with a film on each side) like most other MGM double features. MGM however was nice enough to have each film on a seperate disc. I like this because it helps prevent against smudges and scratches. Both films are in Full Screen. They were filmed for TV so they were never shot in widescreen. There are no special features. I actually thought I would never see these little seen TV sequels on DVD so I thank MGM for the simple fact of releasing them.

On a side note that has nothing to do with the films, I found it an annoyance that all three sequels have differences in the titles. "The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission" has no "The" in the subtitle. "Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission" has no "The" before Dirty. "The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission" has "The" in both places. You think the person in charge of titling would have found some uniformity between them but oh well...it's just a minor thing :-)

First there was the classic Dirty Dozen. then Lee Marvin agaonm starred as Major John Reismanin for 1985 made-for-TV sequel The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission (which is on the new two disk version of the Dirty Dozen)

1n 1987, Marvin's Maj. John Reisman was replaced by (1967 Dozen cast member) Telly Savalas's Major Wright for two further TV movies which this collection is made of

Savalas's Wright tries to act similar to Marvin's Reisman. It is still twelve convicts sent on a secret mission. In both TV movies on this DVD collection, Ernest Borgnine cameos as General Worden (the role he created for the original Dozen movie)

What annoys me is the LOVE BOAT style casting these movies have. In Deadly Mission, the film has such actors as Randall "tex" Cobb, Vince Edwards (Ben Casey), Bo Svenson (Walking Tall) and the Van Patten Brothers (James & Vincent). In Fatal Mission, the actors are Jeff Conaway (Taxi,Babylon 5), Alex Cord (Airwolf), Erik Estrada (CHiPs), Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters, tv's OZ), Heather Thomas (The Fall Guy) and Boxer Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini.

The other problem with the film, when it comes to guns, battle sounds--Those are three time higher than the dialog.So you have to turn up the sound to hear what they say and turn down the sound for the war scenes

Now other than that, these two TV movies are great work for TV movies. The action is there. The plots is there. It works very well as a set of TV movies brought to DVD.

Bennet Pomerantz, AUDIOWORLD

Although not quite as good as the original Lee Marvin "Dirty Dozen" these two are well worth the price and are a good continuation of the series. Telly was a great replacement for Lee.