The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission (1985) (TV)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Director:

Andrew V. McLaglen

Writers:

Lukas Heller (characters)
Nunnally Johnson (characters)

Release Date:

4 February 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Action | War

Tagline:

They're back... and deadlier than ever!

Plot:

Major Reisman is "Volunteered" to lead another mission using convicted army soldiers, sentenced to either death or long prison terms...

Plot Keywords:

Mission | Soldier | Convicted | Prison | Army

Cast

Lee Marvin	...	Maj. John Reisman
Ernest Borgnine	...	Gen. Worden
Ken Wahl	...	Louis Valentine
Larry Wilcox	...	Tommy Wells
Sonny Landham	...	Sam Sixkiller
Richard Jaeckel	...	MP Sgt. Clyde Bowren
Wolf Kahler	...	Gen. Sepp Dietrich
Gavan O'Herlihy	...	Conrad E. Perkins
Ricco Ross	...	Arlen Dregors
Stephen Hattersley	...	Otto Deutsch
Rolf Saxon	...	Robert E. Wright
Jay Benedict	...	Didier Le Clair
Michael John Paliotti	...	Baxley
Paul Herzberg	...	Reynolds
Jeff Harding	...	Sanders

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:16 | UK:PG | Singapore:PG | West Germany:16 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 (video premiere)

Filming Locations:

Nene Valley Railway, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England, UK

Company:

MGM/UA Television

Trivia:

As they're departing for training camp, Maj. Reisman (Lee Marvin) asks MP Sgt. Bowren (Richard Jaeckel) "What do you think?" to which he replies "I think the first chance one of these guys gets, he'll shoot the Major in the back." That's the same exchange the two had in The Dirty Dozen (1967).

Goofs:

Anachronisms: As their plane lands on the German occupied airfield you can clearly see a bright yellow ambulance and other modern vehicles parked in a car park next to the airfield.

Movie Connections:

References The Dirty Dozen (1967)

The Real-Life Story/Events Film Was Based On

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.