The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission (1987)
The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission, was a 1987 made-for-TV sequel to the original Dirty Dozen, and actually somewhat lives up to its predecessor's legacy. Somewhat. Well, a whole lot better than the later "Fatal Mission" which was, well, just plain awful.The plot follows the usual "Dirty Dozen" routine. Major Wright (Telly Savales) picks his dozen, well, thirteen here from the worst-of-the-worst locked away in military prison for various crimes. The idea is to take out a scientific lab where the Germans are working on a new nerve gas to be delivered via long range rocket to Allied targets. They've also got to rescue the scientist prisoners the Nazis are forcing to work on this little project. But its never quite that simple.
As luck would have it, they've got to contend with getting the families of said scientists out as well, which doesn't sit too well with the squad. They're also forced to work with a rather attractive French resistance leader, which causes some, well, problems for the criminal-minded band of anti-heroes.
Long story short, it follows that they pull off the mission (did you really think they wouldn't?) and of course most of them don't make it out. I won't go spoiling the details for you.
What separates this one from its simply unbearable successor "The Fatal Mission" is an actually decent story and script, and some decent performances from some actually decent actors! You've got Ernest Borgnine as the general, and such familiar faces as Randall Cobb (Uncommon Valor and more) as "Swede," the big burly dude, Bo Svenson as the ultimate criminal-type, A pair of Van Patten brothers, Vince Edwards, and returning as the type-cast German officer dude from "Raiders of the Lost Ark" is Wolf Kahler and his jaw!
They manage to pull off in great 80's action movie style what turns out to be a rather enjoyable bit of action-movie fare. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised, after seeing "Fatal Mission" previously. Of course Savales' corny one-liners are painful in their out-of-place delivery, but hey that was 80's formula, man!
The F/X on all fronts manages to do well without going too over the top, albeit in that usual A-Team style of 'shoot everything... a lot' style of fighting. Eh, again, we're dealing with 80's TV formula so you've got to let some of it slide, right?
I can't say I recommend dropping the coin on The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission, but it seems to be making the rounds on late-night cable lately, so keep your Tivo's at the ready.
Technorati Tags: war movie reviews, the dirty dozen, the deadly mission, telly savales, wolf kahler, vince edwards, bo svenson, ernest borgnine, world war ii 2, action
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