Movie of the Day: The Dirty Dozen

Check out Bundler's guide on where to watch.

Why Watch It Now?

There's an argument to be made that the classic action story of a ragtag group of Army rejects coming together for a suicide mission is just a football movie in disguise or at least the greatest reversal of the "football is war" metaphor. Then again, if the idea of the flawed but fantastic super-team sounds familiar, that's probably because Robert Aldrich created the template for pretty much every action/suspense/thriller of the century, from superhero movies like The Avengers to supervillain movies like Suicide Squad (a self conscious ripoff, er, homage) to anything fast and/or furious.

Bonus Trivia, Football Edition: This movie had a significant impact on the game itself by casting Jim Brown. When forced to choose between an acting career and a pro football career, Brown famously went with the former, sacrificing the chance to set records that likely would still hold to this day.

Don't Take Our Word For It?

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-dirty-dozen-1967

https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-dirty-dozen/Film?oid=1058183

https://www.empireonline.com/movies/empire-essay-dirty-dozen/review/

On the Other Hand...

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/dirty-dozen-review-1967-movie-1012621