Mr. Peckinpah's least interesting, least personal film in years, a hysterically elaborate, made-in-Yugoslavia war spectacle, the work of international financiers and a multinational cast.
Cross of Iron
On the Eastern front in 1943, the German soldiers no longer had any ideals. They were not fighting for the Party—but for their lives!
1977 · 2h 12m · R
Action, Drama, History, War
Directed by
Sam Peckinpah
Overview
It is 1943, and the German army—ravaged and demoralised—is hastily retreating from the Russian front. In the midst of the madness, conflict brews between the aristocratic yet ultimately pusillanimous Captain Stransky and the courageous Corporal Steiner. Stransky is the only man who believes that the Third Reich is still vastly superior to the Russian army. However, within his pompous persona lies a quivering coward who longs for the Iron Cross so that he can return to Berlin a hero. Steiner, on the other hand is cynical, defiantly non-conformist and more concerned with the safety of his own men rather than the horde of military decorations offered to him by his superiors.
Director and cast
- Sam Peckinpah Director
- James Coburn as Unteroffizier / Feldwebel Rolf Steiner
- Maximilian Schell as Hauptmann Stransky
- James Mason as Oberst Brandt
- David Warner as Hauptmann Kiesel
- Klaus Löwitsch as Unteroffizier Krüger
- Senta Berger as Eva
- Vadim Glowna as Pvt. Kem
- Dieter Schidor as Pvt. Anselm
- Fred Stillkrauth as Cpl. Schnurrbart
- Roger Fritz as Lt. Treibig
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
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