Cross of Iron (1977) [VHS]

Cross of Iron (1977) [VHS]
by Sam Peckinpah

Cross of Iron (1977) [VHS]

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Product details

Actor: David Warner, James Coburn, James Mason, Klaus L?witsch, Maximilian Schell
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog; French (Original Language); German (Original Language); Russian (Original Language)
Format: Color, NTSC, Original recording reissued
Running Time: 129 minutes
Release Date: 1998-10-20
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Publisher: Henstooth Video
Studio: Henstooth Video

VHS Movie Reviews of Cross of Iron (1977) [VHS]

Movie Review: One of the Very Best Ever Made
Summary: 5 Stars

CROSS OF IRON is one of the four or five best WW II movies ever made. I have studied WW II for over 50 years and, having lived in Germany on two occasions, once as an army officer, became friends with many of the German veterans who shared some of their stories with me. I first saw Cross of Iron in Heidelberg, Germany, sitting next to a friend of mine who served in Russia in the Second Panzer Division as an enlisted infantryman. When I asked him how like the real war in Russia was compared to the movie, he said it was much like it: Long periods of boredom and moments of utter terror. The cast for the movie was inspired. James Coburn, Maximillian Schell and James Mason - and a great supporting cast including a cameo with Senta Berger. It couldn't get any better. It couldn't get any more authentic.

The movie was technically absolutely flawless and its message delivery was perfect without the PC bilge that modern Hollywood layers on its contemporary work. (How I miss Peckinpah.)

If you want to just watch real master actors in a great action WW II movie this is it, but it bears watching over and over again for the richness of its characters and the snapshot of the times. Oh yes, the other movies in this class: Downfall, Stalingrad, Saving Private Ryan, Das Boot.

Movie Review: CROSS OF IRON"
Summary: 5 Stars

Easily one of the best or the best produced film so far about "the forgotten war" or the eastern front during World War II, between Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia. A particularly bloody war in which both victors and loosers paid a high price in lives for this struggle. James Coburn is brilliant as Corporal (then Sargent) Rolf Steiner, who's convinced the war is lost for Germany, however he must keep his platoon alive or save as many as he can from his combat worn out men. The Russians are closing in and even though Steiner's commando and infiltration tactics are clever and effective, they're not enough to contain thousands of russian enemies coming at them. Upon capturing a young russian prisoner after a destruction of an enemy artillery nest, Steiner says to his young prisoner describing both nazism and communism: "Neither extreme works nor will ever!" War has made Steiner cynical and he absolutely hates his uniform as well as Hitler, his ideology and that of his Russian enemies.
This film is a realistic view of how grinding, bloody and cruel Russian front was. Also James Mason and Maximilian Schell portray convincing support roles.
I highly recommend this rare film about a rare and not often explored World War II subject or war theatre.

Movie Review: 'Where the Iron Crosses Grow'- A Great World War II film
Summary: 5 Stars

This film is really Sam Peckinpah's last truly great work. I like his movies because films with guts aren't made a lot in Hollywood these days. His best films could be brutally honest and gut wrenching. I like this film because I like Peckinpah as a director and have studied for many years the Russian front and like watching World War II films. And the first time I watched 'Cross of Iron' I was kinda blown away. Are there flaws? Yes. But the film really captures a bit of the essence that was the Eastern front. The opening credits with footage and a children song playing in the background is great. The footage of Hitler, the Eastern Front, the cheering crowds is pretty overwhelming. One of my favorite opening credit sequences. The remarkable thing was that 'Cross of Iron' was accomplished with a budget of around 6 million dollars. In comparison from the same year, 'A Bridge Too Far', had a budget of 26 million dollars. 'Cross of Iron' truly has very good battle scenes including a very gripping sequence of a attack by Soviet T-34 tanks that is one of the highlights of the picture. Also, I love the detail of the scene with a water cooled machine gun. Really excellent military detail.

The film also has a scene that shows how death was so casual on the Eastern front where millions died. A dead German soldier has been ground into the road by trucks and other vehicles running over him and no one cares. This is a very strong but quick scene in the movie

James Coburn is very strong as Steiner and pretty much anchors the picture. Schell, Mason, and Warner are very good also. The uniforms and the equipment are pretty good representations and as mentioned before the scene where Steiner and his men try to hold off the T-34s seems to be a precursor to similar scenes in 'Saving Private Ryan.'

The Special Edition DVD while expensive is at least in the near proper aspect ratio and enhanced for widescreen TVs. It is a nice improvement over the previous DVD. The picture is good but the sound could be better. There is a informative commentary track by Stephen Prince who also did the commentary track for Peckinpah's 'Straw Dogs'. The commentary track is quite good and manages to cover the real World War II history behind the film, differences with the novel, and the actual making of the film quite well. It is really worth a listen. The only other extras are viewable lobby cards and a hyperbolic trailer.

Fans should pick up the novel too by Willi Heinrich. It is interesting to compare the two and see how different they are.

One of my favorites films from one of my favorite directors! Highly recommended!

Movie Review: "Aaaayaaaaahhhhhh... the phone is ringing!!!"
Summary: 2 Stars

Another Peckinpah MESS!

First off, to all you idiots that took the time to write 5 star reviews, this is the most intelligent and thoughtful review by the entire lot of you blind Peckinpah sheep.

"this movie is very good, i saw him many times. and i still enjoyed from him. this movie speak about the hard battle in russia in world war two. thats thats reflact that the german fight to survive not for hittler or for the nazis. this movie his very hard to see. you see the terebale of the war."

Yes, you do see terebale, lots of terebale! haw haw haw

One of the worst war movies ever made, from the kissing scene, to the acid flashback in the hospital, to the salad fight, to the German dude getting his private parts bitten off.....the absolute stupidest and one of the bottom worst of all WWII flicks.

Peckinpah....why do you people worship this guy so much? His films are terrible, and this one is no different with hundreds/thousands of scene transitions this movie is totally unwatchable. For example, in one scene Coburn and his crew are setting charges on the tracks of a Russian tank. Charges set, tank blown to hell....the whole thing takes about 4 seconds...ridiculous. There is action in this movie worth watching, but the problem is you never get to see it.

Those of you with a brain that watch this movie will hate it, although watching this flick may permanently invalidate your movie IQ. It took me 30 years to get around to it, my brain feels terebale already. 2 rounds, and only for making me laugh.

Movie Review: it's good movie of war.
Summary: 5 Stars

This movie is very famous war movie,but now it is not forsale in japan.I'm happy to watching "Cross of Iron".and this DVD's quality of a picture and sounds is good too.

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Summary of Cross of Iron (1977) [VHS]

Sam Peckinpah weighs in on World War II--and from the German point of view. The result is as bleak, if not quite as bloody, as one expects, in part because the 1977 film was cut to ribbons by nervous studio executives. The assorted excerpts that remain don't constitute an exhilarating or even an especially thrilling battle epic. The war is grinding to a close, and veterans like James Coburn's Steiner are grimly aware that it's a lost cause. The battlefield is a death trap of sucking mud and barbed wire, and the German generals (viz., the martinet played by James Mason) seem to pose a bigger threat to the life and limbs of Steiner's men than the inexorable enemy. Not even Peckinpah's famous sensuous exuberance when shooting violence is much in evidence; the picture is a depressive, claustrophobically overcast experience. The bloody high (or low) point isn't a shooting; it's a wince-inducing de-penis-tration during oral sex. For a fun time with the men in (Nazi) uniform, try Das Boot instead. --David Chute

Sam Peckinpah Video

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