The Dirty Dozen: Difference between revisions

 

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* [[Anti-Hero]]: Major Reissman, Jefforson and Wladislaw are [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes|Type III]], Posey's a Type I, and the rest of the Dozen sit between IV and V, with Maggot and Franco being at the far dark end of the scale.

* [[Anyone Can Die]]: {{spoiler|And sadly, most of them do. Only Reismann, Wladislaw and Sgt. Bowren survive the assault.}}

* [[Ax Crazy]]: Maggot. {{spoiler|He kills a woman in the chateau and then fires at his own teammates, alerting the Germans to what's going on and basically fucking up the plan royally and forcing the team to improvise after they kill him.}}

* [[Black and Grey Morality]]: The bad guys are clearly [[Those Wacky Nazis]]. But the Dirty Dozen are mostly made up of sociopaths like Maggot and Franko, and what they do when they assault the chateau {{spoiler|by killing everyone, Wermacht officer and prostitute alike}} doesn't make them any better than the Nazis. Worse, the Allied officers who planned and signed off on the mission {{spoiler|are so gleeful about the mission's success that Wladislaw's open desire at movie's end to kill himself some more Generals sounds justifiable.}}

* [[Boxed Crook]]

* [[Cunning Linguist]]: One of the reasons that Joeseph Wladislaw (Charles Bronson) was picked for the squad was that he was fluent in German.

** Well, more for knowing ''any'' German. He couldn't understand a word of what a couple soldiers had said, so it's clear Wladislaw isn't fluent. He did know at least enough to get by, though.

* [[Cut Himself Shaving]]: "Everbody's slipping on the soap..."

* [[Dirty Coward]]: Franko. {{spoiler|Justified in that he's [[Genre Savvy|smart enough]] to know the Dozen are getting sent on a [[Suicide Mission]], and he doesn't want to die for nobody.}}

* [[Drill Sergeant Nasty]]: Although this one is a major (Reisman). The drill sergeant under his command -- Bowren -- is more Reisman's [[The Lancer|aide de camp]] to be nasty enough.

* [[During the War]]

* [[Heroic Sociopath]]: Franco. Actually, all of them.

** Except for Maggot who's just a sociopath.

* [[Holier Than Thou]]: Maggot tries to justify his murder and alleged rape of women through his special interpretation of Holy Scripture. He's still the most evil character in the entire movie. And in a movie of Nazis vs. criminals, that's really saying something.

* [[Incessant Chorus]]: The brass band in the inspection scene, who happily burst into their piece whenever the impatient colonel comes out of his office, to his increasing annoyance.

** It's implied - especially given the treatment they give Reisman - that the upper chain of command is corrupt, self-serving, or elitist. There's a good reason why Wladislaw's wish to kill more Generals seems appealing...

* [[Kill'Em All]]: {{spoiler|Of the original Dozen, only Wladislaw survives to get his pardon.}}

* [[Loophole Abuse]]: The dozen "cheat" at a war game by switching their armbands to the enemy side's.

* [[Majorly Awesome]]: Reisman.

* [[Misfit Mobilization Moment]]: When Colonel Breed tries to dry shave one of the Dozen.

* [[Model Planning]]: The plan is largely with a model (and a Mickey Mouse figure).

* [[N-Word Privileges]]: Maggot tries dropping the N-Word and Jefferson makes sure Maggot learns he doesn't have the privilege to do so.

* [[The Notable Numeral]]

** Caused by [[Creative Differences]] between the actor and director, from all accounts.

* [[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits]]

* [[Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil]]: Maggot was on Death Row for raping and killing women. {{spoiler|Once the Dirty Dozen assault the chateau, Maggot sabotages the entire mission when he kills a prostitute and fires on his teammates when they try to stop him.}}

* [[Rated "M" for Manly]]

* [[Retirony]]: One of the guards manning the checkpoint outside the chateau mentions that he's going on leave in another week or so. He and the person he's talking to are the first people to die.

* [[Screw the War, We're Partying]]: The Nazi chateau.

* [[Sexophone]]: Heard when Reisman has a truckload of London hookers brought to the camp for the Dozen.

* [[Suicide Mission]]

* [[Tempting Fate]]: Franko. {{spoiler|As the remaining Dozen are getting away, he starts crowing that he's gonna survive after all... just as a German soldier crawls out of the woodwork and opens fire on the truck, killing him.}}

* [[Title Drop]]: The prisoner-soldiers refuse to shave with cold water, so Major Reissman orders the MPs to stop issuing shaving kit and soap. One of the MPs says, "So now if you... you Dirty Dozen have no objections, we will get our equipment, and we will start in right now."

* [[Token Good Teammate]]: Wladislaw

** Jefferson and Posey are relatively Good Guys as well.

* [[Unspoken Plan Guarantee]]

* [[War Is Hell]]

* [[World War II]]

 

[[Category:Films of the 1960s]]

[[Category:The Dirty Dozen]]