Supelice Dreadfully Boring

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Winifred The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

Scott LeBrun The ever masterful Don Siegel directs this tough, hard hitting WWII action picture. Written by Richard Carr and WWII expert Robert Pirosh (who was originally set to direct), its setting is the Siegfried Line in autumn of 1944. A very small Army squadron must convince the Nazis that they're much more numerous, and formidable, than they really are. A private named Reese (Steve McQueen) and a sergeant named Larkin (Harry Guardino) often butt heads over methodology.This yarn is spun in the most efficient way possible. It's tightly paced (once it gets going), extremely atmospheric, positively harrowing at times, capably acted, and refreshingly unsentimental. While Pirosh takes the time to help us get to know some of these characters, he keeps exposition to a minimum. This was initially envisioned as more of a black comedy (hence the presence of young comedian Bob Newhart, making his feature film debut), but Siegel was intent on stressing the dramatic elements. And the comedic touches are pretty funny: Newhart actually gets to do a variation on one of his stand-up routines, and Nick Adams offers a lively performance as eager beaver young private Homer, a man of Polish ancestry. The action is palpably intense during the most hectic portions of the film, especially during the final battle. Apparently, the production had run out of time and money, which resulted in an interesting and inconclusive ending that was devised on the fly. It does make a point for the utter futility of war.The acting is uniformly solid. McQueen delivers an amazingly tight lipped and reserved performance. Bobby Darin, Fess Parker, James Coburn, Mike Kellin, Joseph Hoover, and Bill Mullikin fill out this engaging ensemble, and most everybody gets a chance to leave an impression.Clocking in at a trim 90 minutes, "Hell Is for Heroes" packs a potent narrative into that amount of time.Eight out of 10.

gordonl56 HELL IS FOR HEROES 1962This better than expected war film, is set during the fall of 1944 on the border between France and Germany. The cast is headlined by, Steve McQueen with support from Fess Parker, Bobby Darin, Harry Guardino, Nick Adams, James Coburn, Joe Hoover and Mike Kellin. An understrength platoon of American infantry, have been assigned to hold a just captured section of the "Siegfried Line". Most of the unit has been moved further up the line because of reports of a possible German counter-attack. The men are spread out with gaps here and there in the lines. They need to make the German on the other side of the valley believe that the American position is being held in strength. They rig up a jeep to sound like heavy trucks arriving, as well as setting up devices to make the German think there are patrols out in the brush. The Germans are not really fooled and send out a large patrol of their own. They rush the Americans who just barely fight off the Nazis. The jig looks like it is up. Now they need to hold on till the rest of their Company returns.They manage to hold on till the rest of the unit arrives and then join in on the attack on the German lines. In the middle of the German position is a big concrete pillbox. The blockhouse is spitting plenty of lead and knocking down the American infantry like bowling pins. It takes a mortally wounded Steve McQueen to silence the German pillbox, when he blows it, and himself, to hell with a satchel charge. The attack then continues with most of the squad being killed. Fess Parker plays the Sgt in charge of the platoon with Harry Guardino next in charge. Bobby Darin, James Coburn and Mike Kellin are soldiers in the squad. Nick Adams plays a Polish refuge who has attached himself to the group. McQueen is quite good here as the ex Sgt who has a slight over fondness for drink. It is always getting him in trouble when off the line. Funny man, Bob Newhart makes his screen debut as a lost rear area private who gets drafted into the unit. The director here is Don Siegel. Siegel started off in the 30's as a second unit editor and director. He moved his way up the ladder and into the director's chair by 1946. He is best known for several excellent film noir, such as, THE VERDICT, THE BIG STEAL, PRIVATE HELL 36, RIOT IN CELL BLOCK 11, THE LINEUP and the brilliant, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS. His later work included, DIRTY HARRY, CHARLIE VARRICK, COOGAN'S BLUFF, TWO MULES FOR SISTER SARA and John Wayne's last film, THE SHOOTIST. One time Oscar nominated Harold Lipstein handled the cinematography duties. The story was by two time Oscar nominated (Go for Broke) and one time winner, (Battleground) Robert Pirosh. Pirosh, a former Sgt in the US Army worked as screenwriter, producer and director from 1935 to 1981. Pirosh was hired at first to also direct and produce the film, but he walked away after trouble with McQueen. There was apparently plenty of bad feelings on the production. McQueen was upset over his fee and was less than friendly with his fellow cast mates and crew. The film's producers, Paramount Pictures, cut the production budget during filming resulting in director Siegel having to cut corners. Despite all the problems etc, Siegel manages to deliver a first rate combat film

jzappa Whereas producer-director sounds like a far-off call from lab and second unit labor at Warner Bros., Siegel internalized that hard-line technical work's effective discipline by the time more modern audiences began seeking more realism and grittier attitudes in movies. His shrewd and thrifty technique at the helm squeezed full advantage of his creative power. And this brutal, and yet so unassuming, 1962 war picture can be seen to illustrate the traditionally altering function of the director in American movies. As Siegel's repertoire developed as a workmanlike director of drum-tight action films, industrially skillful but divulging little of himself, he began to embrace a more open style in which he made the best of his actors' capabilities with presence and behavior. Point to Harry Callahan and Charley Varrick for characters who have whip up some argument simultaneously while delivering the full-tilt gratifications required of testosterone-driven action thrillers, but point to Hell is for Heroes for an early example of Siegel's ability to juggle various wholly sympathetic and entertaining characterizations in what feels like a leisurely way throughout the backdrop of a taut, spare combat picture.Bobby Darin is one of those who you can constantly forget he's a particularly good actor, and not just a serviceable one. It's not that musicians can't be good actors. It's that Darin was so dedicated to his music. Darin wasn't just at crooner. He did pop, rock, jazz, folk and country. His health was treacherously weak and this induced him to thrive within the incomplete life span he was terrified he would, and finally did, have. Roughly around the same time as he brought a lifelike suggestion to his character in John Cassavetes' forgotten Too Late Blues from his immersion in the day's music scene, he fit so comfortably into the skin of a con man, peddler and thief. He stays strongly consistent as an operator who can't sit still, always determined to peddle his countless devices. This includes peddling literally at the start, but he's a street kid with ears forever to the ground and his fingers on the pulse of what's going on, and Darin credibly use this nature in whichever manner he must in situations ranging in such close succession as dodging mortar in the trench and teaching Bob Newhart's army company clerk who suddenly and mistakenly arrives at the squad post.Newhart is a surprise treat because his supporting role is all farce, surrounded by hard-boiled brutality and yet bringing an early Woody Allen or Albert Brooks type to life. Siegel often seemed to sprinkle a broad comic relief stereotype into a vicious action mix, usually to the chagrin of the macho men at the center of it all, as is the case here as well. Newhart is a surprise treat and he's effective, but think of how his sort of light-hearted formula concession would've fatally diffused the ultimate tensile strength of The Hill, another less well-remembered 1960s war film in uncompromising black-and-white. As the ragtag male team does here, the characters in The Hill are entrapped in the punishing confines of a survival-of-the-fittest war situation. In that case, it was a British army prison in sweltering North Africa. The closest it came to caricature was the self-conscious aping in the brilliant nervous breakdown of a young Ossie Davis' with the added trouble of being black.That said, regardless, I still think Hell is for Heroes is worthy of significant mention on the subject of early Hollywood realism, and at the same time, I understand how oppressive it would've been if everyone in Hell is for Heroes were like Steve McQueen's difficult outsider Reese or James Coburn's mechanically gifted corporal. Variety is important and Siegel always provides it with rich characters even in his lesser films. Hell is for Heroes may not be tense or throttling in a way comparable to other realist '60s war films, but its characters are particularly memorable. Always a charismatic but hard-shelled actor, McQueen gives a compelling early portrayal of what might be an early example in modern history of the "war addict" personality studied in most state-of-the-art war films like The Hurt Locker. Reese manages to push away practically everyone in the squad right from the start. The company commander is troubled because Reese becomes when there is no fighting, but he's a good soldier in combat…He lives and breathes confrontation with potentially fatal threats the way a drug addict is never satisfied with more than enough of their substance. And he's like that in the field as well.

pvotsis The director, Don Siegel, is new to me and the premise sounds intriguing. A small group of soldiers in France think they're heading home after a rough tour of duty, though command has other ideas as they're in for a big surprise: the group gets sent back to the front line. Though it's not just any line. It's the Sigfried Line where the bulk of the German war machine is.Each character is introduced perfectly, showcasing their specialty in terms of their squadron and in terms of their characters within the story. The moody-yet-intense black and white coloring fits extremely well with the tone of the film (despair, frustration, tragedy, determination). An excellent cast, which includes Fess Parker, Bobby Darin, James Coburn, and a young Bob Newhart is headed by Steve McQueen when he was just starting to become a big star, establishing his intense, loner character. This movie seemed to be tailor-made just for him. He is utterly brilliant in the compelling role of Pvt. John Reese, a nonconformist, gritty soldier itching for action yet mindful of how (he feels) society is crumbling around him. It seems every time the camera is on McQueen, he makes the absolute most of it, filling it up no matter if he is by himself or with others. The shadows cast on his face add that much more tragedy to his character, and it makes for some memorable moments, since he has very little dialog yet it comes at the most crucial moment in the film. Really, I'm shocked this flies under the radar of war-film lovers, lovers of tragic stories, or just lovers of great film. The rest of the cast give strong performances (especially Fess Parker, James Coburn, and Bob Newhart) complimenting McQueen. McQueen's performance, however, is one of the finest I've seen from him, or from anyone in a war film. How he didn't get any sort of nomination for a Golden Globe or Oscar is ludicrous, but that's besides the point. Every movement or glance from him is authentic; nothing fabricated or scripted, just raw emotion and body language from the master of it.One of their staff sergeants is ordered (along with the small squadron) to hold the fox bunker directly across the Siegfield Line, while being promised reinforcements in a day or two. Problem is, the squadron is comprised of six men and at any moment during nightfall, the Germans could discover this weakness and annihilate them. Reese (McQueen) knows this and being the insubordinate SOB that he is, he suggest penetrating the treacherous line and taking the bunker across the field.It's interesting to see how his fellow soldiers seem keen to the idea, even though it sounds suicidal. In the beginning, as Reese is introduced into the story with the others (being transfered to their company) he wants no part of their companionship at all, and they can tell he means business, specifically when Reese points out their position of weakness. The sergeant in charge senses that Reese is undermining his command by pointing out his reluctance to disobey previous orders and proceed with a risky mission, which will endanger the lives of the men and compromise their position, so he puts Reese in charge of monitoring two German look-outs that were captured in a previous skirmish.What follows is probably the second most memorable scene in the film, where Reese and Sgt. Larkin (Guardino) are ready to fight each other over the issue of whether to attack or not. Larkin shouts at him "You might be a good solider, but as long as I wear these stripes, I say what goes!" pointing at Reese like a child. Reese's response, in a chilling, almost manic look, "You point that finger at me one more time and I'll take your head off.." That floored me. Larkin promises him that he'll get his chance after the war, proceeds to leave their bunker and is killed by a German cluster bomb. The remaining men now know that they have no hope of surviving the night after the previous sneak-attack, so they take Reese's idea and do a stealth-attack of their own.This scene is highly effective in thrilling the viewer with some great music and cool shots of the soldiers crawling across the minefield. Coburn trips one by accident, causing all hell to break loose, ironically when their reinforcements arrive with Sgt. Pike. More members of the small group get killed and you can see despair on Reese's face, feeling at fault, so he turns into the merciless soldier and leads the ensuing raid across the line.The final scene is great, though I can understand why people would have problems with the director adding in actual shots of the war since their budget was small. The parts that are of the movie are effective and brutal, yet stunningly realistic and epic. Of course, McQueen portraying the tragic anti-hero so well, he goes out in the blaze of glory, destroying the German bunker along with himself, after being shot in the chest. It's a great visual seeing a wide-eyed McQueen using the last ebbs of energy to throw the satchel charge into the pillbox along with himself. Any bitter feelings the viewer might have with Reese after the botched sneak-attack go away in his final act of heroism.Absolutely wonderful, atmosphere-soaked film that features a strong, colorful cast, a great script, some marvelous cinematography, and a brilliant performance by Steve McQueen. Definitely one of his best films, even slightly better than the Great Escape, IMO. I have to see The Longest Day to see if it's as good as reviewers say it is, but it'll have to be great since Hell is for Heroes (all hell really breaks loose) is a marvelous little film which seems very ahead of its time with its theme and excellent camera work. Highly recommended.