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!
7.1 / 10
132 minutes
1977-01-29
German
DE
Actors :
James Coburn, Maximilian Schell, James Mason, David Warner, Klaus Löwitsch, Vadim Glowna, Roger Fritz, Dieter Schidor, Burkhard Driest, Fred Stillkrauth, Michael Nowka, Véronique Vendell, Arthur Brauss, Senta Berger, Demeter Bitenc
Description
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.
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Reviews
John Chard
5/16/2024, 3:22:27 PM
War is Peckinpah's survival hell. Out on the Eastern Front 1943, battered by the war itself, a war they are losing, a platoon of German soldiers must also cope with a new aristocratic commander who deeply covets the Cross Of Iron, Germany's highest medal of honour. Universally hated and panned by the critics upon release, Cross Of Iron now stands up as one of director Sam Peckinpah's finest ...
Wuchak
10/26/2023, 7:33:50 PM
**_Brutal Germans vs. Russians WW2 flick with James Coburn and Maximilian Schell_** As defeat looms on the Eastern Front, an awarded, but battle-worn German NCO (Coburn) vies with a newly-appointed captain, a Prussian aristocrat, who’s obsessed with obtaining the Iron Cross (Schell), even if he has to get it by fraud. James Mason and David Warner have peripheral roles. Loosely based on the t...
CinemaSerf
2/4/2024, 11:09:18 AM
The aristocratic "Capt. Stransky" (Maximilian Schell) is put in charge of an accomplished squadron of men that works well under its no-nonsense "Sgt. Steiner" (James Coburn), and into battle against the approaching Soviets they go. A bloody encounter ensues and upon their return, victorious to a point, to their trenches he encourages "Col. Brandt" (James Mason) to nominate him for an Iron Cross. H...