Cross Of Iron (1977)

Set in 1943 WWII, a war weary German sergeant (James Coburn) leads a group of soldiers on the Russian front. But when a new commandant (Maximilian Schell) takes over, they clash over the sergeant's independent will and inability to strictly follow orders. Based on the novel by THE WILLING FLESH by Willi Heinrich and directed by Sam Peckinpah. I have mixed feelings about this one. The first half is very good but the second half tends to be ham fisted. Eight years had passed since Peckinpah's startling and innovative THE WILD BUNCH and his slow motion violence comes across as so been there, done that. The movie's anti war stance doesn't really say anything new about war and its handling of its theme is erratic. The film's shrill ending reeks of obviousness and the film could have lost about 15 minutes. That being said, the first half is still good enough to compensate for the deficiencies of the latter half. With James Mason, David Warner, Senta Berger, Klaus Lowitsch and Vadim Glowna.