Cross of Iron

REVIEW
Notable for being the great action director Peckinpah's first war film, this nonetheless represents the director's decline and is only intermittently interesting. It tells the story of a group of German soldiers on the Russian front in 1943 -- a compelling idea which isn't given its full due. There is, however, a brilliantly staged battle scene near the end of the film which may, or may not, make it worth sitting through.