It's too bad that this is not one of Peckinpah's better remembered films. Despite problems with funding during production, the director managed to produce an epic war film that is brilliantly cynical and original. Orson Welles even went on record as saying that this was the best anti-war film he had ever viewed.

The story follows the trevails of a German infantry troop on the Russian front during the closing weeks of World War II. The troop's brave commander, Sgt. Steiner (Coburn), becomes locked in a battle of wills with a aristocratic yet cowardly superior officer (Schell) who wishes to gain the Cross of Iron medal for himself by any means necessary. The final segment of the film features a thrilling exodus across the countryside by Steiner and his men after they have been cut-off behind enemy lines.

As expected, the action scenes are superbly executed. It's great to see the master of battle scenes produce another series of violent episodes in the vein of the shootouts from The Wild Bunch.