History Film / CrossOfIron

The film focuses on a German infantry division commanded by the war-weary Colonel Brandt (James Mason), whose subordinates include the embittered Captain Kiesel (David Warner) and the battle-hardened, officer-hating Corporal (later Sergeant) Steiner (Creator/JamesCoburn). Their lives are thrown into disarray by the arrival of Captain Stransky (Maximilian Schell), an arrogant, aristocratic Prussian and a GloryHound who wants to win the Iron Cross. When Steiner refuses to lie for Stransky when the latter tries to claim credit for an attack that might get him the Iron Cross, a battle of wills ensues between the two men, and when Steiner and his squad end up behind enemy lines, he soon discovers that there are people out for his blood in both directions.

The film focuses a German infantry division commanded by the war-weary Colonel Brandt (James Mason), whose subordinates include the embittered Captain Kiesel (David Warner) and the battle-hardened, officer-hating Corporal (later Sergeant) Steiner (Creator/JamesCoburn). Their lives are thrown into disarray by the arrival of Captain Stransky (Maximilian Schell), an arrogant, aristocratic Prussian and a GloryHound who wants to win the Iron Cross. When Steiner refuses to lie for Stransky when the latter tries to claim credit for an attack that might get him the Iron Cross, a battle of wills ensues between the two men, and when Steiner and his squad end up behind enemy lines, he soon discovers that there are people out for his blood in both directions.

->'''Colonel Brandt''': "''What will we do when we have lost the war?''"
->'''Captain Keisel''': "''Prepare for the next one.''"

A 1977 film directed by Creator/SamPeckinpah, and his only war movie, based on the novel ''The Willing Flesh'' by Willi Heinrich, who served during the war and was wounded five times. According to Creator/QuentinTarantino, it's the inspiration for ''Film/InglouriousBasterds''. It is set on the Eastern Front during World War Two, specifically the retreat from the Taman Peninsula during the Russian offensive of 1943-1945. It is also notable for using a large number of accurate Soviet and German weapons and vehicles, thanks to being filmed in UsefulNotes/{{Yugoslavia}}.

During the fighting, a battle-hardened Corporal (later Sergeant) Steiner (Creator/JamesCoburn), clashes with Captain Stransky (Maximilian Schell), an arrogant, aristocratic Prussian and a GloryHound, who wants to win the Iron Cross.

* BadassMustache: Lance Corporal Reisenauer sports a doozy. His nickname is Schnurrbart ([[BilingualBonus German for mustache.]])
* BayonetYa: [[spoiler: Lieutenant Meyer is killed by a Russian bayonet.]]
* {{Blackmail}}: [[spoiler: Stransky deduces that Triebig is gay, and has a relationship with his orderly. He uses this knowledge, first to get Triebig to sign a recommendation for the Iron Cross, then to force him to kill Steiner.]]
* BolivianArmyEnding: [[spoiler:Brandt, when the situation becomes hopeless, rallies several soldiers and leads a counterattack. The way the scene is shot strongly implies he will be killed in action.]]
* BrutalHonesty: See the entry for NothingPersonal.
* BuryYourGays: [[spoiler:Steiner vents his frustration at Stransky's betrayal by shooting Triebig. A lot.]]
* ChildSoldiers: The squad capture one during an attack on a Russian mortar position. They adopt him, but Steiner eventually releases him. [[spoiler: he is gunned down by attacking Russians.]] Another one, played by the same actor but with dyed hair, shows up in the finale [[spoiler: and shoots at Stransky.]]

* GloryHound: Stransky.

* GroinAttack: [[spoiler: Zoll has his...member bitten off by a Russian soldier he forces to perform oral sex.]]

* HoneyTrap: [[spoiler: One of the female Russian soldiers seduces Dietz, then stabs him.]]
* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: [[spoiler: Stransky's plan to kill Steiner involves having him and his squad gunned down by a machine gun in a "friendly-fire" accident. It doesn't kill Steiner, but does succeed in wiping out most of his men.]]

* NoEnding: [[spoiler:At the end, Sgt. Steiner and Capt. Stransky are fighting together for survival during the final Soviet assault. When they cross the railroad tracks, Stransky shoots two Soviets, emptying the magazine of his MP-40. He trips and falls, and Steiner shouts at him to get up. Stransky panicking at his empty gun, begs Steiner to tell him how to reload. A Soviet boy soldier shoots at him and knocks of his helmet as Steiner begins to laugh manically. The screen freezes with a shot of Stransky putting his helmet on backwards, then cuts to the boy soldier trying to fire a jammed MP-40 and shaking his head in disgust, and finally to Steiner limping away laughing hysterically. The film ends rather ambiguously with a shot of an explosion and Steiner's maniacal laugh continuing into the credits. This abrupt ending was due to budget issues demanding improvisation and rewrite of the final scene.]]

* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Steiner's reaction to [[spoiler: Zoll raping one of the female Russian soldiers then beating her is to lock him in a room with the girl's comrades.]]
* SanitySlippage: [[spoiler:Steiner goes through this when recovering in the hospital.]]

* SoleSurvivor: [[spoiler:Steiner is the only survivor of his squad in the end. All the others are either dead or seriously wounded.]]

* StraightGay: [[spoiler:Triebig and his orderly show no stereotypical behaviour.]]

* TookALevelInBadass: Subverted. [[spoiler:Stransky joins Steiner in the end during a counterattack...then completely fucks it up because he doesn't even know how to reload his submachine gun.]]
* UncertainDoom: While the movie ends in the middle of a battle, it's not likely many Germans survived, including the remaining major characters.

* {{Badass}}

* AllGermansAreNazis: Strongly averted, most of the characters express disdain for the Nazi Party and the war they started.

* NaziNobleman: Averted, Stransky disdains the party, not because he has any liberal leanings but because of his distaste for the Nazi belief in social mobility among Germans.

During the fighting, a battle-hardened Corporal (later Sergeant), Steiner (Creator/JamesCoburn), clashes with Captain Stransky (Maximilian Schell), an arrogant, aristocratic Prussian and a GloryHound, who wants to win the Iron Cross.

* AntiHero: Most of Steiner's squad are just ordinary people fighting to stay alive. Still, they *are* fighting for Nazi Germany, and have plenty of blood on their hands.

* BolivianArmyEnding: [[spoiler: Brandt, when the situation becomes hopeless, rallies several soldiers and leads a counterattack. The way the scene is shot strongly implies he will be killed in action.]]

* ChildSoldiers: The squad capture one during an attack on a Russian mortar position. They adopt him, but Steiner eventually releases him. [[spoiler: he is gunned down by attacking Russians.]]
** Another one, played by the same actor but with dyed hair, shows up in the finale [[spoiler: and shoots at Stransky.]]
* CoolGuns: Several of the squad, including Steiner, carry captured Russian PPSh submachine guns, to great effect.

* DressingAsTheEnemy: Ends disastrously. German soldiers are isolated from their unit and must wear Soviet uniforms to sneak back to their base. The German guard commander knows about the deception, but has a personal grudge against the returning sergeant, and orders his men to shoot the approaching "Russians".

-->''I believe that God is a sadist, but probably doesn't even know it.''

* HopelessWar: And the German soldiers are fully aware of it.

* NoEnding: [[spoiler:At the end, Sgt. Steiner and Capt. Stransky are fighting together for survival during the final Soviet assault. When they cross the railroad tracks, Stransky shoots two Soviets, emptying the magazine of his MP-40. He trips and falls, and Steiner shouts at him to get up. Stransky panicking at his empty gun, begs Steiner to tell him how to reload. A Soviet boy soldier shoots at him and knocks of his helmet as Steiner begins to laugh manically. The screen freezes with a shot of Stransky putting his helmet on backwards, then cuts to the boy soldier trying to fire a jammed MP-40 and shaking his head in disgust, and finally to Steiner limping away laughing hysterically. The film ends rather ambiguously with a shot of an explosion and Steiners maniacal laugh continuing into the credits. This abrupt ending was due to budget issues demanding improvisation and rewrite of the final scene.]]

* SanitySlippage: [[spoiler: Steiner goes through this when recovering in the hospital.]]
* ShoutOut: "[[Theatre/TheResistibleRiseOfArturoUi Don't rejoice in his defeat, you men.]]"

* SoleSurvivor: [[spoiler: Steiner is the only survivor of his squad in the end. All the others are either dead or seriously wounded.]]

* StraightGay: [[spoiler: Triebig and his orderly show no stereotypical behaviour.]]

* TookALevelInBadass: Subverted. [[spoiler: Stransky joins Steiner in the end during a counterattack...then completely fucks it up because he doesn't even know how to reload his submachine gun.]]

It did poorly at the box office and received a mixed critical reaction, but is now considered one of the finest war movies ever made. It did, however, [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff perform well in Germany]], possibly because it portrays the average German soldier with sympathy without any Neo-Nazi themes. Fun fact: it earned the best box office takings of any movie released there since TheSoundOfMusic.

* UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo

* BrutalHonesty: See the entry for NothingPersonal.

* BigBad: Stransky is the closest as the movie gets to a villain.

* AntiHero

* [[spoiler: StraightGay]]: [[spoiler: Triebig and his orderly show no stereotypical behaviour.]]

* UnfriendlyFire

A 1977 film directed by SamPeckinpah, and his only war movie, based on the novel ''The Willing Flesh'' by Willi Heinrich, who served during the war and was wounded five times. According to Creator/QuentinTarantino, the inspiration for ''Film/InglouriousBasterds''. It is set on the Eastern Front during World War Two, specifically the retreat from the Taman Peninsula during the Russian offensive of 1943-1945. It is also notable for using a large number of accurate Soviet and German weapons and vehicles, thanks to being filmed in {{Yugoslavia}}.

* WorldWarTwo

* FakeNationality: Steiner (played by American Creator/JamesCoburn) and Brandt and Kiesel (played by British actors James Mason and David Warner) as German soldiers, but native German actors make up a decent size of the cast though, notable Maximilian Schell, who plays Stransky.

* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Steiner's reaction to [[spoiler: Zoll raping on of the Russian female soldiers then beating her is to lock him in a room with the girls comrades.]]

A 1977 film directed by SamPeckinpah, and his only war movie, based on the novel ''The Willing Flesh'' by Willi Heinrich, who served during the war and was wounded five times. According to QuentinTarantino, the inspiration for ''Film/InglouriousBasterds''. It is set on the Eastern Front during World War Two, specifically the retreat from the Taman Peninsula during the Russian offensive of 1943-1945. It is also notable for using a large number of accurate Soviet and German weapons and vehicles, thanks to being filmed in {{Yugoslavia}}.

During the fighting, a battle-hardened Corporal (later Sergeant), Steiner (James Coburn), clashes with Captain Stransky (Maximilian Schell), an arrogant, aristocratic Prussian and a GloryHound, who wants to win the Iron Cross.

* FakeNationality: Steiner (played by American James Coburn) and Brandt and Kiesel (played by British actors James Mason and David Warner) as German soldiers, but native German actors make up a decent size of the cast though, notable Maximilian Schell, who plays Stransky.

->"''What will we do when we have lost the war?''"
-->--'''Colonel Brandt'''
->"''Prepare for the next one.''"
-->--'''Captain Keisel'''
->''"Then I will show you, where the Iron Crosses grow."''
-->-- '''Sergeant Steiner'''

* TankGoodness: The Russians during their second attack on the German line.

* AristocratsAreEvil: The Prussian Captain Stransky is arrogant and a GloryHound. [[spoiler: He tries to claim the heroism of the (deceased) Lieutenant Meyer as his own, and when Stransky threatens to get in his way, blackmails Triebig, whom he has deduced is gay, to kill Steiner.]]

->"''Then I will show you, where the Iron Crosses grow.''"
-->--'''Sergeant Steiner'''

A 1977 film directed by SamPeckinpah, and his only war movie, based on the novel ''The Willing Flesh'' by Willi Heinrich, who served during the war and was wounded five times. According to QuentinTarantino, the inspiration for IngloriousBasterds. It is set on the Eastern Front during World War Two, specifically the retreat from the Taman Peninsula during the Russian offensive of 1943-1945. It is also notable for using a large number of accurate Soviet and German weapons and vehicles, thanks to being filmed in {{Yugoslavia}}.