You won't be disappointed!

the audience applauded

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

This is supposed to be a lean mean anti-war film directed by Don Siegel but I found it to be a bore, slow to get going with a two dimensional script. Despite the stars this is a low budget B film with stock footage used in some places.Steve McQueen is an embittered former sergeant demoted to a private by a court martial, he is hard drinking and he shows up at a new battalion in France. The soldiers think they are about to get rest & recuperation and get shipped home but end up battling the Germans who they must hold off for approximately 48 hours until reinforcements arrive.McQueen's character is somewhat unlikable until he makes an heroic attempt at attacking a pillbox. James Coburn as the mechanic who can fix anything is more likable and Bob Newhart is comic relief as the clerk who ends up fighting in the front lines.Once the action starts the film has a grittiness as well as soldiers dying agonising, painful deaths which would influence later war movies.

This movie is a real stinker, with one redeeming scene.About 1 hour and 21 minutes into the movie, there is an order to charge. Some badly modified artillery footage, then some morters, and a machine gun scene. Then -- the best scene in the whole movie.Sgt. Pike gives the order to charge - and they take off running. One poor guy does a fantastic face plant right in front of the camera. The, as the camera pans right, you can see the guy getting up and trying to put on his helmet.I've watched this move dozens of times - but never noticed the face plant until this weekend. I laughed so hard, I cried.

Actor Steve McQueen plays the least charismatic character of his entire career in the concise, Don Siegel directed, 90-minute World War II movie "Hell Is for Heroes," a first-rate, uncompromising anti-war movie about sacrifice and redemption set on the dangerous Siegfried Line in mid-1944. A woebegone squad of six rugged G.I.s that is overdue for rest and relaxation find themselves stretched perilously thin to defend a front for 48 hours against a numerically superior enemy until reinforcements arrive. Fess Parker, Bobby Darin, James Coburn, Harry Guardino, L.Q. Jones, Nick Adams, and first-time actor Bob Newhart co-star in this grim, realistic, thoroughly convincing but virtually all-male combat thriller. Indeed, there is one woman at the outset who operates a bar. Apart from her, no other females populate this serious, no-nonsense, but heavily ironic yarn. Our heroes must convince the enemy that they are 600 rather than a mere six. The production designers deserve a round of applause for their fabulous job of recreating the Type 10 bunkers of the Limes Programme that cover the enemy front as well as the tank teeth that constituted part of the line.Combat films by 1962 were steadily growing more and more cynical, and "Hell Is for Heroes" contains more examples of raw-edged cynicism than flag-waving, sentimental patriotism.. The wise-cracking G.I.s of World War II era movies were overshadowed here by cantankerous, paranoid soldiers not about looting a church or espousing atheism. Although color films were the standard, Siegel lensed "Hell Is for Heroes" in black and white and the choice is appropriate for the unglamorous subject matter. Like many World War II movies, the focus is on the grubby guys on the battlefront and Steve McQueen's Reese is a perfect example. The unshaven, less-than-fortunate protagonist has wrecked a jeep, basically cracked up, been demoted, but he remains a brave, willing soldier who has a difficult time recognizing, much less accommodating authority whether the authority figure is an enlisted man or an officer. McQueen clashed with BATTLEGROUND scenarist Robert Pirosh, a World War II veteran and later creator of the ABC-TV classic COMBAT!, who had been initially hired to direct. Don Siegel replaced him, but Siegel and McQueen had their share of spats. Reportedly, McQueen sought to enhance the lonely character of his anti-social hero by refusing to fraternize with the cast. Neither McQueen nor Darin were on friendly terms during the production.

The director, Don Siegel, is new to me and the premise sounds intriguing. A small group of soldiers in France think they're heading home after a rough tour of duty, though command has other ideas as they're in for a big surprise: the group gets sent back to the front line. Though it's not just any line. It's the Sigfried Line where the bulk of the German war machine is.Each character is introduced perfectly, showcasing their specialty in terms of their squadron and in terms of their characters within the story. The moody-yet-intense black and white coloring fits extremely well with the tone of the film (despair, frustration, tragedy, determination). An excellent cast, which includes Fess Parker, Bobby Darin, James Coburn, and a young Bob Newhart is headed by Steve McQueen when he was just starting to become a big star, establishing his intense, loner character. This movie seemed to be tailor-made just for him. He is utterly brilliant in the compelling role of Pvt. John Reese, a nonconformist, gritty soldier itching for action yet mindful of how (he feels) society is crumbling around him. It seems every time the camera is on McQueen, he makes the absolute most of it, filling it up no matter if he is by himself or with others. The shadows cast on his face add that much more tragedy to his character, and it makes for some memorable moments, since he has very little dialog yet it comes at the most crucial moment in the film. Really, I'm shocked this flies under the radar of war-film lovers, lovers of tragic stories, or just lovers of great film. The rest of the cast give strong performances (especially Fess Parker, James Coburn, and Bob Newhart) complimenting McQueen. McQueen's performance, however, is one of the finest I've seen from him, or from anyone in a war film. How he didn't get any sort of nomination for a Golden Globe or Oscar is ludicrous, but that's besides the point. Every movement or glance from him is authentic; nothing fabricated or scripted, just raw emotion and body language from the master of it.One of their staff sergeants is ordered (along with the small squadron) to hold the fox bunker directly across the Siegfield Line, while being promised reinforcements in a day or two. Problem is, the squadron is comprised of six men and at any moment during nightfall, the Germans could discover this weakness and annihilate them. Reese (McQueen) knows this and being the insubordinate SOB that he is, he suggest penetrating the treacherous line and taking the bunker across the field.It's interesting to see how his fellow soldiers seem keen to the idea, even though it sounds suicidal. In the beginning, as Reese is introduced into the story with the others (being transfered to their company) he wants no part of their companionship at all, and they can tell he means business, specifically when Reese points out their position of weakness. The sergeant in charge senses that Reese is undermining his command by pointing out his reluctance to disobey previous orders and proceed with a risky mission, which will endanger the lives of the men and compromise their position, so he puts Reese in charge of monitoring two German look-outs that were captured in a previous skirmish.What follows is probably the second most memorable scene in the film, where Reese and Sgt. Larkin (Guardino) are ready to fight each other over the issue of whether to attack or not. Larkin shouts at him "You might be a good solider, but as long as I wear these stripes, I say what goes!" pointing at Reese like a child. Reese's response, in a chilling, almost manic look, "You point that finger at me one more time and I'll take your head off.." That floored me. Larkin promises him that he'll get his chance after the war, proceeds to leave their bunker and is killed by a German cluster bomb. The remaining men now know that they have no hope of surviving the night after the previous sneak-attack, so they take Reese's idea and do a stealth-attack of their own.This scene is highly effective in thrilling the viewer with some great music and cool shots of the soldiers crawling across the minefield. Coburn trips one by accident, causing all hell to break loose, ironically when their reinforcements arrive with Sgt. Pike. More members of the small group get killed and you can see despair on Reese's face, feeling at fault, so he turns into the merciless soldier and leads the ensuing raid across the line.The final scene is great, though I can understand why people would have problems with the director adding in actual shots of the war since their budget was small. The parts that are of the movie are effective and brutal, yet stunningly realistic and epic. Of course, McQueen portraying the tragic anti-hero so well, he goes out in the blaze of glory, destroying the German bunker along with himself, after being shot in the chest. It's a great visual seeing a wide-eyed McQueen using the last ebbs of energy to throw the satchel charge into the pillbox along with himself. Any bitter feelings the viewer might have with Reese after the botched sneak-attack go away in his final act of heroism.Absolutely wonderful, atmosphere-soaked film that features a strong, colorful cast, a great script, some marvelous cinematography, and a brilliant performance by Steve McQueen. Definitely one of his best films, even slightly better than the Great Escape, IMO. I have to see The Longest Day to see if it's as good as reviewers say it is, but it'll have to be great since Hell is for Heroes (all hell really breaks loose) is a marvelous little film which seems very ahead of its time with its theme and excellent camera work. Highly recommended.