After serving for the 1st Infantry Unit in World War I and killing (not murdering) a Kraut after the war had expired, unbeknownst to him, the grizzled veteran (Lee Marvin) returns to command the same outfit during WWII and sees action all across the Western Theater, from North Africa to Normandy to Western Germany. Despite some brothers-in-arms movie cliches, a few wrought scenes, and one unfortunate sequences involving mentally disabled residents joining in on a monastery gunfight, Samuel Fuller's battle experience drawn film sets itself apart from other war movies with its varied stories, and a unique take on war and the call to serve. Great hardened though sympathetic performance from Marvin.
*** 1/2 out of ****
