Hell Is for Heroes

In 1944, in France, Pvt. John Reese (Steve McQueen) is assigned for a platoon close to the front. He is a very experienced, but also rebel and neurotic soldier, who lost his ranked position due to his behavior, questioning orders and authority. His platoon joins other army companies in the front, and they are left in only six men to hold up their position against a great quantity of Germans soldiers for a couple of days. They use their experience and many tricks to cheat the enemy, pretending they are in a larger number. This black and white movie of war is a very tense, claustrophobic and full of action. Steve McQueen has an excellent performance, as usual, as well as the rest of the cast and direction. This film is highly indicated for fans of action movie of war. My vote is seven. Title (Brazil): `O Inferno é Para Heróis' (`The Hell is for Heroes')

This keen little B movie must have packed quite a punch back in the early 60s, but in the wake of the likes of Saving Private Ryan it looks a lot tamer than it must have done back then. An intense and moody Steve McQueen (both on and off screen, apparently) is Reese, a maverick soldier assigned to a small group of soldiers landed with the unenviable task of defending a hill against a platoon (or troop or squad or battalion – more than the 6 men the Yanks had, anyway) of Germans during WWII. The soldiers employ a number of 'Home Alone' style tactics in order to fool Jerry into believing they number in the hundreds before finally mounting an attack on a seemingly impenetrable pill box, the residents of which are systematically gunning our heroes down. Hell is for Heroes follows many of the genre stereotypes, a fact which weakens its overall impact simply because it's all a bit too familiar. You have the surly loner (McQueen), the wily gopher (Bobby Darin), the stoic leader (Fess Parker), the ever-so-slightly remote but highly intelligent soldier (James Coburn), the enthusiastic partisan (Nick Adams) etc. These all interact in pretty much the way you'd expect, and because the story has to find room for two comic characters (Darin and stand-up comic Bob Newhart as a nervous typist who strays into the battle arena) the film has a fairly uneven tone. This ensemble approach means the character of Reese - ostensibly the lead - is too often sidelined so that others get their moment on screen, and we learn little about him other than the fact that he's a moody bugger. Having said that, the film contains some undeniably powerful moments. Not only the climactic scene, an accident of financial shortcomings which has subsequently earned the film an apparent cult status, but also the death scene of Private Kolinsky (Mike Kellin), filmed from above and screaming with a terrifying intensity while claustrophobically surrounded by his comrades as he's stretchered to safety. It's concise, anti-war scenes like these – and not the misguided comic moments – that give the film its impact and give it the right to lay some claim to the status it has received.

I saw this as a child and remember how grisly the action was. At the time, of course, war movies were really my thing since my Father, and most of my friends' fathers had fought in WWII. I then (and now) loved the pure and believable action to be found in many war films. "Heroes" was particularly violent for its time. German soldiers are graphically burned to death with flame throwers, shot to pieces with tommy guns, and cut to ribbons with a machete. The action was especially graphic for when this film was made and I am very surprised so much intense violence got past the censors. I think the high resentments still around "post war" account for this. People wanted to see the Nazis get their well deserved violent end. The film is a good depiction of war and what it does to the men who are on the front lines. I am amazed when I watch it to see what a good actor Bobby Darin was and how well newcomer Boby Newhart did in his comic relief role. Steve McQueen and James Coburn were just about to hit their stride. They both give memorable performances--especially McQueen who is the dark hero. Harry Guardino, who would later work for director Seigel in Dirty Harry, is also a sympathetic figure. He was such an underrated character actor. The American soldiers depicted in the film are a good cross section of America as it was constituted in the 40's. If you love war films, and have not seen this one, go out of your way to do so. This is, I think, the best of the low budget black and white war films of the 50's and early 60's.

Nowadays it is regarded as heresy to say anything bad about Don Siegel and opinions of HH have been , it seems, influenced by this. Looking at it again it seems more schlocky than it did when I first saw it in the 60,s. Apparantly the Siegried line in winter is very much like a californian desert and the producers overlooked the fact that it is very cold in this area in winter, is rainy,snowy ,icy et al. At this period of the war the chances that any army unit might be going home was non existent. Maybe sometime in the back areas so this is badly thought through. Generally the dialogue is predictable and somewhat farcical. McQueen doing a psychopath act and with really little of the bond that did form under these really difficult war condition. Mind you, who would want to bond in a badly thought through scenario. Luckily,of late, we have had some Directors who knew what they were talking about such as Fuller with "The big red One" and Spielberg's HBO series "Band of Brothers" which faithfully recorded actual veteran's experiences. Even "Saving Private Ryan", with a rather odd script, had the genius of Spielberg's direction of the very realistic action scenes and memorable acting of believable characters. There is nothing worse than a film that purports to be gritty realism but comes off as a Hollywood producers idea of how it really happened....or was it just McQueen, that veteran of The War Lover and The great Escape (which was based on a true story and was a great yarn with wonderful Star Pro's)

This n The Blob were among the first few films of McQueen which i saw during school days n i became a fan of him. I saw his The Magnificent Seven n others after these two movies. Revisited it recently on a dvd which I own. The future king of cool played an angry, morose, detached loner in this flick. The movie has Bob Newhart in his very first movie role. Its a very good World War film, not quite in the league of Platoon, Apocalypse Now or Thin Red Line. But fans of the genre, the director and/or McQueen should definitely check this one out. I am fascinated by World War II, but i think a lot of 1950s and 60s WWII movies are too cheesy to be believed except a few n Hell is for Heroes is a solid one. A wounded Reese (McQueen) blowing up enemies' fortification n its occupants and himself is riveting. This climactic scene is shamelessly copied by a Bollywood war movie Border 1998, during the climax the character of Akshay Khanna copies McQueen's way of blowing up himself n the enemies.

Don't get your hopes up with all the great cast members, especially Bob Newhart. This is a ho-hum WWII movie. Part way through I thought, "Wow, that music sounds just like the TV show Combat!". Well, the director went on to do Combat!(!). Story line is just like an extra 1/2 hr of Combat! and not as good. For a TV show script it was great. For a $2.5 million dollar movie it was slow, disjointed and boring. The Newhart lines were funny but out of place during a war sequence of events. My generous rating : 4 of 10. No wonder McQueen was stand-offish. Who would want to be there? If you like WWII movies there are so many better ones to pick from.

This is a very under-rated film. The cinematography is accurate for WW II northern Europe; the script is quite believable and the film shows the audience that leadership and courage do not necessarily equate with rank or position. McQueen, who served in the Marine Corps, gives a gritty, totally believable performance as a busted, alcoholic loser who receives a "rehab transfer" to a front line unit (in the 95th Infantry Division) during WW II. There doesn't appear to be much potential for Reese. But as the story unfolds and the platoon is put in dire circumstances (assigned to hold an area that would take a reinforced company) he emerges as a savvy combat vet and natural leader. He is the only member of the unit who understands the bigger picture of what has happened and what the men must do to save themselves. They must probe the German lines at night in order to give the impression they are a company at full strength, otherwise the Germans to their front will make a push to over run their undermanned position. Upon locating the machine gun bunker that has pinned down the platoon since they took their positions, McQueen, again the only true leader in the bunch, plans an assault to take the gun out. One can debate the merits of his plan, but the point is no one else in the platoon took charge and no one else said they should/should not take the gun out. Subsequently the mission fails and one man is killed. But it is the nature of war that men die. The company commander (who should have left a senior NCO with the platoon) returns from some nefarious all night meeting just after the disastrous raid ends and immediately blames Reese for everything. The last scene brings the film's title, and moral, into clear focus. Reese is facing a courts-martial that will "pin his ears back" after the upcoming offensive is over. But despite this he continues to do the right thing; he takes out the German bunker, even at the risk of his own life. The end scene justifies the movie's title. Reese is the only hero here, and his only reward is condemnation and death. The action is taut and well paced. Bob Newhart is excellent as a clerk who gets lost and ends up with the platoon getting "on the job training" as a rifleman. His telephone scenes are priceless. The rest of the supporting cast is superb. This is one of Steve McQueen's finest performances. He is dark and serious throughout the film and his character makes no attempt at comedic relief; that is left to Bobby Darin and Bob Newhart. Because of this fact, McQueen's performance is riveting and powerful.

One of Steve McQueen's better roles is one that is modeled on one that James Cagney played in The Fighting 69th. If you'll remember Cagney was a wise guy who lost his nerve on the battlefield and was sentenced to be shot, but redeemed himself in a heroic climax. Now McQueen wasn't a coward and he didn't have a priest like Pat O'Brien to have faith in him. But he was a reckless sort and convinced of his own righteousness. It negated his acts of bravery and when the film opens we find him down to being a private and under the command of a sergeant played by Fess Parker who likes him, but understands him all too well. And Parker's platoon has a really rotten assignment. Hold their position on the Siegfried Line with a handful of men until help arrives and maybe convince the Germans there's a lot more out there than there really are. McQueen in his usual rebel way goes his own way. It costs the lives of a lot in his squad. Still he does redeem himself like Cagney in the end. This is maybe the only film in which McQueen's rebel persona worked against his character. Still it's an interesting and moving performance he gives. Look also for good performances from the rest of the cast that includes Harry Guardino, Bobby Darin, Nick Adams, Mike Kellin, and Bob Newhart as other soldiers on the dirty detail. The film credits say 'introducing Bob Newhart' and he provides what little comedy there is. After the Parker platoon gets the assignment to hold on their assigned piece of real estate, Newhart comes driving up in a jeep loaded with typewriters. He's a clerk/typist at division headquarters and it seems as though he made a wrong turn. Never mind because Guardino and Parker commandeer him and his jeep. Which sets up one of his routines from his early standup act. Newhart used to work with a telephone and he's asked to do so here for the benefit of a German microphone planted on the American line. It actually works very well into the fabric of the plot. Hell is for Heroes is one tough and gritty war drama, the kind of film that a generation later, Steven Spielberg would get all kinds of acclaim for Saving Private Ryan. For war picture fans, this is a must.

I was really disappointed in this WW2 'actioner'. Took me years to finally see it and it almost put me to sleep half way in. By the end I was shaking my head at the awfulness of some of it, especially McQueen's heroic sacrifice at the window of the German pillbox. By the time it happens, Mcqueen had long since bled my patience. It seemed like a vanity role for him, almost Chuck Norris-like in his insistence we watch his every move while forbidding us to ask why his character is so damned shallow. Who is McQueen in this picture? Who cares. None of the characters had a modicum of depth or realism, but McQueen stands out as much for his laconic overacting, looking most of the picture like he's sullen because he's constipated, as he stands out because he headlines the marquee. Bob Newhart too is most annoying as the clerk who is enlisted on the spot to help win the battle. It's obvious now where the Upham character in Saving Private Ryan was born. But Newhart isn't just a meek little paper pusher who battles his own inner weaknesses, he's also Bob Newhart, comedian under fire. The famed (and not so funny) one sided telephone routine he did as a stand-up comic throughout the 60's unfortunately is written into the script here and it's as out of place as Nick Adams playing an unexplained Pole. James Coburn comes away with the best performance in the film, albeit he has little screen time. Bobby Darin is just average, and Fess Parker couldn't act his way out of a burning foxhole. It's a lengthy wait for some action in this as well. Lots of talk early on, and go nowhere scenes that show us McQueen is a complex, tough, cool customer but, again, who cares because we learn absolutely nothing about the man. This film is strictly mediocre TV production quality all the way.

Steve McQueen is the reason to watch this movie. As some of these recent Docs on McQueen point out, he researched his moves, how to plausibly use his hardware and props and look very cool doing it. Turning his part into something he can omit unnecessary duologue from while he does physical stuff. His Reese is a hardcore guy with no room for nonsense or humor. When the Nick Adams character, a puppy dog native trying to adopt the unit as an ersatz GI, tries to ingratiate himself with Reese, Reese says "If I see you at the front, I'll Kill you myself." With that 1000 mile stare very few tough guys really master. And a goofy detail that I associate with this movie and the McQueen body/instrument. McQueen scrambles over to another foxhole and drops his weight into a perfect glide on his knees coming down the dirt bank. A hiss of contact that is pure grace, pure athleticism. Dumb detail but exactly the kind of stuff you're absorbing while you watch McQueen. I wish Don Siegel could have worked with McQueen on other projects. They both had a larger than life style that still kept it real.