Brutal WWII War Movie Explores Battles from Behind Enemy Lines

What Is Sam Peckinpah’s ‘Cross of Iron’ About?

Corporal Rolf Steiner (James Coburn) is a living legend among his Wehrmacht brethren, living up to their myth of the Aryan soldier, which is ironic, since he privately despises everything to do with military structure. The Captain of Steiner’s battalion, Stransky (Maximilian Schell), is a presumptive coward who seeks personal glory at all costs, seeing it as his destiny to earn the prestigious Iron Cross medal by any means necessary. When the German army is attacked by the Russian army, the German counterattack is led by the much beloved lieutenant Meyer (Igor Galo), while Stransky hides in a bunker out of fear, leading to Meyer’s death despite the successful counterattack. Stransky attempts to claim he led the counterattack and, to prove his case to their ranking officer, Colonel Brandt (James Mason), he needs witnesses to corroborate his claims.

He turns to Steiner due to his high standing among the soldiers, and to Lieutenant Treibirg (Roger Fritz), blackmailing him with the knowledge that Treibirg is a closeted homosexual. But Steiner won’t back down from his principles, leading to a war that results in the deaths of numerous innocent soldiers.

But are they truly innocent? While Peckinpah may have a reputation for antagonizing audiences with his depictions, it would be callous to think he’d fully embrace a Nazi perspective uncritically. Given the way he contemplated and examined the poisonous influence of fascistic violence in Straw Dogs, one of his most dangerous films, it stands to reason that he views the characters of Cross of Iron through two different lenses. On one hand, Peckinpah indulges in his love for gritty men clawing and carousing through life’s constant battles with his signature primal rage at unnecessary societal strictures. On the other hand, he frequently emphasizes the senseless depravity and casual cruelty that the soldiers engage in, whether it’s the way they physically bully each other or how Stransky views everyone below him as pawns in his own game of career advancement.

Similar to Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory, Peckinpah exposes how military structures incentivize higher-ranking individuals to throw lower-ranked members under the bus for their own ego or social progression. However, while it’s commendable that Peckinpah is perceptive enough to point this out, it’s not sufficient to critique soldiers serving the Nazi forces effectively.

Sam Peckipah’s ‘Cross of Iron’ Mishandles Its Politics

Give credit to Peckinpah for the initial guts to pursue a story set firmly within its historical context, but the narrative makes it feel like he couldn’t fully commit to all of its implications. The film has essentially no discussion or acknowledgment of the political philosophy or underlying goals that the Nazis pursued, besides Stransky being offended by the notion of being called one after Steiner criticizes his worldview. Stransky and Steiner both maintain that they’re members of the Wehrmacht and not official Nazi party members, essentially shrugging off any moral responsibility for serving them. Steiner laments the cruel no man’s land that soldiers find themselves in, rambling about being at the mercy of “an accident of hands,” mindlessly going from “one extreme to the other” ineffectively.

‘Cross of Iron’ Shows the Ugly, Unrewarding Sides of War

A Sam Peckinpah action movie is usually defined by abject chaos and being drenched in the juices and grime of violence. He loves practically showering his characters in mud and blood and sweat, dragging them around by their fingernails until they can barely stand. While Cross of Iron isn’t as graphic in its violence as some of his other films due to the film’s notable budget issues, it succeeds in its anti-war intentions by portraying all combat scenes devoid of any glory or glamor. Soldiers scurrying across battlefields are haggard and desperate, with explosions sending them flying and hollering pathetic cartoon screams. The combat zones are so drenched in debris and smoke that you can barely see what’s going on, adding a layer of smog that makes it hard to get any kind of thrill since you’re so busy squinting to see what’s happening. If anything, it makes the Germans look like scared crabs scuttling around at the mercy of karma itself.

That karma comes back around on all the characters, especially Stransky. After Stransky intentionally orders Steiner and his men to stay put so the oncoming Russian soldiers can slaughter them, Steiner and his men fight through the forces to get back to HQ. Disguised as Russian soldiers, Stransky uses this as an excuse to order his men to fire on them, trying to erase anyone who could expose his lies. While Steiner survives, the two seem headed for a standoff, only for Steiner to insist they should fight their way out together. Eventually, they go separate ways, with Stransky being confronted by a Russian child soldier who barely knows how to hold a gun. Steiner leaves Stransky to die while laughing at the absurdity of the situation.

With the film closing with a montage of military officers executing civilians throughout history, Sam Peckinpah emphasizes that no military force is exempt from the capability of selfish brutality, regardless of nationality or cause. It’s just a bit of a shame Peckinpah didn’t think further about which side would be most effective to make that point.

Cross of Iron is available to watch on Prime Video in the U.S.