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.

This Don Siegel directed film is a very simple war film--similar to Sam Fuller's STEEL HELMET. Both films involve a very small group of American soldiers who are holding out against a larger enemy force and as a result, it's a very tense and claustrophobic film. Unlike STEEL HELMET, this is set in WWII and has a lot of stars and soon-to-be stars, such as Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Bobby Darin, Bob Newhart and Harry Guardino--though at the time, none of them were "big" stars.A group of only six guys are given the task of filling in where a hundred soldiers had been the day before. The problem is that the Germans are just across the battlefield and the Americans have to try and convince the enemy that there are a lot more than just the six guys. So, they use a variety of ruses to try to keep the Germans at bay--ultimately culminating in an insane attack against a heavily defended pillbox. When this fails, the rather surly and antisocial McQueen decides to try it again....and practically alone.Overall, it's an incredibly tense film and one with a lot of realism--perhaps too much for some (my wife got pretty upset during one of the bloodier scenes). The acting and direction are very good--in particular, Steve McQueen did an excellent job following the first abortive attack--showing a lot of the effects of exhaustion and fear. However, the whole "court martial" scene following this was a bit silly--it seemed excessive and hard to believe for the Commanding Officer to respond to this brave action this way--or at least it seemed this way to me. Also, the film, towards the end tended to use too much stock footage--a bit of a minus in an otherwise good film. But at least it did end on a very tough and tense note--a definite plus.

The commentary track for The Longest Day turned me on to this film. Steve McQueen, directed by Don Siegel? Can't miss that!Made the same year as it's more grandiose cousin, Hell Is For Heroes is an entirely different war movie experience. If movies reflect the period in which they're shot, this seems to reflect the paranoia and nihilistic uncertainty of the post-Korea Cold War.Laconic, antisocial and bitter, you've seen Steve McQueen play this role before but never so intensely! His Private Reese is very unsettling to watch.Hell Is For Heroes was obviously shot on a shoestring, but what it lacks in epic settings and lavish production, it makes up for with quality storytelling. The sharp black and white matches the stark situation the protagonists are confronted with.It's a very good film, not quite in the league of Platoon, Apocalypse Now or Thin Red Line. But fans of the genre, the director and/or the star should definitely check this one out.