Back to browse
71% Critic Match
Cross of Iron
“On the Eastern front in 1943, the German soldiers no longer had any ideals. They were not fighting for the Party—but for their lives!”
7.1 / 10• 1977• 2h 13m•R• English
DramaActionHistoryWar
Storyline
It is 1943, and the German army—ravaged and demoralised—is hastily retreating from the Russian front. In the midst of the madness, conflict brews between the aristocratic yet ultimately pusillanimous Captain Stransky and the courageous Corporal Steiner. Stransky is the only man who believes that the Third Reich is still vastly superior to the Russian army. However, within his pompous persona lies a quivering coward who longs for the Iron Cross so that he can return to Berlin a hero. Steiner, on the other hand is cynical, defiantly non-conformist and more concerned with the safety of his own men rather than the horde of military decorations offered to him by his superiors.
Cast & Crew
James Coburn
Unteroffizier / Feldwebel Rolf Steiner
Lead
Maximilian Schell
Hauptmann Stransky
James Mason
Oberst Brandt
David Warner
Hauptmann Kiesel
Klaus Löwitsch
Unteroffizier Krüger
Vadim Glowna
Gefreiter Kern
Roger Fritz
Leutnant Treibig
Dieter Schidor
Anselm
What People Are Saying
4.0
“A staggering achievement of craft and ambition. Sam Peckinpah's vision lands with breathtaking precision.”
4.0
“Every frame feels alive. Cross of Iron is the rare release that takes its audience seriously.”
