On 6th June 2011 Sam Peckinpah's brutal war epic CROSS OF IRON is released on UK Blu-ray digitally restored for the first time. Based on the novel by Willi Heinrich the film stars James Coburn, Maximilian Schell, James Mason, David Warner & Senta Berger.
WWII, 1943, the Russian front. An arrogant aristocratic Prussian Officer named Stransky (Maximilian Schell) is assigned as the new commander of a German platoon, his only ambition to win the Iron Cross to maintain his family honour. When Stransky falsely claims credit for bravely leading the squad into a bloody battle against the Russians in order to be awarded the medal he craves, he names gutsy Sergeant Rolf Steiner (James Coburn) as his witness. When Steiner refuses to be complicit, a battle of wills between the two men from very different backgrounds ensures. Then Stransky purposefully fails to relay an order to the squad to fall back from their position, leaving them surrounded by Russian troops and suffering heavy bombardment. Knowing that defeat is inevitable their only goal is survival...
Heralded as the most 'anti-war' war film ever made, CROSS OF IRON is a bloody and thought-provoking depiction of the horrors of war and Peckinpah has served as an inspiration for everyone from Tarantino to Kathryn Bigelow.
Blu-ray Extras (all new): Passion & Poetry - Sam Peckinpah's War (46:00): A documentary by Mike Siegel featuring James Coburn, Senta Berger, David Warner, Vadim Glowna, Roger Fritz, Katy Haber & Sam Peckinpah. 5 featurettes with 1976 on set audio interviews: Sam Peckinpah (5:06) / James Coburn (5:30) / James Mason (6:05) / Maximilian Schell (4:35) / David Warner (3:14) / Featurette KRÜGER KISSES KERN (8:27) / Letters From Vadim & Sam Featurette (3:48) / Vadim & Sam - Son & Dad Featurette (5:55) / Cutting Room Floor Featurette (4:19) / Mike's Homemovies Featurette - Steiner meets Kiesel again (7:16) / Steiner In Japan (2-3 mins) / Before & After Restoration Comparison / German Trailer (3:10) / USA TV-Spot (0:30) / USA/UK Trailer (3:42).
Now here's your chance to win a new Blu-ray of this powerful film. Thanks to Optimum Home Entertainment we have 3 copies to offer. To be in with a chance of winning you need to answer the following question correctly:
Name the last movie that Sam Peckinpah directed?
Update 16th June 2011. The competition is now closed.
If you would like to catch this movie on the big screen then head over to The Odeon, Panton Street, London where it will be showing from June 17th.
Here's the trailer:
