Considered one of the all-time classic war films, Cross of Iron follows the story of German officer Rolf Steiner (James Coburn) on the Eastern Front in 1943. Highly experienced but also worn down from service on the frontline, Steiner and his men find themselves placed under the command of a cowardly but ambitious new commander, Captain Stransky (Maximilian Schell).
After Steiner’s squad is involved in another bloody encounter with the enemy, Stransky attempts to fraudulently claim another officer’s heroics, in a bid to falsely earn his own Iron Cross. When Steiner refuses to take part in the plot, Stransky betrays him, leaving Steiner and his squad isolated, outnumbered, and fighting for their lives.
The first and only war movie from renowned director Sam Peckinpah (The Wild Bunch, Straw Dogs), Cross of Iron depicts the bleak experiences of an army in retreat on the Eastern Front, but also the bloody cost of blind ambition, in pursuit of glory. This issue, History of War readers have the chance to win a fully restored version of Cross of Iron on Blu-Ray, courtesy of StudioCanal.
The fully restored Cross of Iron is on sale 31 July. For your chance to win one of three copies simply answer the question below:
