SYNOPSICS
Where Eagles Dare (1968) is a English,German movie. Brian G. Hutton has directed this movie. Richard Burton,Clint Eastwood,Mary Ure,Patrick Wymark are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1968. Where Eagles Dare (1968) is considered one of the best Action,Adventure,War movie in India and around the world.
During World War II, a British aircraft is shot down and crashes in Nazi held territory. The Germans capture the only survivor, American Brigadier General George Carnaby (Robert Beatty), and take him to the nearest S.S. headquarters. Unknown to the Germans, the General has full knowledge of the D-Day operation. The British decide that the General must not be allowed to divulge any details of the Normandy landing at all costs, and order Major Jonathan Smith (Richard Burton) to lead a crack commando team to rescue him. Amongst the team is an American Ranger, Lieutenant Morris Schaffer (Clint Eastwood), who is puzzled by his inclusion in an all British operation. When one of the team dies after the parachute drop, Schaffer suspects that Smith's mission has a much more secret objective.
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Where Eagles Dare (1968) Reviews
Most Exciting, Atmospheric, Ingenious--McLean Served Well This Time
"Where Eagles Dare" was produced by folks who decided that Alistair Macleam deserved to be produced on film by someone who followed the author's exciting ideas. The result is a major improvement of the Us-er qualities of the character played by Clint Eastwood, the potent casting of Richard Burton, who is very very good (for once) in an adventure-level lead as the infinitely-resourceful leader of a WWII team of destructive agents, and an intelligent if action-level work of cinematic artistry. Others have written very well on this film; what I want to add to their basic core of arguments is some notes about the acting and ideas. From the group's boss, Michael Hordern to the ladies, Mary Ure and zoftik Ingrid Pitt, to enigmatic Robert Beatty, everyone involved is more than adequate in his/her part to very good. The three enemies, Ferdy Mayne, Derrin Nesbitt and Anton Diffring excel in whatever scenes they are given; and Peter Barkworth, Donald Houston, Patrick Wymark, et al as traitors have never been seen to greater advantage. Director Brian Hutton faced the all-but-impossible task of bringing a vaguely-implausible raid staged in snow country on an isolated castle to life. With stirring music, lovely art direction and edge-of-impossible special effects involving explosives, running machine-gun duels in a bus, falling telephone poles, a battle on a cable car, wrecking at an airport and a parachute drop betrayed from the start, he manages to bring the entire tale off very nicely by my standards. The other chief asset of the film lies in its unusually intelligent dialogue, plot turns and constant surprise. I counted at least seven major surprises, every one of which as in a good Hitchcockian thriller leads to a memorable scene; these are therefore not just script gimmicks, but rather they qualify as ingenious use of the adventure genre to keep the audience on the edge of their seats. This film perhaps is what James Bond films always should have been, but only in the case of "Doctor No" and "Goldfinger" ever were. One could wish that "The Secret Ways", "Ice Station Zebra" and several others of McLean's thrillers had been treated with as much respect, and near genius, as this memorable piece of screen excitement was (for once) afforded.
The ultimate 'men on a mission' movie
Once a year, usually around Christmas time but always in winter, this movie is played somewhere on British TV. Like 'The Great Escape' this movie has become a staple of TV station classic war movies wheeled out once a year to keep the punters happy, and it always delivers. How can it fail? It has spectacular scenery, great actors, lots of schoolboy WWII style action and even busty wenches in maid uniforms. This film is ingrained in the psyche, you cannot see a mountaintop castle without thinking of Schloss Adler and the cable-car scenes. If I'm trudging through the snow in the woods then I hear myself humming the theme from 'Where Eagles Dare'. If I or anyone from my generation picks up a radio, it's only a matter of time before someone starts sending "Broadsword calling Danny Boy" in an imitation of Richard Burton's plummy tones. It's a given. I know it's not the most realistic movie ever made, but Richard Burton, Michael Horden, Clint Eastwood and the gang carry it off with great aplomb and we believe every line. The pacing is excellent, leaving similar offerings such as 'Guns of Navarone' feeling like funeral marches. And talk about atmosphere! This movie reeks atmosphere, from the settings in the beautiful mountains to the scenes inside the old caste hallways to the exterior shots of people rapelling down the sides of the viciously cold walls. It's a must see, 8 out of 10 compared to all films, and 10 out of 10 for 'men on a mission' movies.
Terrific Stuff!
Epic war pic where Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood manage to unmask most of the German spy network in England, slip Jerry the wrong plans for the second front, kill the leading members of the Abwehr in Southern Bavaria, and destroy half of the local Wehrmacht- all in a little over two hours. Terrific score by Ron Goodwin, great action sequences and a commanding performance by Burton give this the "must see" imprimateur. Meanwhile it's obvious why the Nazis lost the war- since they rate one worse than Imperial Stormtroopers in the "can't hit the broadside of a barn" shooting stakes. Our plucky Allied troops more or less shoot themselves out of anywhere and anything.... However the radio call-sign "Broadsword calling Danny Boy" is now part of British folklore; the cable-car sequence is unmatched in spectacle; and the whole film makes you cheer up and feel better about the world. For once the Brits are portrayed as cooly proficient rather than public school chumps. What with the Yanks playing second fiddle, it's almost like the good old days ....
An archetypal schoolboy adventure, containing a sufficient variety of excitements...
This time Eastwood plays Shaffer, a professional killer in the American army, who joins an international commando team, led by a British major, Jonathan Smith (Richard Burton). The group is sent to the Bavarian Alps supposedly to rescue an American general from the hands of the German Army, who possesses highly valuable information on the impending D-Day invasion of Europe... Actually the high-ranking officer is a fake, and the real purpose of the mission is to discover which one of their team is a Nazi double agent who has succeeded in penetrating British intelligence... Aided by five other commandos, Burton makes the daring parachute drop into enemy territory, and his commando squad succeeds in entering the inaccessible fortress where the general is held, with the assistance of an intelligent operative, Mary Ellison (Mary Ure) whose presence is a secret to the other men... If you can stop being so serious, you can enjoy another piece of escapism, as scenic and exotic as the Aegean... The film contains a number of twists and turns, treachery and surprise revelations, a fiery battle with so many explosions within a castle, a hand-to-hand struggle to the death atop a moving cable-car, and Eastwood driving a speeding motorbike through a blinding snowstorm while on a terrifying mountain road...
Fantastic stuff!
This is one of the first real action movies as we know it today, ever made. The movie has lots of explosions and gun- and fist fights. The story is told in a fast pace with lots of cuts, even though the movie itself isn't short at all (158 minutes.). Even though it is still a war movie, this movie isn't as heavy and or serious as many other WW II movies made in the same period. It is kind of in the same style as "The Guns of Navarone" (Also written by Alistair MacLean.). It's more is adventurous and fun to watch than heavy or realistic. Director Brian G. Hutton later also made the other 'fun'/adventurous/WW II movie "Kelly's Heroes". Another element that distinct this movie from other movies from the same genre is the story. The story by famous writer Alistair MacLean is just brilliant! It begins as an average WW II rescue-mission movie but as the movie progresses the story takes several twists, until at a certain point you don't even know who to thrust anymore. The ending is really action-movie-like spectacular and features a tense fight an a moving cable-car followed by the perhaps even better car chase, which really reminded of the chase were Indy and his father are escaping the Nazi's on the motorcycle, in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" Even the music sounded kind of similar! I wouldn't be surprised if Spielberg and Williams were inspired by this movie. The same goes for many other movie directors and other persons in the movie business by the way. I see similarities between this movie with 'modern' work quite often, both in story and characters as well as the action, editing and many other elements from this movie. This really is an inspirational movie, that as an action movie, just like as for instance "North by Northwest", was far ahead of its time. It was a bit strange to see Clint Eastwood in the sidekick role. The main character of the movie is played by the legendary Richard Burton. Both actors really push this movie to an higher level with their profession and expertise and both are very believable in their roles. An entertaining, action packed adventurous war movie with a splendid story and two wonderful performances from the two main actors. 10/10 http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/