This movie is one of those where you have to suspend your disbelief and just hang on for the ride!
Richard Burton, in a great performance, stars as "Major John Smith", a British commando/secret agent sent behind enemy lines to rescue a captured American general who just happens to have the advance plans for D-Day. If this isn’t enough, the plot has more twists and turns than any other film I can think of! 1) The general is not really a general; 2) there are no D-Day plans; 3) Someone on the commando team is a double agent; 4) Someone back at MI-6 is a double agent; 5) you get the picture...
As Major Smith’s sidekick, we have a young-looking Clint Eastwood, an American Ranger. Eastwood does an excellent job of portraying a cold blooded killer, able to do his job equally well with knives, pistols, or submachine guns. Why he is the sole American on the British commando team is one of the various plot twists that occurs.
The team’s mission is to enter an impregnable German fortress, only accessible by cable car or helicopter! That is where the general is imprisoned. It also is the headquarters for the German Alpenkorps, the elite mountain fighting unit! Needless to say, the six-man commando team has its work cut out for it!
The cinematography is breathtaking, the snow capped Alps are all around the fortress. The sets are also well made and convincing. The characters are a little shallow, especially the credulity of the Germans, but that is what one would expect in such a far-fetched plot! This movie is about action and adventure! The Ron Goodwin score is rousing and well suited to the action.
The dialog, by Alistair MacLean, is original and entertaining. When the mission has been accomplished, the team is picked up by an allied plane. Colonel Turner, the MI-6 mole exposed by Burton is on the plane to meet them. As they fly back toward friendly skies, Turner tries to shoot Burton, however, the firing pin was removed back in Britain, by loyal subjects of the crown. Breaking into a sweat, Col. Turner says that a spy trial would be painful... Richard Burton replies, "Yes, almost as painful as that long drop to the end of the rope!"
Fans of "Where Eagles Dare" will also like "The Dirty Dozen", a fine movie with a similar improbable plot, but very well done and very worthwhile to see. This one of Richard Burton's best; for another see "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold", a superb portrayal of cold-war espionage.
Richard Burton stars as Major John Smith a British agent during WWII who is in charge a group of six Allied soldiers given the task of rescuing an Ame...More at Family Video
The mission is clear. Get in. Get the general. Get out. Commandos charged with freeing a U.S. general from an Alpine fortress should also be told to t...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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