Pretty good action film about a British commando mission led by Maj. John Smith (Richard Burton) on a mission to rescue an American General who has knowledge of the Allied European invasion plans. He is being held in an impenetrable castle, "The Schloss Atler" high in the Bavarian mountains. Accompaning The raid is an American officer, Lt. Schaffer (Clint Eastwood). The plan is to drop in by parachute and make their way to the town by the foot of the castle. The castle is formidable because the only way in or out is by a long cable car ride, which makes surprise almost impossible. The team is successful, and with a lot of action and fighting rescue the General and escape. By using the typical Nazi bravado of Identifying oneself as SS and asking questions, then threatening punishment when not answered, vital information is extracted from the Nazis who were questioning the General. As it turns out, this was the entire mission. The General was an imposter, acting like a General to fool the Nazis. The mission was to extract information that could identify a top double agent in the British High Command. This was an action-packed film shot on location in Switzerland and Bavaria. The acting was pretty good and the plot wasn't revealed until just the right time.Read full review
It is the winter of 1944. A lone transport plane, in German Luftwaffe insignia, picks its way through the peaks of the Bavarian Alps by night. Inside, seven paratroopers, in German Fallschirmjaeger uniform, wait in grim silence for the jump signal. Among them is their leader, Major Smith (Richard Burton) and his junior officer, Lieutenant Schaeffer (Clint Eastwood). The others: Christiansen (Donald Houston), Barkely (Peter Barkworth), Thomas (William Squire), Mac Pherson (Neil Mc Carthy) and Harrod (Brook Williams) are enlistedmen. In the silent tension, Major Smith ponders his mission briefing. Flashing back to headquarters in London, the Fallschirjaeger paratroops turn out to be a team of highly trained British MI6 agents (except for Shaeffer, who is on loan from the American OSS). Briefed by intelligence cheif, Admiral Rolland (Michael Hordern), and his executive officer, Colonel Turner (Patrick Wymark), the team's mission is to rescue a captured American, General Carnaby (Robert Beatty), an Allied planner for Operation Overlord (D-Day). The General's plane has been shot down, & he is being held prisoner at the Schloss Adler (Castle of Eagles), an impregnable mountain-top fortress that also serves as headquarters for the German Alpine Korps. The prisoner must be rescued before he can divulge any information about Operation Overlord. The "Schloss Adler" castle fortress on the mountainside is actually the "Schloss Hohenwerfen" in Austria. At the time of filming, the castle was being used as a police training camp. There are no cable cars near Schloss Hohenwerfen. Hence the Cable Car shooting is done somewhere else. The castle is still open today to the public & is the site of a falconry. Other than the exterior, the only feature that will be familiar to movie fans is the courtyard We must wonder what the body count turned out to be in this film. The body count floats right around 100, which most are single handed killings by Schaeffer (Eastwood). Many of the deaths were not that bloody, just maybe gunned down and then fall over. Despite Clint Eastwood's reputation for violence in other films, his character kills more people in this film than any other Eastwood character. Eastwood was reluctant to receive second billing to Burton, but agreed after being paid $800,000. Burton wanted Richard Egan to play the Clint Eastwood role. The German soldier who was a traitor was pretty good footage as we see him fall to his death after being shot. A funny note about this is that when the traitor is shot while dangling from a rope outside the castle, the close-up shows him wearing a standard German field gray uniform. In the next shot, as he plummets to his death, he is wearing a camouflaged winter overcoat. Although this film contains roughly 1472 edits during 151 minutes of action (which equates to an approximately 6 seconds a shot, there seem to be long & quite somber sections of the film where people are busy doing other things like putting on their coats, making sure the radio works, etc. The part that ultimately went to Clint Eastwood was also offered to Lee Marvin, but he declined, telling the producers they were about 4 years too late. Marvin had already starred in a WW2 action-adventure, The Dirty Dozen (1967) which he hated. Although it made him a huge star, he did not want to return to that type of movie. Nazi concentration camp survivor Ingrid Pitt found filming very difficult because many of the cast were wearing German Uniform.Read full review
This is the excellent star studded 1969 war classic. The Alistair Maclean story was already very good and the way it is made for the big screen is a benchmark for all war movies to follow. The two leading stars Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton form a perfect pair, both professionals in their own way. The scenery is great (snowy alps and a menacing fortress in the hills "Schloss Adler"). There are many twists in the plot and great action scenes. The DVd has some interesting extra's: a theatrical trailer and a 15 minute vintage featurette. The picture and audio quality is good and this is easily a "must have" DVD for anyone interested in action, thriller or war movies. It's a lso a long movie: more than 2 and a half hours of nonstop action!
Great story, lots of dramatic 'cliff hangers', with a bit of a mystery plot to solve as well. Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton make an interesting mix of personalities being on the same team. Mostly accurate with regards to the historical setting, except that helicopters like the one used did not exist yet.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Though the story line is good the movie is too long and drawn out before it even gets to the meat and potatoes of it. And even then it's still not very interesting.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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