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Where Eagles Dare

Where Eagles Dare

List Price: $19.98
Your Price: $14.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Downright great entertainment
Review: What can I say. Far-fetched would probably be the key word to this film, but it is a film and that's all we can say. The acting though is superb. Clint Eastwood as the most well known "tough-guy" actor in Hollywood at that time along side Telly Savalis, Charles Bronson & Lee Marvin. Richard Burton whose training in Theatre has a voice that would send shivers down your spine. The helicopter scene is a real laugh. Helicopters in World war 2? Get off the grass!!! but still like I said it is a movie and a must see for tough-guy fans.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Classic and The Best
Review: I won't waste my or your time saying how great this movie is. Do yourself a favor and buy this movie.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not Burton's or Eastwood's Best
Review: While many may find it easy to embrace the lack of realism and other problems with this movie, some will find it jarring. Eastwood must have been carrying his own body weight in small arms ammunition to lay down the volume of fire he produces. Unlike "The Guns of Navarone," the only Alistair MacClean movie worth watching, there is little tension and the twisting plot seems more time consuming than interesting. Both of the lead actors did much better in other WWII movies (e.g., Eastwood's Kelly in "Kelly's Heroes" gives us a far more interesting character; Burton's burned-out RAF pilot in the longest day is far more watchable than his spy in "Eagles"). Given all the movies before and since whose primary dialogue has been automatic weapons fire, I'm afraid there is little to recommend in this movie to raise it above the rest. The scenery is pretty, the action sequences are well managed, and aircraft watchers will love seeing the old airplane (Junkers 52). But for the rest... Get a copy of "The Guns of Navarone" for a good WWII adventure movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best of the Genre
Review: You really couldn't ask for a better world war II war movie, unless you were looking for something historically accurate. This movie has everything, exotic locations, combat drama, intrigue, great actors, and beautiful women. If you only buy one world war II movie, this is the one to get, you won't be disappointed.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An old classic finally gets released on DVD....
Review: Before Clint Eastwood really got his footing and became the toughest guy in "Movies for Guys Who Like Movies," he was part of this fine epic classic set in WWII that was written by Alistair MacLean (also famous for "The Guns of Navarone" novel). The locations are beautiful, with lots of snowy mountains and an impressive Alpine fortress, and the daring team of rescuers must infiltrate the fortress by going up on the outside of a cable car in the high winds and freezing snow. There's plenty of espionage, double- (and triple-!!) crosses, machine gunning, grenades, truck chase scenes, etc, and this was all in 1969!! It's long (~2h:40m), but it's got action, story, characters, and scenery, so it's well worth the label of "epic". One of my favorites is finally released on DVD after 35 years.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "Meat and Potatoes" Movie
Review: In a biography I've read about Richard Burton, he called WHERE EAGLES DARE a "meat and potatoes" movie, referring to it as a basic entertainment that gives the audience what it wants (and pays him handsomely). His presence certainly elevates the film, as does Clint Eastwood as his often-bewildered comrade.

The beautiful locations and twists of the story also raise this movie above its "WWII actioner" status.
It's still a whole lot of fun to watch.

(Another note: I read an interview with Clint Eastwood and he said that Richard Burton's hands were shaking so bad, due to his drinking problem, that he had to hold his handgun with both hands during the "triple-cross" scene. I always wondered why he held his gun by the butt AND the silencer....)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An Absolutely phenomenal movie
Review: There are very few movies out there that can combine great acting, intrigue, action and excitement like "Where Eagles Dare" can.
First you have smooth and sauve Richard Burton in a wonderful performance as Major Smith: What are his plans? To whom do his allegiances lie? What exactly is he doing?
You can also ask these questions of the whole movie as the plot thickens soon after Burton, Clint Eastwood and a crew of English commando's descend into the Bavarian Alps to, what the viewer thinks, rescue an important Allied general. Sharp observers will note early on that all is not as it seems.
Thus begins a roller coaster ride of chases, explosions, suspense & thrills.
From a wild fight atop a cable car, to the final "unmasking" of everyone's true identities, there isn't a chance to pause and take a breath.
Although Burton is fantastic, Clint is the real star as he seemingly transports his quiet and deadly "Man With No Name" personna to the film as only he can.

This movie has it all.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I LOVE THIS MOVIE !!!!!!!
Review: I really enjoy watching this movie over and over.Richard Burton is great.The action is superb and the movie is very exciting.I usually don't even like war movies,but this one is the exception.It is great from begining to end.I love that all the ... get shot or blown up!All the good guys make it to the end.If you love action,you will love this movie!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Broadsword Calling Danny Boy
Review: I, like countless others stranded in front of a TV with basic cable throughout the 80's, grew to love "Where Eagles Dare". "Where Eagles Dare" is not a good war movie. It's not even a good movie movie. Why is it so popular? Because this movie is loads of fun.

With hardly a passing glance at realism, a confusing, ludicrous script, and a series of plot twists "so hackneyed it would make Stan Lee blush" (thank you, Comic Book Guy, , "Where Eagles Dare" belongs at the bottom of any stack of war movies that also includes "Saving Private Ryan" or even "Patton". Cruel, simplistic, patrician, it holds dear none of the lessons of wartime comradery, the preciousness of life or the ultimate futility of war that we are made to understand from the popular war movie 'book'. "Where Eagles Dare" begins with untrustworthy spy-movie-Fu, develops irresponsible cruelty, and ends with daring idiocy.

So what's good in here, anyway? Clint Eastwood's gruff swagger. Richard Burton's top-spook cunning. The combat scenes, whose locations become characters and plot devices. The blessed, blessed paucity of dialog; this film's soundtrack is snowy wind ambience, gunfire and musical score, punctuated by brief lines from Burton.

The combat scenes in the beginning and middle of the film are excellent; they trade realism for panache, and aren't afraid to put Eastwood against impossible odds, laying it on thick with the grenades and bottomless clips (very few shooting movies have the stones to make up for this particular gaffe). Things start to fall apart near the ending chase scene, but by that point you've sat so long on sweaty hands through the tense getaways and cliffhangers that it doesn't matter how it wraps up. Which is a good thing, since the final scene assures confused viewers that the plot is disposable anyway.

This is not a desert island must-have. This is a film to fill a long Saturday afternoon; play it inbetween "Ronin" and "Starship Troopers", not "Schindler's List" and "The English Patient". It's no wonder this film was so popular on TNT and other cable channels in the 80's; it's the just the thing for a brain comfortably in the "off" position.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A waste of space on my DVD rack
Review: This movie is why all of the WWII vets cheered Saving Private Ryan for it's realism. Eagles Dare has not one shread of realism. Clint and Burton kill everything that moves without a scratch or reload. The Germans are potrayed like complete idiots falling over like bowling pins. Basically the plot goes like this:
Burton tells Clint "See that iron fortress on the cliff with the 4000 Germans. Where going to sneak in, rescue a hostage and kill at least 500 guards. Here is an extra magazine in case you need to reload. Oh yeah, see these 4 British agents who are going in with us. They are actually German agents who are trying to kill us too."
If your looking for realism, good acting, or just a good movie don't go here. Even true Eastwood fans will have a difficult time with this one.


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