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Force 10 from Navarone

Force 10 from Navarone

List Price: $14.95
Your Price: $13.46
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: World War II Commando Movie. Early Harrison Ford work.
Review: Ford gives a good performance as a World War II American Ranger Officer sent behind enemy lines to aid the resistance with some demolition. This early performance, done in the middle of the Star War movies, forshadows the Harrison that is not Han Solo, but more of a 'gun using' CIA intelligence officer or 'take no prisoner's' future President. In this story, Ford unexpectedly ends up with two crafty English soldiers (Robert Shaw) attached to his Ranger unit with their own 'secret' mission; to kill a possible double agent (Franko Nero, Camelot). Lots of plot twists, good World War II movie. No significant errors in technique or history that distract from the movie. Acting performances, effects, costumes, and direction all above average.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good War Movie
Review: I don't know why Leonard Maltin doesn't like this one. I thought it was pretty good. Tired of men-blown-to-bits Vietnam stories? Try this one. The sequel to Guns of Navarone, Harrison Ford and Robert Shaw act well as a unit commander and a spunky ol' veteran officer. Ford leads Force 10 on a mission to execute an undercover spy and Shaw and his buddy (whose name escapes me) tag along with their own mission to blow up a bridge at a strategic spot crucial to the allies success. Both forces end up helping each other do their jobs after some tension at first. The movie also contained a few plot twists and you're never really sure who's on who's side until after all's said and done. Carl Weathers (Rocky movies) makes an earlier appearance as well.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Underrated fun, plus lots of Bond veterans
Review: I first saw this movie 20+ years ago on HBO (I was about 13 and a huge "Star Wars" fan, so I watched anything with Harrison Ford), with no knowledge of the original "Guns...", so I definitely have a soft spot for it. The best way to approach it is like a 007 movie: not necessarily realistic or literary, but a good fun romp, and without the utterly implausible over-the-top histrionics of today's action flicks. Plus, it's chock full of Bond film veterans: Robert Shaw (Nash in "From Russia With Love"), Richard Kiel and Barbara Bach (Jaws and Maj. Amasova respectively, both from "The Spy Who Loved Me"), Edward Fox (M in "Never Say Never Again"), plus it was directed by Guy Hamilton, who did several Bond films, including "Goldfinger", "Live and Let Die", and "The Man with the Golden Gun". No tuxedos, Aston Martins, or shaken-not-stirred martinis, but hey, it's WWII. Good fun filmaking, underrated because of its association with its predecessor.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: "We're Talking About the Wrong Target!"
Review: I first saw this movie as an in-flight movie while flying from Copenhagen to Seattle in September 1979. A sequel to "The Guns of Navarone" (1961) that starred Gregory Peck who played Keith Mallory and David Niven as Dusty Miller, Mallory and Miller return to action with Robert Shaw as Mallory and Edward Fox as Miller who have been assigned to a new mission in Yugoslavia to kill a Nazi agent posing as a Yugoslav partisan. Here they tag on with Force 10 led by American Army Ranger Lt. Col. Mike Barnsby (Harrison Ford) whose mission was to blow up a bridge to prevent the Nazis from crossing into the region defended by the partisans. The sequel was planned for filming back in 1967 with Peck and Niven playing their respective roles. The novel by Alistair MacLean was released in 1968, becoming his 17th million-copy best seller, but due to creative and economic concerns, the movie version was stalled. By 1977, the plans for filming commenced. Because of their ages, Peck and Niven would not star in the sequel. The following year the movie was released with Shaw, Ford and Fox. Sadly, Shaw did not live to see the film's release when he died of a heart attack August 28, 1978 in Tourmakeady, Ireland at the age of 51. Former Oakland Raider Carl Weathers plays his role well as the fiery Sgt. Weaver who merely "invited" himself on the mission, not knowing what was going on at first. Franco Nero plays Capt. Nikolai Leskovar, the Nazi agent Mallory was assigned to kill. Alan Badel plays the partisan leader Maj. Petrovich who assigned his daughter Maritza (Barbara Bach, also known as Mrs. Ringo Starr) as a partisan agent to spy on the Nazis and their Chetnick allies at a camp where they were operating. Richard Kiel plays the Chetnick leader Capt. Drazak who dupes Force 10, leading them to the camp where they would fall into the hands of the Germans commanded by Maj. Schroeder (Michael Byrne).

Like "The Guns of Navarone" the sequel is action-packed from start to finish from the stealing of an R.A.F. Lancaster at Termoli Air Base in Italy to the destruction of a dam that washes away the targeted bridge with several million tons of water. This is a great movie for those who love action dating back to World War II.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Great Movie
Review: I actually wanted to see this movie because I read that Barbara Bach was in it. When I saw the movie, I was blown away.
Not only by the great performance by Barbara Bach, but also by the entire movie.
It has great actors, great action and great music!
You see many familliar faces like Robert Shaw, Harrison Ford, Barbara Bach, Richard Kiel and Carl Weathers, who all act very good.
The action is tence and is great to watch.
If you like World War movies, but also if you just like a good action movie, then this is a must see.

A movie I will remember.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Lots of Action/Not Much Romance or Grandeur
Review: The late, great Gregory Peck once said that he thought "The Guns of Navarone" was really more of a comedy than a thriller--how else could anyone explain the absurdity of a handful of Allied commandos so ably and resoundingly defeating what appears to be half of the German Army? Well, dramatic identity of the movie aside, Peck, David Niven, Anthony Quinn, and the rest of the stellar cast of "The Guns of Navarone" had a wonderfully atmospheric production built around them, a script that was at times subtle and surprising, and a director in J. Lee Thompson who knew how to mix romanticized, technicolor grandeur with some truly hard-hitting scenes (the discovery of a traitor being but one of them). Unfortunately, the sequel, "Force Ten from Navarone," has none of these things. It benefits somewhat from the presence of Robert Shaw and Edward Fox, who despite being disappointing choices to fill the roles originated by Peck and Niven, do their best with what they have. And that's not much. Whereas "The Guns of Navarone" at least had a script layered with personal motivations and sacrifices for the covert mission, the sequel relies on more workmanlike premises, as the commando team this time simply is thrust into the center of the action. Guy Hamilton, who so ably brought "Goldfinger" and "Funeral in Berlin" to life, nonetheless is content to direct this film as though it were a slightly better-produced television movie and while there are a few nice vista shots, the sweep and imagination of the original is painfully absent. Without a solid production built around them, Harrison Ford and Barbara Bach are woefully uncharismatic, and Franco Nero, as the traitor, compensates by doing everything short of twirling his mustache to let us know he's the villain. The action scenes are, at times, quite riveting, and had "Force Ten from Navarone" not been a sequel, it might not seem so flimsy. But the inevitable comparison to the film it follows is like comparing a child dressed up in a parent's clothes to the actual parent--the basic idea is there, but most of details are underdeveloped or missing.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Edward Fox makes the movie.
Review: Why this guy wasn't allowed to play this character in other things is beyond me. He's the ultimate british eccentric who absolutely delightful :) The only other role that comes close is his part in A Bridge Too Far. Good WW2 Action movie.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Force 10 from Navarone
Review: Average movie for its day and good performance from Robert Shaw. I say average because from the very start Navarone is woven into the story, and the continuity experts get the rank of Mallory wrong.
Clearly only a Captain in the Guns of Navarone he is mysteriously promoted and ranked Major in this film. So simple an error is fair indication of the accuracy of this film to Alastair Maclean's original story.
There after Greece gets scant mention and I would caution anyone considering it for family viewing, as it should be R rated.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: force 10 uncut is not for my kids
Review: This is before H Ford became Han Solo and includes Robert Shaw a long under-rated screen presence. The story was slow moving so I could give it no more than 3 stars to in spite for these 2 stars being in it.


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