BEFORE: Like "The Bridge on the River Kwai", this is a very long film - about 2 hours 40 min., which makes my decision to use up my free day seem like a smart one. This is another film set in WW2, with another piece of strategic enemy machinery that needs to be destroyed.
THE PLOT: A British team is sent to occupied Greek territory to destroy the massive German gun emplacement that commands a key sea channel.
AFTER: I'm looking for a copy of this film's sequel, "Force 10 from Navarone", which stars Harrison Ford - if I had that, I could have watched back-to-back war films with cast members from "Star Wars" in them.
Still, I've got "Star Wars" on the brain, because a lot of key elements in this film reminded me of pieces of that space saga - I guess war is war, whether it takes place in the Aegean Sea, or in a galaxy far, far away...
Specifically, when the commando squad dressed up like Nazi officers, it reminded me of Luke and Han disguised as Imperial stormtroopers on the Death Star. And when they approach the Nazi-occupied territory in a fishing boat, it reminded me of the rebels approaching the moon of Endor in a stolen Imperial shuttle. When a wounded member of the squad was tortured by the Nazis to reveal the plan, I thought of Princess Leia being tortured to reveal the location of the rebel base - and when the squad knocked down Nazis on motorcycles by using Greek fishing nets, I thought of the Ewoks knocking stormtroopers off of speeder bikes. And finally, setting charges to blow up the guns before the British fleet arrived - how could I not be reminded of the rebels blowing up the Imperial bunker on Endor, to protect the rebel fleet in space?
Let's face it, this movie completely ripped off "Star Wars: A New Hope" and "Return of the Jedi". Don't let the fact that it was made 16 years before the first Star Wars movie fool you...
Starring Gregory Peck (last seen in "The Omen"), David Niven (last seen in "Death on the Nile"), Anthony Quinn (last seen in "Mobsters"), James Darren and Richard Harris (last seen in "Patriot Games").
RATING: 4 out of 10 Greek columns
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