Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #542 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-06-01
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English, German
• Subtitled in: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Arabic, Romanian, Dutch
• Dubbed in: French, Italian
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 148 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Scorned by reviewers when it came out, Where Eagles Dare has acquired a cult following over the years for its unashamed and highly concentrated dose of commando death-dealing to legions of Nazi machine-gun fodder. In 1968 Clint Eastwood was just getting used to the notion that he might be a world-class movie star; Richard Burton, whose image had been shaped equally by classical theatre and his headline-making romance with Elizabeth Taylor, was eager to try his hand at the action genre. Author Alistair MacLean's novel The Guns of Navarone had inspired the film that started the 1960s vogue for World War II military capers, so he was prevailed upon to write the screenplay (his first). The central location, an impregnable Alpine stronghold locked in ice and snow, is surpassing cool, but the plot and action are ultra-mechanical, and the switcheroo gamesmanship of just who is the undercover double (triple?) agent on the mission becomes aggressively silly. --Richard T Jameson

Synopsis
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 American general--who is reportedly in possession of the plans for D-Day--from a seemingly impregnable German fortress located high in the Bavarian Alps. Assisting Smith is the sole American in the operative, Lieutenant Morris Schaffer (Clint Eastwood), a fierce soldier skilled with an array of deadly weapons. As the men penetrate the fortress, facing an endless supply of German soldiers, it becomes apparent that some members of the small Allied team may not be who them seem to be. Full of thrilling action set pieces, the screenplay was written by Alistair MacLean, adapted from his own best selling novel.

Customer Reviews

Awesome Action War Movie
An exciting, tense and action-packed British-American thriller with a great leading cast, plenty of familiar supporting actors and some stunning stunt sequences.

In 1944, a British commando team, along with an American OSS operative, parachutes into the Bavarian Alps to rescue an American officer from an impregnable castle. But that's not all that's really going on, and soon the mission is complicated by a traitor in the midst.

Richard Burton (RAID ON ROMMEL) is excellent in an easygoing role as Major Smith, cool and competent commando officer. It's not his best performance - Burton is best suited for large, talky roles - but he appears to be having plenty of fun. Eastwood (KELLY'S HEROES) has a pointless role until the second half of the movie, when his talents as an assassin are portrayed full-blast. He kills dozens upon dozens of enemy troops, the bulk of them in an impressive hallway shootout which forgets logic and proves that in Hollywood, the good guys always win. In support, Mary Ure is a blonde heroine; Michael Hordern the sensitive British commander; and Anton Diffring (THE FIFTH OFFENSIVE); Derren Nesbitt (THE BLUE MAX) and Ferdy Mayne are the 1-dimensional, evil Nazi officers. The commando team is made up of familiar British co-stars Donald Houston (THE LONGEST DAY); Peter Barkworth; William Squire; Neil McCarthy (ZULU) and Brook Williams (RAID ON ROMMEL). Watch for Victor Beaumont as the German colonel who takes the commandos prisoner, and John G. Heller has a one-liner as the German Major in the bar.

The movie's real stars, however, are the great action sequences. The movie features five spectacular scenes: the first two being nail-biting treks across a valley on the roof of a German ski lift, one of which has characters fighting eachother with ice axes; the third being a series of shootouts and booby trap explosions within the bowels the castle; the fourth, a car chase through the center of a German village and down a precarious, snow-covered mountain roadway as German cars and motorcycles pursue a bus occupied by the heroes; and, finally, a huge explosive finale in which the good guys destroy an entire airfield while making an escape to Britain. Each scene is packed with expert camerawork, great stunts and plenty of explosions and loud machinegun fire.

The third strongpoint is the script and story. Alistair MacLean's screenplay, based on his own novel, is excellent. There are plenty of plot twists to keep you guessing as to who is really a good guy and who is really a bad guy. The pacing is perfect; the movie is just the right length, despite the fact that it's over 150 minutes long. Finally, there is a great - but not entirely unexpected - surprise ending which will make you gasp as everything comes together.

There are a few other technological aspects of the film which don't fall into specific categories. First of all, the scenery is never less than stunning. The snowy exteriors have a beautiful look and deeply contrast the violence occurring in and around them. The castle is appropriately dark and foreboding, adding to the "evil" Nazi presence inside. Ron Goodwin's classic score is one of my all-time favorite pieces of music. It adds a sharp edge to the suspense. There are innovative props, too, including some package explosives complete with an easy-to-set built-in timer and tripwire - the perfect item for any commando (or even wannabe commando).

WHERE EAGLES DARE has been released on videotape several times over the past years. It disappeared from videocassette in the mid-1990s, only for the rights to be sold to Warner Brothers and for the movie to be re-released. Unfortunately, the later releases exclude the intermission, and there is some awkward editing between the film segments.

WHERE EAGLES DARE is a fantastic Hollywood entry which paints a picture of cinema transition. The action is logic-defying in a way not seen until the late 1960s, when Hollywood began turning away from dramatic pieces all about the story to impressing younger audiences with car chases and violence - what rules cinema today. It was happening in westerns with the revisionist "spaghettis"; in the long-running James Bond series with the "license to kill" motto; and, finally in the war film. It's a product of it's time which stands up quite well today.

Broadsword calling Danny boy!
"Broadsword calling Danny Boy." Say that line to anyone over the age of twenty five and they will immediately know which film you are talking about, possibly the greatest war movie of all time. No matter how many times I see this film, I never tire of it.

Everything about it is right on the money, excellent musical score, terriffic performances from Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood and some great action sequences. Check out Burton's fight atop the cable car or Eastwoods shoot out with the Nazi's. These two action sequences stand up to anything Hollywood can produce today and this film is thirty years old!!!

The best thing about "Where Eagles Dare" is it actually acknowledges that it wasn't just America that won the war, in this, the Brits actually play a vital role. Horrah!

That old saying; "They don't make them like they used to," may be well worn and overused, but in this case it is true. A wonderful film.

What A Movie
WED is the most entertaining war movie ever made. The great Burton & Eastwood infiltrate a snowy German castle fortess in order to perform a suicide rescue mission. The movie has everything- sneaking into the castle on top of a cable car (check the vertigo downhill shots) climbing up the side of the castle on ropes, Clint's cool shootout with two machine guns two handed, Burton's famous fight on top of the cable car. it's a rip roaring adventure to say the least, they don't make em like this anymore. Also starring is 'Ingrid Pitt' ding dong say no more. If you like WW11 movies & alot of action then get this DVD now. it also includes an On Location programme plus the original trailor. It's a wonderful movie.