Years ago, I saw "Where Eagles Dare" and loved it. Now, quite a few years later, I watched it again and was less impressed. Now I am NOT saying it's a bad film but it suffers from two huge problems. First, the plot itself is very convoluted and difficult, at times, to follow. According to IMDb, co-star Clint Eastwood was NOT happy about the script...and I can see why this was most likely the case. Second, the ease at which the two heroes kill off Germans is almost cartoonish. The Germans miss again and again and again and the heroes (Richard Burton and Eastwood) are practically impossible to kill. Bomb blasts narrowly miss them and the worst they incur is a slightly wounded hand that NEVER impairs Burton's character in the least! And, they both manage to kill about 100 well trained German soldiers! It reminded me a bit of "Hot Shots Part Deux"...and that is NOT meant as a complement.
Now if you can ignore all this, the film is a good escapist war film. Not as good as the same author's "Guns of Navarone"--where some of the heroes DID manage to die and the same insane ratio of killed isn't quite as bad! Enjoyable and worth seeing...but flawed when you see it twice and realize its shortcomings.
Now if you can ignore all this, the film is a good escapist war film. Not as good as the same author's "Guns of Navarone"--where some of the heroes DID manage to die and the same insane ratio of killed isn't quite as bad! Enjoyable and worth seeing...but flawed when you see it twice and realize its shortcomings.