Customer Reviews

Escape to Athena [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Released around the exact same time as the Bond film Moonraker in 1979, ESCAPE TO ATHENA was overlooked by most moviegoers in the U.S. at the time, and has not been available on home video until now. For James Bond fans, especially fans of the Roger Moore era of 007, this movie is certainly worth owning, as it marks the first non-Bond Roger Moore film available on Blu-ray. Along with Shout At The Devil (1976), The Wild Geese (1978), and The Sea Wolves (1980), ESCAPE TO ATHENA is more-or-less required viewing for anyone calling themselves a fan of Roger Moore or James Bond-type all-star action films.

As a non-U.S. Blu-ray, I was concerned about ESCAPE TO ATHENA working properly with my system. No problems here - the disc plays just fine, and the high-def. picture quality certainly outclasses any standard dvd, giving this 30 year-old film the quality it deserves, with a beautiful widescreen picture probably better than the original theatrical release back in '79. The cast and crew interviews (Special Features) are "audio only", but they are somewhat informative and entertaining nevertheless. Roger Moore's comments are especially good (humorous). Reduced to "four stars" only because there is no 5.1 sound mix: ESCAPE TO ATHENA is presented with its original sound mix (2-channel mono). Sound quality is good, to be sure, but would have been even better (obviously) with a full surround remaster.

As a fan of cinema from the 1970's, and as a collector of anything James Bond related, I can't help but recommend this film. Besides Roger Moore, the cast includes David Niven, Telly Sevalas, Claudia Cardinale, Richard Roundtree, Stephanie Powers, and Elliott Gould. Classic actors and actresses all, making this movie enjoyable to anyone who happens to be fans of their collective works, also.

One final note: I was very pleased to find this Blu-ray available through Amazon. I was aware of this movie's release on Blu-ray in 2008, but had been unable to actually find it at any retail stores, and I had checked many (big name stores and small), at various locations around the country. Very disappointing, considering the movie has an obvious tie-in to the James Bond films, and was releaed onto Blu-ray at a time when few such films from the era were available. Through Amazon, I was able to finally own this movie I had been wanting to see for some time.

Please note that this is a review of the ITV BD release of ESCAPE TO ATHENA. I just received mine from Amazon UK last week and it plays fine on my American player. The special features do not play since they are in PAL (as they would also be on the Marketplace sellers product) but the movie itself is n great shape.
The movie follows the attempt by Allied P.O.W.'s during World War II Greece to disrupt the operations of the Nazi's, in particular to prevent the Germans from employing a secret weapon atop a mountaintop monastery. The plot however is largely used as a backdrop on which to stage some exciting action scenes and some comedic timing by Elliott Gould and Roger Moore (playing a rather improbable ladies manGerman officer). The rest of the cast includes David Niven (who would reteam with Moore a year later in the excellent "Sea Wolves"), Stephanoe Powers and Telly Savalas. All in all, it's a fun Boys Only adventure movie that is perfect viewing for those rainy Saturday afternoons.
The picture and audio quality of the Blu-ray are flawless and this is undoubtedly the best way to view the movie at home. The level of detail is staggering and the Blu-ray technology is put to good use to bring out the beauty of Greece.

Region-free DVD player owners might be interested to learn that a DVD of this fun 1970s actioner is available in Europe.
Those who own Blu-ray players might also want to pick up the European Blu-ray. The Blu-ray of this entertaining movie is playable on American Blu-ray players, though the special features (being in PAL) are not.
In this entertaining World War II action movie, two actors, who previously played the character James Bond, Roger Moore and David Niven (who spoofed the part up in the unfunny CASINO ROYALE) team up with previous Bond villain Telly Savalas (Blofeld in the excellent ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE) in an effort to destroy a Nazi missile silo in the Aagean Sea.
Niven and Savalas both seem comfortable in their roles as a British prisoner of war and a Greek resistance fighter respectively, only Moore seems uncomfortable in his role as a German officer and indeed his German accent seems a little forced at times.
But never mind the real attraction to this movie is the action and the comedic touches, with Elliott Gould (as a captured Allied entertainer providing a large portion of the latter). We have Moore tackling German frogmen, Gould racing through the streets on a motorcycle and an assault on a Nazi fortress among other action scenes.
It's an entertaining movie, in much the same vein as other Roger Moore movies of the 1970s and early 1980s (GOLD, SHOUT AT THE DEVIL and NORTH SEA HIJACK) and though Niven attacked another Aagean based Nazi fortress over a decade earlier in the superior THE GUNS OF NAVARONE, this is the perfect antidote for a slow Saturday afternoon.
The Region 2 DVD includes a rather interesting special feature that will hopefully be repeated when this is released stateside. In an archival documentary from 1979 the stars of the movie are interviewed not by professional movie critics, but by something much less forgiving - their children.

Escape to Athena is another nail in the theory that the 70s was a golden age of movie-making. It's a typical example of those transatlantic star-studded messes so beloved of Lew Grade after the modest success of The Eagle Has Landed led him to inflict the likes of The Cassandra Crossing (okay, that one is a guilty pleasure), Voyage of the Damned and Michael Winner's The Big Sleep on the world. A bizarre cross between Hogan's Heroes and The Guns of Navarone (well, director and co-scenarist George Pan Cosmatos was in charge of the luncheon vouchers for the extras on that one), it throws in everyone and everything but the kitchen sink in the hope that the audiences will be too dazzled by the three ring circus to notice that virtually none of it is any good. Thus we have Roger Moore as a corrupt Austrian prison camp commandant-cum-antique dealer, Elliott Gould as a bad standup comedian, Sony Bono as an Italian cook, Telly Savalas as a Greek resistance leader, Claudia Cardinale as the local Madame, David Niven as an archaeologist, Stefanie Powers as a stripper, and Richard Roundtree as a magician, all of whom know they're in a piece of rubbish and act accordingly. But then, what else is there to do in a plot (of sorts) that sees them take over a prison camp, save various Greeks from SS man Anthony Valentine's firing squad, destroy a submarine refuelling dump and blow up the local monastery-cum-V3 launching pad without ever managing to generate much excitement or interest? Aside from a nice throwaway cameo from William Holden reprising his Stalag 17 character, some good aerial photography and a surprisingly good motorcycle chase, this one has nothing much going for it, least of all the dire disc number over the end credits.

For the more masochistic of you out there, the UK DVD boasts a decent 2.35:1 transfer, trailer and several cast and crew inteviews.

I hadn't seen this movie in more than 20 years. It was one of my favorites back then. I'm so glad I got it through Amazon. Unfortunately, they only had it on VHS. But I don't mind, this is one of the best movies on nazi war affairs. A rare combination of funny stuff with more serious war related matters. It kind of reminds me of MASH, but much better. Telly Savalas and Roger Moore are great. It definitely brought back good memories from my youth.

Why don't they tell us that Region 2 won't play in the United States? ? ? This was a total rip off - I don't plan to go to Ethiopia to play it and I'm not buying another DVD from Amazon again - EVER!

Good Bye, Amazon!

I didnt look carefully on the region and cannot play it on my dvd player. My mistake.

OK, so not everyone has seen this movie in their lives, but this is a rare-see for cable TV viewers. Featuring Telly Savalas from "Kojak", this is one of ITC's best movies ever made -- but whatever happened to the studios after 1992? Don't they have it on DVD yet??