Product Details

• Actors: Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood, Mary Ure, Patrick Wymark, Michael Hordern
• Directors: Brian G. Hutton
• Writers: Alistair MacLean
• Producers: Denis Holt, Elliott Kastner, Jerry Gershwin
• Format: Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Language: English, German
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• VHS Release Date: May 7, 1996
• Run Time: 158 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (244 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301977394
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #173,044 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Scorned by reviewers when it came out, this concentrated dose of commando death-dealing to legions of Nazi machine-gun fodder has acquired a cult over the years. 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 theater training and his headline-making romance with Elizabeth Taylor, was eager to try on the action ethos Eastwood was already nudging toward caricature. Alistair MacLean's novel The Guns of Navarone had inspired the film that started the '60s vogue for World War II military capers, so he was prevailed on 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

Product Description

Item Name: Where Eagles Dare; Studio: Warner Home Video

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

112 of 118 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Greatest War Films of All Time !, August 26, 2000

By 

paperbackriter (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Where Eagles Dare [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Quite simply one of the greatest war movies ever made. A top notch thriller loaded with action, espionage and double crosses, "Where Eagles Dare" is the kind of movie that Hollywood just doesn't make anymore. This isn't some politically correct drama steeped in reality. No, this is good guys vs. bad guys. This is pure unabashed fantasy which keeps the audience on the edge of its seat. This is just darn good entertainment!

Richard Burton is absolutely cunning as the British agent who leads an elite group of soldiers behind enemy lines and into a seemingly unpenetrable German castle to rescue an imprisoned American General. A young Clint Eastwood is the only American on the mission. Clint is his usual cool and calm self. However he, like the audience, isn't sure who to trust. Somebody's a double agent, but exactly who is anyone's guess. Don't worry about figuring it out, just sit back and enjoy the drama. You'll love the growing tension and suspicion between Burton and Eastwood.

The journey into the castle is classic heart-stopping drama. Even better is Burton's fight with a German soldier high atop a ski lift -- truly one of the most riveting action sequences ever filmed. Bullets are flyin' and bombs are blastin' throughout. In the end, heroes emerge while evil perpetrators get their just due. Classic, absolutely classic!

And yes, as several reviewers have noted, the stunning scenery and beautiful cinematography in this film would greatly benefit from a widescreen DVD treatment. So, how 'bout it, I want my DVD!

123 of 140 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great War Movie, September 25, 2001

By 

J. A Magill (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Where Eagles Dare [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This movie, filled with drama, action, and a complex plot that will make your head spin, has it all. Richard Burton is dashing as the cold plotting secret agent who is leading his team on a mission to save D-Day from disaster. Clint Eastwood, here little more than a teenager, is wonderful as the somewhat befuddled American army ranger who cannot figure out why he is even on the mission.

Any attempt to go into detail about the story would ruin some of the fun. Suffice to say that you will be riveted both by the action and the performances. One note though, Burton's monologue is amazing.

If you like WWII movies and have not seen this one, you don't know what you are missing.

41 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Richard Burton takes on the German Army, January 8, 2000

By 

Kevin R. Austra (Delaware Valley, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Where Eagles Dare [VHS] (VHS Tape)

If you want action and scenic Austrian locations, this film has it. Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood star in the movie adaptation of Alistair MacLean's novel (MacLean also wrote the screenplay). From the beginning of the film with agents parachuting out of an original German Junkers 52 to the life or death pursuit at the end of the film, this video is jam-packed with action.

Expect much of the usual MacLean storyline in this film as a handful of agents, plan gone awry, destroy a large contingent of the German Army while challenged by double agents in their midst. Much like "Force Ten from Navarone" and " The Guns of Navarone," a World War Two buff might wonder why so much of the Wehrmacht was located somewhere other than the front. No matter.

The cinematography is excellent and the locations stunning in Winter beauty. The film's musical score by itself is wonderful. The DVD release is very high quality. By the way, the soundtrack CD is also available. It's the perfect thing to listen to on a snowy day.