Where Eagles Dare (1968)

One weekend Major Smith, Lieutenant Schaffer, and a beautiful blonde named Mary decided to win World War II.

World War II is raging, and an American general has been captured and is being held hostage in the Schloss Adler, a Bavarian castle that's nearly impossible to breach. It's up to a group of skilled Allied soldiers to liberate the general before it's too late.

Adventure War undercover agent nazi germany liberation of prisoners secret mission spy world war ii bavaria, germany mountain castle two man army parachute

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Classical in form, plot-driven, grave and epic.

classical in formformally daring
character-ledplot-driven
gravecomic
intimateepic
earnestironic

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“Is Richard Burton the best thing in Where Eagles Dare?”
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Reviews on TMDB

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CinemaSerfon TMDB · Jul 20248/10
When an American general's plane is forced down over Nazi Germany, it falls to "Smith" (Richard Burton) to lead a crack team into the depths of the Wehrmacht to get him out before a dose of scopalamine elicits the truth about the plans for an allied invasion of Europe. No sooner do they land, though, when things start to go wrong. With one of their number not even surviving the parachute drop into the snowy forest, "Smith" finds himself relying more heavily on American Ranger "Schaffer" (Clint Eastwood). The two have never met before this mission, and the latter man is frankly quite puzzled as to his inclusion on this British operation in the first place. The general is being held in the "Schloß Adler" high atop a rocky outcrop accessed only by helicopter or cable car - and there are thousands of troops stationed nearby. It's soon clear that someone in his team has dubious loyalties, and things becomes distinctly more perilous as they have to survive the hostile environment of the cold, avoid the pursuing soldiers and infiltrate the castle - where an even more deadly series of challenges await his dwindling group. Alistair MacLean was always quite good at adapting his novels for th
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r96skon TMDB · Jan 20227/10
So close to being a great film. There is a lot I enjoyed about 'Where Eagles Dare', the core of the film has some greatness to it. The action sequences are fun, the acting is terrific and the music is strong. However, it has far too many lull moments for me to consider it anything other than 'good'. A 2hr run time would've been perfect, instead it's stretched out to 2hrs 30mins+ and it really shows. The pacing is bad, any moment of quality is immediately followed by the film dragging its heels. It heavily overstays its welcome, in my opinion. Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood are excellent together, while the rest of the cast are very good themselves. It's just a shame about the aforementioned, as I could quite easily see this being one of my favourite films if what I've stated wasn't true. I'd personally be up for a shorter, tighter remake of this, because all the ingredients are there; it's like a 'Bond' film mixed with 'Fast & Furious' in parts.
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Wuchakon TMDB · Jun 20189/10
_**One of the greatest action/adventure films ever made**_ RELEASED IN 1968 and directed by Brian G. Hutton, "Where Eagles Dare" is a World War II adventure about handful of commandos parachuting into the wilderness surrounding a German castle-fortress high in the Bavarian Alps. Their mission is to rescue a captive general before the Germans can interrogate him. However, not everything is as it first appears. The film is not a conventional World War II flick. Alistair Maclean wrote the script based on his novel and thus the movie is, unsurprisingly, a spy thriller just as much as it is a war picture. Keep in mind that spy flicks were super-hot when the film was released (e.g. James Bond). Are 60's spy films plausible? Realistic? No, they only have the veneer of plausibility and realism; underneath it's all escapist fantasy. So it is with "Where Eagles Dare." The opening with the breathtaking Alps and Ron Goodwin's exhilerating score is one of the greatest cinematic openings in history. From there you get intrigue, thrilling action scenes, a magnificent castle, Richard Burton at his charismatic best, two beautiful women (Mary Ure and Ingrid Pitt), surprising plot twists, cable cars,
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