This could be retitled "pure awesomeness captured on film, with a marvelous plot to boot"

Rating: 8/10 (13 August 2009)

Wow. I don't believe I've read anything by MacLean, or seen any other adaptations of his work, or, apart from this one, watched films directed by Hutton, but I can promise you, they are both on my "must check out"-list from now on. This is, simply put, excellent. The story is impeccably well-thought out, well-told, and with so many twists that you'll come out of your viewing unsure if up is now officially down, and they actually all hold up. They also aren't there to distract from anything else in this, because it all holds up to scrutiny. The production value is extremely high, everything looks, sounds, behaves and feels accurate and true to life. To an extent, this is even rather realistic. The action is astounding, cool without trying too hard at any point, and plenty of it without it ever getting boring or repetitive. Script, characters, dialog, all of the writing is magnificent. Eastwood rocks, as usual. While this may be one of the first times I experience Burton in a movie, I am now quite open to more of his roles. The pacing is spot-on. Acting is beyond reproach. This builds tension, excitement and mood with an admirable skill and talent. To anyone that has had some exposure to both, it is obvious that the video-game series Commandos is heavily inspired by this, perhaps among other, cinematic classics. If you are reading this, and you have only taken in one of the two, and you liked what you got, I urge you to go for the other, as well(unless you don't play VG's, which is fine). This has mild violence, and a fairly vague sexual reference(children may not pick up on it). The DVD contains a well-done featurette entitled On Location that I will review on its own page here on the site, and a theatrical trailer. I recommend this to, frankly, everyone, though guys may enjoy it to a greater extent than women. 8/10