Highly enjoyable (none-too-serious) war/spy adventure yarn

Rating: 9/10 (30 November 2003)

This film, a favorite of my boyhood, has been recently re-released on DVD with a good remaster that somewhat improves on the rather gray and washed out hues of the original movie. Watching it again, 30 years on, I was surprised how enjoyable it remains.
A wildly improbable spy yarn, with seemingly a radical twist every 20 minutes, it succeeds largely because it does not take itself too seriously. The acting is laconic - hovering on the edge between spoof and earnest drama and holding that position without wavering. Considering no more than a handful of heroes almost effortlessly defy several thousand supposedly elite German mountain soldiers, this is probably an appropriate approach to take! Lots of explosions and gunfire - so nice to see and hear 'real' black powder and blanks rather than the computer generated stuff of today - and the movie is very well paced considering there are some wordy patches as the convoluted plot is divulged. For me, one of the highlights is watching a Junkers Ju-52 flying over the spectacular Alpine scenery while Ron Goodwin's excellent score - one of his best - swells in the background.

Strongly recommended if you are looking for an exciting war adventure movie without an overly serious core.