One of the finest war films I have ever seen.

Rating: 10/10 (7 September 2014)

One of the finest war films I have ever seen.
Based on the World War II, this film has a masterful screenplay that was supremely directed. Thanks to the writer Alistair MacLean who wrote the screenplay and to Brian Hutton, the director. I sincerely believe that the screenplay writer should have been present each day of the shoot to monitor that his work is being visualized as he thought of. With the writers presence it's very tough to encapsulate the story of such magnitude and present it in such a great form.
The starting music, the shot of the flight, just built up a tension that never let me free till the very end. I am not sure if this was an edge of seat thriller, but for me it was , because I was on the edge just waiting in wonderment, what would happen next when I first saw this many many years ago.
Richard Burton as Major John Smith seems to be a master in holding himself in cold blood as he diligently plans the whole plot. While Clint Eastwood as Lt. Morris Schaffer seems to be action hero who executes the plans to precision and yields results against all the odds. Yes, there are certain cinematic liberties taken in building up the drama but that's good as long as they are meant to entertain and enhance the purpose of the film.
In 1968, this film might have been made with exorbitant budget. I say this, considering the production values, the cinematography, the sound mixing and even the costumes. But, all is well as it paid off handsomely and the big take away is that it's worth investing in something that has content as the soul. So much money poured in to this meaningful script yielded worthy results.
I cannot reveal the plot or even say what it is about, as I have not done for most of my films. But I can say this, if you are lover of some good suspense and drama. Then this film shall be worth your time. A definite 5/5 for this one. This one deserves a watch more than once. Also, I strongly believe this shall stand the test of time as it stood till now and keeps increasing its fan-base.