The most entertaining war movie ever!

Rating: 10/10 (21 June 2007)

It's inaccurate in details, the heroes survive cataclysms with barely a scratch that in the real world would kill them a dozen times over, and the triple-cross on which the entire plot hinges makes the Nazi masterminds seem like drooling three-year-olds in terms of gullibility when you stop and think about it. But who cares, when it's all so much damn *fun*?
Where Eagles Dare is surely the ultimate "war as big boys' adventure" film, full of derring-do, narrow escapes, sinister villains and legions of incompetent cannon fodder to be mown down like swastika-sporting weeds. Clint is, of course, Clint - taciturn, deadly and effortlessly cool, but for once he's, if not upstaged, at least matched by another actor in the star wattage stakes. It may not exactly be an acting showcase for Richard Burton, but he still makes the enigmatic Smith completely riveting with his effortless command over everyone he encounters - and there's also a very human moment, completely in keeping with the Boys' Own feel of the story, as he takes a moment to chuckle gleefully at the massive destruction he's just caused.
There are flaws, yes - it's overlong, has some blatant continuity errors and obvious dummies (sometimes in the same shot!) and plot holes abound. But in this case... so what? The film is a romp, plain and simple, there to do nothing more than deliver thrills and spills with great efficiency. Which it does.
One interesting point is that even though Alastair Maclean wrote both the screenplay and the novel, he also knew the different markets well enough to tailor them. In the book, Smith and Schaffer are essentially on a stealth mission, going out of their way to minimise even German casualties. In the film, however, they kill practically every Nazi in a 50 mile radius!