The classic fun WWII Action/Adventure movie...

Rating: 9/10 (5 March 2001)

Some criticize that `Where Eagles Dare' is historically inaccurate and implausible. Well, this is Hollywood popcorn entertainment not a History Channel documentary. Its fun fantasy that will bring back memories of your childhood G.I. Joe days. Yes, character development is weak, but not at all necessary. Its all about watching these cool guys pull off this impossible mission. I love how we are taken step by step how they make their way in, then out of the castle. But, herein lies the only real problem with the film. The slow pacing of each detail in certain phases of the operation drags at times compared with the fast pace of contemporary action films in this post Die-Hard era. For example, ***MINOR SPOILER*** at one point Clint Eastwood gets out of a German car, walks back to a dead German soldier (whom he had pushed out), picks him up, walks back to the car, dumps his body in the car, backs the car up, pushes the car across the road, then pushes the car over a cliff. The whole scene is shown in real-time taking about 2-3 minutes of screen time!!
While obviously an action adventure movie, it's more specifically a `team mission' movie like The Dirty Dozen or a `penetrate the impenetrable fortress' movie. Talk about not making 'em like this any more! There are plenty of fight scenes, chases and Nazi shoot-em-ups. Richard Burton is great ...as cool John Wayne or Sean Connery ever were. One nice thing about fight scenes in an older movie like this, is that you can actually tell what's happening (one benefit of the slower pacing). The snowy exterior locations and castle sets are wonderful and the two girls are gorgeous. There are several James Bond style set-piece action sequences. Burton's line to Major von Hapen in the interrogation room is classic... "we've just uncovered a plot..." The story is clever and classic Alistair MacLean. Hopefully, this gem will be out on DVD soon.