highly improbable but still good action war movie

Rating: 6/10 (17 June 2015)

During WWII, American General Carnaby is captured after his plane crashed on its way to Crete. A British team is sent to rescue him from a German mountain castle before he reveals plans for the second front. The team is led by Major John Smith (Richard Burton) and includes American Morris Schaffer (Clint Eastwood). Upon parachuting down, one of the men's neck is broken under suspicious circumstances. There is a massive German base and something is going wrong with the mission.
This is a relatively good war espionage movie. It starts with a weak explanation. The Allies would bomb the hell out of the place and Eisenhower would be happy about it. My b.s. detector goes off right away. The German helicopter confused me a little but they did have a few of them back then. The story could have been simpler but it insists on trying to add layers of double-cross. It finally climax in a confusing reveal where even Clint Eastwood's character says he's confused. If one tries to dig into the twists, it's a highly-improbable and overly-complicated way to get what they're after. The escape with the prisoners is something that needs lots of popcorn and no brain function to truly appreciate. It still has some good action and two excellent stars.