Entertaining? Yes. Acting performance? Okayish. Eastwood a bit wooden at times (I love him for that though).
Camera and location? Good! Influential? Even I can see that (cf. the Wolfenstein video game). Good movie? Nah... It's too long. People look too perfect - especially those who are killed or seeing combat. They didn't bother to speak German, although that's a major part of the plan (which is of course dangerous production-wise given that you have to sound like real Germans and almost nobody in filmmaking history ever got that right). It's full of stereotypes incl. cultivated, adventurous and daring British officers with a posh accent, cool Americans, well-dressed, shouting, angry German idiots (who are too easily tricked and killed) with dobermans, klaxons and leather coats. Unrealistic plans (I mean that was the plan? Isn't that unnecessarily convoluted just to uncover a few spies?). Unrealistic coincidences. Unrealistic fights (that's basically another thing the FPS Wolfenstein and this movie have in common). The good guys have a seamingly limitless supply of explosives and ammo, the Germans didn't manage too shoot a single one of the infiltrators. That's not how war works... It's all a bit ridiculous. Add those bombshell blondes and brunettes, a few explosions too many, and they have come damn close to making a Bond movie.

So close to being a great film.

There is a lot I enjoyed about 'Where Eagles Dare', the core of the film has some greatness to it. The action sequences are fun, the acting is terrific and the music is strong. However, it has far too many lull moments for me to consider it anything other than 'good'.

A 2hr run time would've been perfect, instead it's stretched out to 2hrs 30mins+ and it really shows. The pacing is bad, any moment of quality is immediately followed by the film dragging its heels. It heavily overstays its welcome, in my opinion.

Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood are excellent together, while the rest of the cast are very good themselves. It's just a shame about the aforementioned, as I could quite easily see this being one of my favourite films if what I've stated wasn't true.

I'd personally be up for a shorter, tighter remake of this, because all the ingredients are there; it's like a 'Bond' film mixed with 'Fast & Furious' in parts.

The story is very interesting, Clint Eastwood looks very good on Nazi Uniform and kick 4ss so much 4ss it kind of ruins the almost perfect story about counter spies double agents, double cross mumbo jumbo

If they wanted to end WWII they should have sent Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton dressed as SS officers.

Major, right now you got me about as confused as I ever hope to be.

Directed by Brian G. Hutton and adapted to the screen from his own novel by Alistair MacLean, Where Eagles Dare stars Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood. Music is scored by Ron Goodwin and cinematography is by Arthur Ibbetson.

A small group of allied agents are sent on a mission to rescue a Allied General from a Nazi castle stronghold. But there is more that what meets the eye here...

Boys own men on a mission in grandiose strokes, MacLean's complex story makes for riveting and exciting entertainment. The story twists and turns like a Python, so full attention to conversational details is very much required, yet it's the fun and kinetic action that holds the most attention. There are stunts galore amongst the Austrian Alps (beautifully photographed by Ibbetson), and as the espionage hokum reaches its crescendo status, so does the explosions, with the makers wasting no opportunity to blow everything up. Burton is classy and enjoying himself, Eastwood laconic and cool, while good support comes from Mary Ure, Patrick Wymark, Michael Hordern and Donald Houston. The running time is a touch too long as MacLean's prose is given weighty treatment for extended chatter, and some back projection work feels unnecessarily cheap, but this is good old machismo fuelled classic cinema regardless. 9/10

One of the greatest action/adventure films ever made

RELEASED IN 1968 and directed by Brian G. Hutton, "Where Eagles Dare" is a World War II adventure about handful of commandos parachuting into the wilderness surrounding a German castle-fortress high in the Bavarian Alps. Their mission is to rescue a captive general before the Germans can interrogate him. However, not everything is as it first appears.

The film is not a conventional World War II flick. Alistair Maclean wrote the script based on his novel and thus the movie is, unsurprisingly, a spy thriller just as much as it is a war picture. Keep in mind that spy flicks were super-hot when the film was released (e.g. James Bond). Are 60's spy films plausible? Realistic? No, they only have the veneer of plausibility and realism; underneath it's all escapist fantasy. So it is with "Where Eagles Dare."

The opening with the breathtaking Alps and Ron Goodwin's exhilerating score is one of the greatest cinematic openings in history. From there you get intrigue, thrilling action scenes, a magnificent castle, Richard Burton at his charismatic best, two beautiful women (Mary Ure and Ingrid Pitt), surprising plot twists, cable cars, a suspenseful escape and a don't-see-it-coming ending, not to mention Clint Eastwood.

Speaking of Eastwood, he plays a taciturn American lieutenant, second fiddle to Richard Burton, the British leader of the operation. Believe it or not, Burton's charisma is so out of the ball park that Eastwood pales by comparison. Of course, this has a lot to do with the way their roles were written, but you still have to give Burton credit for blowing Eastwood, who's no slouch, out of the water.

Some complain about the utter ruthlessness of the Allied commandos, particularly the characters played by Burton and Eastwood, but they're Special Forces on a secret mission, not conventional soldiers in infantry combat. They're professional killing machines, which is why they were given the job. There was no room for mercy in this operation at this stage in the war.

In any case, it's exciting to see Burton & Eastwood and their team mow down scores of Germans. The film's so well-done and compelling that you sorta don't realize how unbelievable it is while watching. This is because it lacks the cartoonish-ness of, say, "Rambo 2" and "Rambo 3" and maintains an air of realism throughout (which is different than saying it's realistic).

FINAL WORD: "Where Eagles Dare" is one of the greatest action/adventure films of all time and is as-good-or-better than any war flick you care to name. The exhilarating score itself is worth the price of admission, as is the opening. If you're in the mood for a World War II flick, "Where Eagles Dare" is at the top of the list.

THE FILM RUNS 2 hours, 35 minutes and was shot on location in Austria with studio work done in England.

GRADE: A