Rent Where Eagles Dare (1968)

Preposterous, but totally enjoyable - Where Eagles Dare review by MS

There are too many improbabilities and impossibilities to list -- trying to remember them all makes my brain hurt. Also, you get the feeling that they changed the plot part way through ...

But it was lots and lots and lots of fun. All the acting was at least pretty good, the action sequences were great, and Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton are always good to watch.

Classic adventure yarn - Where Eagles Dare review by Big Bob

Don't expect historical accuracy. This is an adventure story. It has many of the usual ingredients, German cannon fodder infantry getting shot in their dozens while the Allied characters never seem to take a hit, beastly Nazis, explosions, people hanging off long drops etc, but this is a very well told little caper. What brings it to life is the excellent acting - especially from Burton (and a lesser extent Eastwood), but the supporting cast (heroes and villains alike) is solid as a rock too. If you want something that has a little bit of plot twist without being too intellectually rigorous, then this is good fun.

Boy's Own War Classic - Where Eagles Dare review by GI

"Broadsword calling Danny Boy, Broadsword calling Danny Boy". This line will immediately come to mind when you think about this wonderful action adventure film. A Boys Own story that doesn't need historical accuracy to be one of the greatest war films. It's Bondian in style and has a fantastic plot that twists and turns making for a mystery as well as an espionage and conspiracy story all combined. Richard Burton, in a rare action role, is the wry and cynical Major Smith, a wartime MI6 agent heading a crack team of intelligence officers sent on a covert mission to rescue an important American General held by the Nazis in a Bavarian castle. Clint Eastwood, with his rising star status, is the token American on the team (he basically handles all the shooting killing more people in this film than in any other) but there for a good reason because the basic rescue mission hides a story of double cross, traitors and trying work out who is on whose side. Written by Alistair MacLean specifically as a film script (he later turned it into a subtly different novel) this is simply great fun from start to finish and it's one of those films you watch and remember why you love cinema so much. Wonderful support cast including Mary Ure, Ingrid Pitt, Derren Nesbitt (wonderfully slimy and devious as a Gestapo officer), Donald Houston, Michael Hordern and Patrick Wymark. A thrilling film and even though you can drive holes through the plot it doesn't matter because it works on every level.