Where Eagles Dare (Clint Eastwood Collection) |  | Director: Brian G. Hutton
Actors: Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood, Mary Ure, Patrick Wymark, Michael Hordern
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy New: $8.82
as of 2/10/2010 00:31 EST details
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Seller: goHastings
Rating:  235 reviews
Sales Rank: 14327
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), French (Dubbed)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 158 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.5 x 0.5
MPN: WARD65186D
ISBN: 0790746352
UPC: 012569518629
EAN: 9780790746357
ASIN: B00009N80R
Theatrical Release Date: March 12, 1969
Release Date: September 2, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
TENSE AND SUSPENSEFUL WORLD WAR II ADVENTURE IN WHICH TWO ALLIESMUST RESCUE A CAPTURED AMERICAN GENERAL BEING HELD IN A FORTIFIED GERMAN CASTLE BEFORE THE NAZIS GET SECRET INFO ON HIM.
Amazon.com
Scorned by reviewers when it came out, this concentrated dose of commando death-dealing to legions of Nazi machine-gun fodder has acquired a cult over the years. In 1968 Clint Eastwood was just getting used to the notion that he might be a world-class movie star; Richard Burton, whose image had been shaped equally by classical theater training and his headline-making romance with Elizabeth Taylor, was eager to try on the action ethos Eastwood was already nudging toward caricature. Alistair MacLean's novel The Guns of Navarone had inspired the film that started the '60s vogue for World War II military capers, so he was prevailed on to write the screenplay (his first). The central location, an impregnable Alpine stronghold locked in ice and snow, is surpassing cool, but the plot and action are ultra-mechanical, and the switcheroo gamesmanship of just who is the undercover double (triple?) agent on the mission becomes aggressively silly. --Richard T. Jameson
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 235
 One of the Best, Needs blu-ray release February 3, 2010
Gary P. Cohen (Staten Island, NY USA)
"Where Eagles Dare" is one of the wildest war movies ever. In terms of action and derring-do, many have compared it to "Raiders of the Lost Ark." I much prefer this film, which was released 12 years before Indy's first adventure. Written by Alistair MacLean, the writer of the classic "Guns of Navarone" and "Ice Station Zebra," most believe that this film, like the others, is based on the book. Actually it was the other way around. MacLean wrote this screenplay first and the novelization second. Still the book hit the stores first so most mistakenly believe that the film was based on the book.
The plot is seemingly simple: a group of British commandos and one American Ranger are assigned the task of rescuing a captured American General who is aware of the plans for the D-Day invasion. However like most of MacLean's books, the mission is a lot more complicated than that and much of the time the audience and the American Ranger Schaeffer (Clint Eastwood) are in a state of confusion. Richard Burton is superb as the British agent "Smith" leading the mission. Clint has very little to say: mostly he just says "hello" to the Germans before killing them with a silenced pistol. This was during the period when most critics proclaimed that Clint could no act and had very little to say as a result of it. (Who would have believed that during the condemnations of Eastwood's talent that rose to a cresendo during the early Dirty Harry films that Clint would become a multiple Oscar winner, a terrific actor and one of the most highly praised directors in show business history?) Clint has little to say during this film but he must kill literally hundreds of Germans with various guns and explosives. (In one scene he actually shoots two machine-guns at one time.") Burton and Eastwood are assisted by 2 beautiful women: a pretty British agent (and Burton's girlfriend and partner) named Mary (Mary Ure) and a beautiful German agent named Heidi. This role was one of the first played by the incredibly gorgeous Ingrid Pitt, who went on to a legendary career playing lesbian vampires in various Hammer horror films.
This film features massive explosions, escapes, beautiful snow-covered scenery and great action sequences. The best is a great fight between Burton and 3 German double-agents atop a cable car high in the mountains. Boy, does this action sequence look real. The stuntmen really earned their money on this film. I read recently that Eastwood performed the bulk of this scenes with Burton's stuntmen since the action scenes were so numerous, and the film so physical.
This film was a massive hit for MGM. Yet it has been released by Warner Bros. as part of its Clint Eastwood collection with no extras. This film cries out for a deluxe version with numerous retrospectives. It really cries out for a blu-ray release.
If you want to relax with a long, exciting, entertaining though highly implausible W.W.II adventure, you cannot do any better than "WHere Eagles Dare."
 Eh... There's far better WWII movies January 26, 2010
A Customer (Hells Gate, NY United States)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Ok, I had high hopes for this movie, especially being a cool plot idea where Allied spies infiltrate a hard-to-reach German stronghold. Starring Clint Eastwood also added to this hope. In reality, this hope was dashed by annoying acting performance from both Clint Eastwood and most especially Richard Burton, who now is top of my list of most annoying actors ever alongside Hayden Christensen. The problem here, is that Burton takes the lead in a condescending "father-knows-best" style, and isn't even cooperative with Eastwood in the movie. For 2 guys that are supposed to be on the same side, I found myself asking through the entire movie what Eastwood was even doing there.
Pros :
- Breathtaking scenery
- Cool idea
Cons :
- Poorly executed
- Major historical inaccuracies (this is more forgivable since, afterall, it *is* a movie)
- No actual German spoken in the movie. Subtitles are fine. Why not use them?
- Eastwood hardly speaks in this movie, is portrayed as woussy second-fiddle to Burton, which is not Eastwood at all. Eastwood should be the alpha male here. Who knows why he took a backseat role in this movie.
- Burton = annoying acting and voice. Seriously, why is this guy even allowed to exist? The lines he utters when walking into the German training camp make me want to strangle him.
Overall, there's far better WWII movies out there (such as Saving Private Ryan, Kelly's Heros, The Dirty Dozen, and the Band of Brothers series), so I don't see any point wasting time with this one.
 Entertaining, needed editing January 26, 2010
Marconi guy (Kennett Square, PA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a fully action-packed film, with some great scenery and sequences. It suffers from too many improbable mistakes and almost no injuries for the heroes (well, Richard Burton does get a minor cut on his hand.) The filmmakers weren't too accurate in details, either, using a model of helicopter that the Germans never used in WWII in Europe. There are so many successes for the heroes to escape the Nazis, that this could be the first of the Bond films. A plus: the women are as fully capable as the men, which is very refreshing.
If 20 minutes were cut, and there were a few more setbacks and struggles by the good guys and gals, it would have been a better film.
Fun movie! December 10, 2009
Kenneth Martin (Rapid City, SD United States)
How can you go wrong with Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood. The plot is interesting and keeps you guessing. Photography is wonderful and even though it doesn't have the modern special effects, it is well done. Acting is top-notch. A very enjoyable WWII film.
Showdown in the German Alps - Guns R Us + Women December 5, 2009
Kenneth E. Arant
Showdown time. All action AND beautiful women!
For anybody interested in the great guns produced by German designers this has 4 of the best - P 08's, MP 40's, K98k's and UMG's (1200 rounds per minute).
Beautiful German scenery - favorite scene: with Clint and Richard on the BMW!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 235
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