Posts from Gorch in thread „The Guns of Navarone (1961)“

For Carl---

I'm going against the tide of popularity on this one. Eagles is an excellent movie and I saw it three times upon its initial release, however, I have to defend "The Guns of Navarone" as a better war movie.
Both are authored by the same person, yet there's really no suspense in Eagles about the survival of the heroes. Granted, both films are similar in that a group of infiltrators/experts go behind enemy lines on hopeless tasks, but somehow you just know that Burton and Eastwood will triumph.
Navarone also leads you to believe that the mission will be a success, but you don't know who is going to survive. The characters all seem vulnerable.
Eagles has over the top action - jumping from frozen cable cars, Clint firing two machine guns at once, fat old Burton climbing up a rope. Navarone has Quinn sniping at Alpine Corps and scrambling, Baker bungling a knife stabbing and Darren losing focus resulting in his death. Much more realistic.
The prelude to Navarone is also more probable. Kheros and newly designed radar controlled guns blocking a sea rescue are much more believable than the Cartwright Jones/invasion plans premise.
Thanks for indulging my screed.

We deal in lead, friend.

One of the best war adventure movies ever made.
I have the US one sheet displayed in the home theater in my basement. It was the first poster I ever got.
On the dvd extras, Gregory Peck points out how Anthony Quinn quietly and cleverly revealed bits and pieces of his red undershirt during the course of the movie (which was filmed out of sequence) until he's the only character who isn't dressed in a drab uniform at the end of the film. Peck considered this to be genius scene stealing.
Remember, I speak German. Perfect!

We deal in lead, friend.