Rating: PG
Genre:
Action
Release Date: 05/03/2005
SubTitles: English/French/Espanol/Por/Japanese
Dubbed: English/English/Japanese
Sound: DD1/DDS/DD5.1
Run Time: 155 Minutes
Flags: Mild Violence, Adult Situations, Questionable for Children, Adult Language
Distributor/Studio: Warner Home Video
An expensive but enormously profitable war picture,
Where Eagles Dare centers upon a daring rescue and even more daring escape. Disguised as Nazi officers, commandoes Maj. John Smith (
Richard Burton), Lt. Morris Schaffer
Clint Eastwood and six other courageous souls parachute behind enemy lines. Their mission: to rescue an American general, held captive in a supposedly impenetrable Alpine castle. Aiding and abetting the commandoes are Allied undercover agents Mary (
Mary Ure) and Heidi (
Ingrid Pitt). Also on hand is a British officer (
Patrick Wymark), who masterminded the mission. Somewhere, somehow, someone amongst the Allies is going to turn out to be a traitor. There's also a neat plot twist in store when the commandoes manage to reach the American general -- which leads to yet another twist. The vertigo-inducing climax has made
Where Eagles Dare one of the most sought-after of "early"
Eastwood starring features. The film was written directly for the screen by espionage novelist
Alistair MacLean.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide