1961 Directed by J. Lee Thompson
A team of allied saboteurs are assigned an impossible mission: infiltrate an impregnable Nazi-held island and destroy the two enormous long-range field guns that prevent the rescue of 2,000 trapped British soldiers.
Gregory Peck David Niven Anthony Quinn Stanley Baker Anthony Quayle James Darren Irene Papas Gia Scala James Robertson Justice Richard Harris Bryan Forbes Allan Cuthbertson Michael Trubshawe Percy Herbert George Mikell Walter Gotell Tutte Lemkow Albert Lieven Norman Wooland Kleo Skouloudi Nicholas Papakonstantinou Christopher Rhodes William Hoehne Jr. Andrew Andreas Victor Beaumont Jack Cooper Maxwell Craig Carl Duering Peter Evans Show All…
Děla z Navarone, ナバロンの要塞, Os Canhões de Navarone, Navaronen tykit, Los cañones de Navarone, Kanonerna på Navarone, Kanonene på Navarone, Navarones kanoner
When Quentin Tarantino made Inglourious Basterds, he did a lot more than just make another great film. He brought back the war adventure.
It had been a sub-genre that had laid more or less dormant for many years until he came along. Not only had he made a truly great tribute to such films, admittedly with more than just a soupçon of parody thrown in for good measure, but he had made a truly great example of them himself. It really did have all the elements that made the very best films of this type so enjoyable - except with a lot more violence and swearing, obviously.
I see a lot of Inglourious Basterds in The Guns Of Navarone and…
#Nivarathon No. 6.
Thoughts & opinions on the matter more than welcome
So I've never before written this in my reviews and it is a HIGHLY unpopular opinion but this movie once again brought it to the surface and I need to get it off my chest: I'll be damned if Gregory Peck wasn't the stiffest motherfucker ever to cement his place as a well-known male star in late 1940s Hollywood and obtain lead roles in so many (even today) renowned movies when there were others who were infinitely more talented than him and yet didn't get their deserved break and were condemned to play second fiddle (YES, I MEAN YOU, DAVID!) to 'wonderful' actors like Gregory Peck whose unruly, sexily-ruffled-by-the-wind…
I’m teaching Tim O’ Brien’s great Vietnam book The Things They Carried, and The Guns of Navarone made me think about a passage from the chapter/short story “How to Tell a True War Story”:
You can tell a true war story by the questions you ask. Somebody tells a story, let's say, and afterward you ask, "Is it true?" and if the answer matters, you've got your answer.
For example, we've all heard this one. Four guys go down a trail. A grenade sails out. One guy jumps on it and takes the blast and saves his three buddies.
Is it true? The answer matters.
You'd feel cheated if it never happened. Without the grounding reality, it's just a trite…
A motley crew of British soldiers and their Greek allies arrive at the island of Navarone, at German-occupied Dodecanese. Their mission is to destroy two large-caliber guns that prevent the fleet from saving 2000 of their comrades that are marooned on a nearby island.
While "Guns of Navarone" ain't the best or the most artistically significant war film ever, it certainly is one of the most entertaining. A blockbuster before blockbusters became a thing, it boasts of an all-star international cast, on-location shooting at Rhodes, and spectacular special effects. All that under the sure-handed direction of consummate professional J. Lee Thompson, who delivers what is arguably the best effort of his long career.
The success and enduring popularity of the…
It’s just getting dark in the afternoon, the house is all cozy, you have some nice subtle warm lighting in the room, a cup of tea, and you’re lying on the sofa watching this. That is ‘a vibe’
Guns of Navarone is a solid war film, suspenseful, nicely written, and well acted, the characters really drive this film forward, interesting interplays, and all brought their individual qualities to the story. Great direction and cinematography, and all though it feels a little overlong at times, it's a perfect Sunday afternoon belter.
War films from the 1960's and 1970's will always have a place in my affection because of the memories they stir inside me. All those films such as Zulu, The Dirty Dozen, Where Eagles Dare, and the like, were films that as a kid I'd watched with my granddad. He was a rugged old guy, typical working class Jock who loved a beer and loved a good war film, and his influence rubbed off on me much more than I ever thought it would. I grew up with war films and westerns as my favourite film genres, and that's something that's pretty much stayed with me my entire movie-watching life.
The Guns Of Navarone is one of those films that…
Suffers from the same bloated runtime problem as movies like Where Eagles Dare, but it has a more straightforward plot which makes it more engaging and entertaining.
I enjoyed it.
Side Note: I love Peter Niven. There’s something so charming and wry about him. He always makes me smile.
Classic Sunday afternoon fare for so many of us, what surprises on this umpteenth rewatch is just how character-driven the whole thing is.
Sure, the boys own, men-on-a-mission plot is still there - in order to secure the rescue of 2,000 British soldiers stranded on a Greek island, the monstrous twin guns on the island of Navarone are to be sabotaged by a rag-tag group of heroes, led by Gregory Peck, David Niven and Anthony Quinn; and even the story beats along the way lean towards the traditional war/action genre - the perilous ascension of the island's sheer cliff face to avoid detection, a chase across the island with various run ins with the Nazi garrisons stationed there, the reveal…
Nazis in Greece always seemed like another of the great desecrations of World War II to me. I can’t bear to think about these cultural infidels on land I consider holy: the fount of Western civilization, sunny pebble beaches, whitewashed villages, azure waters, grilled octopus and ouzo. So what’s better than men-on-a-mission movie to kick their asses out of Greece, and this is one of the best of the genre.
After a harrowing shipwreck scene the men pull themselves from smashing surf onto on volcanic rocks, they slowly turn and look up the looming sheer black cliff face (“Fuck!”). And when they’ve made this impossible ascent in the dark and rain they arrive at the top to find Nazis (actual…
I recently re-read Alistair MacLean’s The Guns of Navarone. It is a really solid novel that is very heavy on compelling action, a little low on character. It has MacLean’s no-nonsense style wedded to a good espionage plot. MacLean was never an especially deep writer, but he was always an engaging one. The film adaptation, while changing a few things for the better, deepening the character conflicts and backstories, is actually a fairly faithful adaptation. It has the same plot, mostly the same characters with the same characterisation, and the same outcome. What the film has, that the book does not, is the cast.
The cast of The Guns of Navarone is absolutely first rate. You have Gregory Peck (a…
