The Guns Of Navarone (Special Edition)
Added 2/5/2010
No complaints. Thumbs up for a very good effort by Amazon's staff to despatch the item within a very short time.
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Classic Action
Added 1/24/2010
1961. First Rate Production. This film gets AAAAA rating for its great direction, great performances and great music. I consider Alistair Maclean's 'Where Eagles Dare' as his best work followed by "The Guns of Navarone' as a close second. Thanks to Adolf Hitler for providing all the drama as both are with the backdrop of Nazi bashing during the prime of the second world war.
Columbia purchased the screen rights to this work in 1957. It cost $16 million to make this picture. They got Carl Foreman to produce and write this project as he had done 'The Bridge on the River Kwai' earlier. Foreman had Cary Grant and Alec Guinness in mind for the roles of Captain Mallory and Corporal Miller. They were not available. He eventually signed Gregory Peck and David Niven. They were soon joined by Anthony Quinn as Andrea Stavros, Stanley Baker as Brown "The Butcher of Barcelona', Anthony Quayle as Major Roy Franklin and James Darren as Spyro Pappadimous. The female characters were added with Maclean's permission (not originally in the plot) in Irene Papas as Maria and Gia Scala as Anna. Much of the filming was done in the Aegean Sea.
J. Lee Thompson, an English filmmaker, was signed to direct this epic adventure. Thompson is noted for his brisk storytelling. Shooting began in April 1960 on Rhodes in the Dodecanese island area of the Aegean Sea. Interiors were shot in London's Shepperton Studios. Attention to detail earned the film an Academy Award for Special Effects. I am surprised the jury could not find anything else worth rewarding. It was a sacrilege done by them. At the Globe Awards, it won the Best Picture and Best Music. Dimitri Tiomkin has written a magnificent score and songs for the film.
It was the top grossing picture of 1961. It has taken its place among the all time classic action and suspense films. Everyone acted brilliantly. Special mention for David Niven who stands out.
Six people save the lives of fourteen hundred on Kheros island in Greece by destroying the Guns of Navarone wielded by the Germans.
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Deep and entertaining at the same time
Added 10/23/2009
This film shows how far off the track many modern films have gone, when they sacrifice characters for special effects. All too often films of the 21st century use great CGI and film wizardry to paper over the shallowness of a storyline or the paper-thin characters that take part.
Guns of Navarone is a war film that has great characters and a depth that is sadly missing today. The leaders have to wrestle with their consciences in making decisions that will affect the lives of those under them. There is none of this mock-heroic insulting rubbish we see all too often today. Here are people demonstrating genuine fears and emotions without making it ludicrous or false.
Set on fictitious Greek islands, a small group of Allied commandos have to destroy two huge guns that block the way for a rescue fleet of British destroyers who are trying to get 2,000 Allied troops off an island targeted for a massive German invasion.
Ironically this film actually won a best special effects award in 1961, but to me what stands out here is the believeable storyline and the sympathy I feel towards the characters. They are tough but at the same tiem vulnerable, none more so than the tired and worn out Brown, the knife expert, who tells Captain Mallory that he's been 'killing Germans since 1937. There's no end to them.' As a result Mallory gives him the cold shoulder until Brown, desperate to feel part of the team again, is reduced to pleading his usefulness to Mallory.
Mallory himself is seemingly two men; on one hand, he's the cold-hearted, insensitive robot who has to get the job done, but on the other hand his doubts are shown in one telling scene with the traumatised Greek resistance fighter Anna (portrayed in the book as Panayis, a man), when he asks her if his choices are moral.
Great storyline, plenty of action, and real characters to empathise with. And yes, I agree with others, they don't make them like this anymore, sadly.
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The Guns of Navarone
Added 9/3/2009
This is one of the better older movies I've seen in the past year. Gregory Peck gives one of his better performances as the determined and yet very humane leader of this bunch of ragtag recruits to knock out a major Nazi naval battery in the eastern Mediterranean Sea during WWII. The action pacing keeps the movie interesting, with only a very few slow parts within. The final scenes are particularly memorable -- well worth the brief wait to get there. A great addition to any personal movie library.
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Guns of Navarone
Added 8/14/2009
Delivered promptly and as advertised. Filled out a missing item in my collection - may be years berfore I actually view it again.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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The Guns Of Navarone (Special Edition)
Added 2/5/2010
No complaints. Thumbs up for a very good effort by Amazon's staff to despatch the item within a very short time.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Classic Action
Added 1/24/2010
1961. First Rate Production. This film gets AAAAA rating for its great direction, great performances and great music. I consider Alistair Maclean's 'Where Eagles Dare' as his best work followed by "The Guns of Navarone' as a close second. Thanks to Adolf Hitler for providing all the drama as both are with the backdrop of Nazi bashing during the prime of the second world war.
Columbia purchased the screen rights to this work in 1957. It cost $16 million to make this picture. They got Carl Foreman to produce and write this project as he had done 'The Bridge on the River Kwai' earlier. Foreman had Cary Grant and Alec Guinness in mind for the roles of Captain Mallory and Corporal Miller. They were not available. He eventually signed Gregory Peck and David Niven. They were soon joined by Anthony Quinn as Andrea Stavros, Stanley Baker as Brown "The Butcher of Barcelona', Anthony Quayle as Major Roy Franklin and James Darren as Spyro Pappadimous. The female characters were added with Maclean's permission (not originally in the plot) in Irene Papas as Maria and Gia Scala as Anna. Much of the filming was done in the Aegean Sea.
J. Lee Thompson, an English filmmaker, was signed to direct this epic adventure. Thompson is noted for his brisk storytelling. Shooting began in April 1960 on Rhodes in the Dodecanese island area of the Aegean Sea. Interiors were shot in London's Shepperton Studios. Attention to detail earned the film an Academy Award for Special Effects. I am surprised the jury could not find anything else worth rewarding. It was a sacrilege done by them. At the Globe Awards, it won the Best Picture and Best Music. Dimitri Tiomkin has written a magnificent score and songs for the film.
It was the top grossing picture of 1961. It has taken its place among the all time classic action and suspense films. Everyone acted brilliantly. Special mention for David Niven who stands out.
Six people save the lives of fourteen hundred on Kheros island in Greece by destroying the Guns of Navarone wielded by the Germans.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Deep and entertaining at the same time
Added 10/23/2009
This film shows how far off the track many modern films have gone, when they sacrifice characters for special effects. All too often films of the 21st century use great CGI and film wizardry to paper over the shallowness of a storyline or the paper-thin characters that take part.
Guns of Navarone is a war film that has great characters and a depth that is sadly missing today. The leaders have to wrestle with their consciences in making decisions that will affect the lives of those under them. There is none of this mock-heroic insulting rubbish we see all too often today. Here are people demonstrating genuine fears and emotions without making it ludicrous or false.
Set on fictitious Greek islands, a small group of Allied commandos have to destroy two huge guns that block the way for a rescue fleet of British destroyers who are trying to get 2,000 Allied troops off an island targeted for a massive German invasion.
Ironically this film actually won a best special effects award in 1961, but to me what stands out here is the believeable storyline and the sympathy I feel towards the characters. They are tough but at the same tiem vulnerable, none more so than the tired and worn out Brown, the knife expert, who tells Captain Mallory that he's been 'killing Germans since 1937. There's no end to them.' As a result Mallory gives him the cold shoulder until Brown, desperate to feel part of the team again, is reduced to pleading his usefulness to Mallory.
Mallory himself is seemingly two men; on one hand, he's the cold-hearted, insensitive robot who has to get the job done, but on the other hand his doubts are shown in one telling scene with the traumatised Greek resistance fighter Anna (portrayed in the book as Panayis, a man), when he asks her if his choices are moral.
Great storyline, plenty of action, and real characters to empathise with. And yes, I agree with others, they don't make them like this anymore, sadly.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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