Genres

Visitors Review

leif-kjaer 2012-05-16 22:40:34

The escape from a movie

A lad from Scotland asks a question in a user comment: "Why does everyonehate this movie?". Below you will find my personal answers to thisquestion.1) I felt asleep several times while watching the movie.2) The plot is very thin - in fact filled with bomb craters.3) The cast acts really badly - and the best ones of the cast seems to borethemselves while acting.4) The editing is terrible.5) Why are the German quarters, camps or radar stations never guarded bymore than a handful of soldiers? Because our brave heroes can fight an easyvictory.One nice thing must be mentioned: the wonderful military march based on thetheme "O when the Saints..."My rating: 2 out of 10.

stevefranciscus 2012-05-16 13:57:32

Come To Greece. It's Nice.

This film is a fantastic brochure for Greece and it's surroundingIsles. There are some beautiful shots of mountains and hills and thenRoger Moore steps in and blocks the view. We get to see a gorgeous,ancient monastery but then Telly Savalas blocks the view by firing amachine gun and lumbering around. Damn. The ocean view was very prettyuntil Elliot Gould got in the way, slipping on a banana skin. "Move outof the way, Elliot! You're blocking the scenery!" The trees wereparticularly lovely until David Niven blocked the view. These actorskeep getting in the way of the visual tour of the islands that we aretreated to. I wonder if the Greek Tourism Commission got a rich cut ofthis films earnings? What? What do you mean it flopped?

2012-05-13 07:50:13

Fun movie available as an import from Amazon UK

Please note that this is a review of the ITV BD release of ESCAPE TO ATHENA. I just received mine from Amazon UK last week and it plays fine on my American player. The special features do not play since they are in PAL (as they would also be on the Marketplace sellers product) but the movie itself is n great shape.The movie follows the attempt by Allied P.O.W.'s during World War II Greece to disrupt the operations of the Nazi's, in particular to prevent the Germans from employing a secret weapon atop a mountaintop monastery. The plot however is largely used as a backdrop on which to stage some exciting action scenes and some comedic timing by Elliott Gould and Roger Moore (playing a rather improbable ladies manGerman officer). The rest of the cast includes David Niven (who would reteam with Moore a year later in the excellent "Sea Wolves"), Stephanoe Powers and Telly Savalas. All in all, it's a fun Boys Only adventure movie that is perfect viewing for those rainy Saturday afternoons. The picture and audio quality of the Blu-ray are flawless and this is undoubtedly the best way to view the movie at home. The level of detail is staggering and the Blu-ray technology is put to good use to bring out the beauty of Greece.

Steve Riley 2012-05-12 17:27:11

Promises a lot but delivers little

I only recently got to see this movie and – on the basis of the all-startcast and the still pictures that I had seen – I was expecting a well-madeand slightly offbeat war film. I was very disappointed. This movie can'tmake up its mind whether it wants to be a comedy or an action / adventureyarn, and in the end it largely fails to deliver on either front. RogerMoore is hopelessly miscast as the antiques-loving German (or ratherAustrian) PoW camp commandant, and a number of the other characters such asSonny Bono's Italian chef, Michael Sheard's oafish German sergeant and TellySavalas' Greek resistance leader are extremely caricature-ish. Even RichardRowntree's PoW character comes across merely as Shaft in a GI uniform(coming out with expressions like `he's one cool cat'). The characterCharlie (played by Elliot Gould) is a civilian USO entertainer whose planewas shot down over the Mediterranean, with him and his female colleaguebeing captured and placed in the PoW camp. However, when these two areintroduced early on, we see them looking like a pair of well-heeled Americanholidaymakers. Both are immaculately groomed and dressed, and they certainlydon't look like two people who have just been fished out of theMediterranean after their plane has been shot out of the sky - the woman iseven lugging all her suitcases behind her!!! I assume that we're supposed tobelieve that they too would have survived the shootdown without even a scuffmark and then floated up from the plane wreckage to be convenientlyretrieved. I have to admit that initially I found the Charlie characterfairly amusing and even laughed at some of his one-liners. But ultimately hebecame more annoying than funny. The action scenes later on were also fairlypredictable and boring. I got the impression that the makers of this moviewere trying to combine elements from those classic war films `The Guns OfNavarone', `The Great Escape' and `Kelly's Heroes' (we even had David Nivenwho appeared in the former and Telly Savalas from the latter). But thismovie is not a classic in any way, shape or form. It oozes mediocrity in allareas. On the plus side, the Greek islands location is wonderful and thecamera work is on the whole pretty good. And the beautiful Claudia Cardinalegraces any movie that she's in. On balance though I'd have to give this filmjust 3½ out of 10. Not the worst war film I've ever seen, but definitely`below average' and – given the amount of big names in it – the end resultis a massive disappointment.

Jackson Booth-Millard 2012-05-12 09:32:45

Escape to Athena

I am always keen to try war films with a good amount of actors in thecast, and even though this had a low rating, I was still willing to tryit, from George P. Cosmatos (Rambo: First Blood Part II, Tombstone).Basically it is World War II, and the Germans have managed to sweepthrough Greece where camp Stalag VII-Z is located where variouscivilian prisoners have been thrown. The camp is under control ofunpleasant brutality enjoying SS Major Volkmann (Anthony Valentine),and the more charming and former dodgy Viennese art merchant Major OttoHecht (Sir Roger Moore). Amongst the prisoners who have been sparedtheir lives are archaeology Professor Blake (David Niven), Americanshow performer and presenter Charlie Del Mar (Elliott Gould) and hiswife Dottie (Stefanie Powers), black POW Nat Judson (RichardRoundtree), and Italian cook Bruno Rotelli (Sonny Bono). Local Greekresistance leader Zeno (Telly Savalas) and these prisoners have plansnot to escape the camp, but to take it over to avoid more villagersbeing executed. However, they all have the same goal when they hear ofpriceless treasures on the nearby Mount Athena inside the monastery,and Hecht is persuaded to help with a cut. Of course with an invasionon the way Zeno and the gang have to hurry before the secret Germanrocket installation beneath the monastery mountain can be activated.Also starring Claudia Cardinale as Eleana and William Holden asPrisoner smoking a cigar in prison camp. Moore might be a good charminglead, but his German accent is terrible, and co-stars Niven, Savalas,Gould and Roundtree all get their moments too. The war element ispossibly the least focused part of the story which I found reallyboring in parts, so much so I even dozed off, not even the explosionsand action could do much to grab my attention, so a disappointing waradventure. Adequate!

dkrathbun 2012-05-11 18:31:14

One of the worst war films ever

Despite the interesting cast (Elliot Gould! David Niven! Roger Moore asa German! Sonny Bono!) and the truly amazing scenery on the island ofRhodes, I have to disagree with other posters on this site who havegiven this film even a modestly positive rating. This has to be one ofthe worst war films ever.If you've ever seen Kelly's Heroes (1970), you may remember DonaldSutherland's character Oddball, who spoke in a late-60s, early-70shippy-dippy patois, calling things "groovy" and "out-a-sight" and soon. This kind of anachronistic speech spoils large sections of Escapeto Athena. I wonder how old the script was at the time it was made...When Gould's character says to Moore's that he will have the "grooviestcamp around," I had to check the release date (NINE years after Kelly'sHeroes).***SPOILERS AHEAD*** Near the end of the film, when the true objectiveof the Greek resistance becomes clear (a V-2 type rocket installation),the Germans roll out one of their weapons, trailed by a company of menin (anachronistic) mirrored-visor helmets. I presume that buying thehelmets was cheaper than hiring more extras, since they allowed anyactor, even one that had appeared earlier, who had been shot or blownup, to reappear in a jumpsuit and helmet and...march...slowly... inlockstep....behind...a rocket...without performing any functionwhatsoever! It's laughable! I though I had suddenly fallen through afilmic wormhole into a bad James Bond imitation.A complete waste of time.

TrevorAclea 2012-05-06 02:55:33

So the 70s was the last great age of movie-making, huh?

Escape to Athena is another nail in the theory that the 70s was agolden age of movie-making. It's a typical example of thosetransatlantic star-studded messes so beloved of Lew Grade after themodest success of The Eagle Has Landed led him to inflict the likes ofThe Cassandra Crossing (okay, that one is a guilty pleasure), Voyage ofthe Damned and Michael Winner's The Big Sleep on the world. A bizarrecross between Hogan's Heroes and The Guns of Navarone (well, directorand co-scenarist George Pan Cosmatos was in charge of the luncheonvouchers for the extras on that one), it throws in everyone andeverything but the kitchen sink in the hope that the audiences will betoo dazzled by the three ring circus to notice that virtually none ofit is any good. Thus we have Roger Moore as a corrupt Austrian prisoncamp commandant-cum-antique dealer, Elliott Gould as a bad standupcomedian, Sony Bono as an Italian cook, Telly Savalas as a Greekresistance leader, Claudia Cardinale as the local Madame, David Nivenas an archaeologist, Stefanie Powers as a stripper, and RichardRoundtree as a magician, all of whom know they're in a piece of rubbishand act accordingly. But then, what else is there to do in a plot (ofsorts) that sees them take over a prison camp, save various Greeks fromSS man Anthony Valentine's firing squad, destroy a submarine refuellingdump and blow up the local monastery-cum-V3 launching pad without evermanaging to generate much excitement or interest? Aside from a nicethrowaway cameo from William Holden reprising his Stalag 17 character,some good aerial photography and a surprisingly good motorcycle chase,this one has nothing much going for it, least of all the dire discnumber over the end credits.For the more masochistic of you out there, the UK DVD boasts a decent2.35:1 transfer, trailer and several cast and crew inteviews.

chris 2012-05-05 13:49:50

Grrek Tragedy?

Roger Moore as a German officer! No,no,no!! Shocking accent with Moore's Queens English never disappearing. His acting wasn't a lot better. David Niven's class shone through but he was underused and Telly Savalas gave a solid performance. Elliot Gould as a camp showman stole the show for me. Locations of Rhodes were great and stunts were fun, especially the motor cycle chase. Overall, harmless enough but certainly no classic.

bkoganbing 2012-04-27 20:53:19

The Reluctant Nazi

Roger Moore is the Austrian commandant of a German POW camp located inthe Grecian Isles in Escape to Athena. He's got a couple of favoritesamong the prisoners, an Italian cook in Sonny Bono, an archaeologist inDavid Niven and a black GI magician in Richard Roundtree. In additionUSO entertainers Elliott Gould and Stefanie Powers are shot down intheir transport plane and become Moore's prisoners.Moore really hasn't got his heart in the commandant business. He's anantique dealer in civilian life and he relishes the assignment onlybecause of the location where he's also involved in Adolph Hitler'slooting of Greek antiquities of which there are many in that area.Niven and company aid him because if they didn't they'd be in the handsof the SS. STill they want there freedom.Which they get when they join with resistance leader Telly Savalas andhis mistress, bordello madam Claudia Cardinale. It's rumored there's alot of hidden loot in a monastery on a nearby hill, whatever Moorehasn't taken for his own private stock for after the war. But Savalasis interested in some prototype V2 rockets located there.Escape to Athena mixes the plot elements of The Guns of Navarone andTopkapi, but they're not stirred too well. The scenery is quite niceand I'm sure the prospect of some paid time in the Aegean Sea mighthave been a big inducement for all these people signing on for themovie.As he was involved with Stefanie Powers at the time, William Holdengets a small unbilled cameo in a brief scene with Elliott Gould. As itturns out Moore's Prison Camp is also Stalag XVII. That might have beenpart of the package for Stefanie to go to Greece.It was also plain dumb to make Richard Roundtree a black GI. Americanswere not involved in that theater, let alone black soldiers. Now ifthey had made his character be part of the African colonial troops ofthe British Empire, it would have made more sense. Then again wecouldn't have heard Roundtree call a German soldier a 'cool cat'.The action sequences are done well enough, but the cast here justcollected their paychecks and walked through the parts.

Jonathan Galbraith 2012-04-27 00:33:40

Why does everyone hate this film?

No one likes this film. Why not? It is a remarkably good film, with anexcellent cast. Telly Savalas seems to be remarkably at home in thisfilm;he is very natural. I also think that it is good to see David Niven in adifferent setting to his usual role as the English gentlemen. However,Roger Moore's German accent is appalling. The character of Charlie isalsowell imagined, and the motorcycling stunts are first class. There aresomegreat one-liners: "I think your defection to the Allies must be taken assomething of a mixed message." And did I mention the soundtrack fromHeatwave (at the end of the film) ...

edwoodjr2003 2012-04-26 06:24:15

Fluffy

Hogan's Heroes meets Batman-like camp. Totally and utterly implausibleand fluffy. A lot of dumb Germans, etc. But if you go int it thinkingthat way it's not THAT bad. After all, it is a movie. Lots ofexplosions and gunfire and flames. It looks like they had fun makingit. A nice vacation for all involved. If not just a payday. weird jumpto "current times" (1979?) at the end. I saw this twice as a kid at thelocal town theater. Probably had a pack of Sweettarts and a flat coke.End credits include "lingerie by.......". Definitely wouldn't pay $10+to see it but if you catch it on cable, give it a try. I'm now tryingto make the required 10 lines here for submission.

James Hitchcock 2012-04-25 10:38:41

Below Average War Adventure

Films about the Second World War were highly popular in the Britishcinema throughout the fifties and sixties, but by the time "Escape toAthena" was made at the end of the seventies the genre was beginning torun out of steam. The film could be described as a sort of "Guns ofNavarone" meets "Colditz". Like the former, it is set on aGerman-occupied Greek island, and like the latter it concerns theattempts of a group of Allied prisoners to escape from a prisoner ofwar camp. The prisoners, however, are not merely concerned withescaping. They also plan to make a raid on a nearby monastery in orderto loot a collection of priceless Byzantine golden plates. The localGreek Resistance are also interested in the monastery, because theNazis are using it as a base for the V2 rockets with which they hope todefeat any Allied attempt to liberate the island.One unusual thing about the film is that it features a "good German",although both the noun and the adjective need to be given a fairly widedefinition. Major Otto Hecht, the commandant of the prison camp, isViennese by birth, and therefore only German by virtue of the 1938Anschluss between Germany and Austria. In civilian life he was anantique dealer, and he is not above using his military position to lootantiquities which he ships to relatives in Switzerland, hoping to sellthem at a profit after the war. In wartime, however, embezzlement ofthis nature is a minor offence compared with the other crimes of theNazis, and the comparatively liberal Hecht is repelled by the brutalityof some of his comrades such as the fanatical SS Major Volkmann (playedby Anthony Valentine who had played a very similar role in the earlyseventies British TV serial "Colditz"), and has no difficulties aboutthrowing his lot in with the prisoners he is supposedly guarding.The other characters are something of a mixed bunch. We have DavidNiven going through the motions as an upper-class Englisharchaeologist, Telly Savalas as a Resistance leader, Richard Roundtreeas a black American POW and Sonny Bono as an Italian marooned on thewrong side after his country switched sides in the war. The war film isnormally a male-dominated genre, although this one has rather moreglamour than normal, with Claudia Cardinale as a Greek prostitute andStefanie Powers as a swimmer turned actress (presumably based on EstherWilliams), one of two American entertainers captured by the Germans,the other being Elliott Gould's Jewish comedian.It was a surprise to see Roger Moore playing something other than anEnglishman, although it must be said that he does not make a convincingGerman. This film came halfway through his reign as 007, and he soundsmuch the same as he did when playing James Bond, making only the mostperfunctory attempt at a foreign accent. As in some of his lesssuccessful Bond films he just seems content to stroll through the filmwithout putting any great effort. To be fair, however, the same couldbe said of most of the rest of the cast. One wonders if they signed upmerely in order to spend a few months in the Greek sunshine. Niven, forexample, too old in his late sixties to be taking a leading role in anaction film like this, seems even more laid-back than Moore.If the cast seem uninspired, that is possibly because they are dealingwith a very uninspiring script. The film's occasional attempts to blendhumour with action (mostly involving Gould's character) tend to fallflat. "Escape to Athena" is very much an average war adventure, or evena below average war adventure, with little to set it apart from all theother indifferent war films that had appeared on both sides of theAtlantic over the preceding few decades. 4/10

2012-04-25 07:14:00

A good one!

I hadn't seen this movie in more than 20 years. It was one of my favorites back then. I'm so glad I got it through Amazon. Unfortunately, they only had it on VHS. But I don't mind, this is one of the best movies on nazi war affairs. A rare combination of funny stuff with more serious war related matters. It kind of reminds me of MASH, but much better. Telly Savalas and Roger Moore are great. It definitely brought back good memories from my youth.

2012-04-25 02:02:04

One of the Best War Movies Ever (and a Rare One!)

OK, so not everyone has seen this movie in their lives, but this is a rare-see for cable TV viewers. Featuring Telly Savalas from "Kojak", this is one of ITC's best movies ever made -- but whatever happened to the studios after 1992? Don't they have it on DVD yet??

Patricia Hammond 2012-04-20 09:08:28

Come on guys; it was pretty enjoyable!!

This film came free with today's paper, so perhaps I'm in an indulgentframe of mind. However, much as I admire the wit shown by IMDb membersin panning this film, I have to disagree with them. Escape to Athena isa very enjoyable romp indeed, with all sorts of excellent stylistictouches, some really gratifying explosions, humour that is a trifledated but not so bad if you lean back and accept it, and an interestingplot. I don't know why people require a movie to go all the way in onedirection, ie be edge-of-the-seat suspense, or cataclysmic tragedy, orroll-in-the-aisles hilarious, or weepie romantic etc. etc. Why can't itbe a bit of everything? I think we're far too used to the extremes thathave become fashionable of late. Forget Daniel Day-Lewis bursting avein, if just for one evening. You'll feel better for it. However,Telly really can't dance. That I must agree with.

Zorba the Bomb 2012-04-19 19:18:07

an underrated, underdog of a movie

This movie was blasted by the critics but who cares? It's not exactly acomedy, not a drama, but it does have a lot of action and adventure plus anall-star cast that all play wonderfully off one another, notably ElliottGould and Stephanie Powers, who always have great comic timing anyway, buthere they're a delight together, especially in the "stripping" scene onstage.It's got some good chases and gorgeous scenery of the island of Rhodes.Giveit a whirl!

espgr 2012-04-17 15:43:15

Nothing much to see

I remember seen the movie when I was a kid and didn't like it thenmuch. So when I tried a second viewing, as an adult, my opinionworsened considerably. The inspiration for this comment is the creditshot of the movie. It starts as a traveling from the sea towards theisland and ends in a medium shot of man killed (irrelevant to thestory) after we have watched him trying to escape from his predators.This aerial single shot which lasts for several minutes, includes manydifficult framings within the shot and incredible timing, is one of thebest helicopter shots ever being filmed. The movie although totallyuninspiring has other well crafted aerial shots and a very goodmotorcycle chasing in very narrow streets. Everything else just fallsapart after the first 10 minutes. A failed effort to advertise thebeauties of the Greek island of Rhodes.

Jonathon Dabell 2012-04-16 20:42:34

Everyone's in Greece for a wartime adventure romp, but it looks more like a lazy vacation.

How's this for a dazzling international cast: Roger Moore, David Niven,Stephanie Powers, Elliot Gould, Telly Savalas, Claudia Cardinale,Richard Rountree and Soony Bono? All in one film! There's also thebriefest of cameos by the great William Holden. Surely to assemble suchtalent suggests that this film started out with a promising script.It's a shame, then, that in the final analysis Escape to Athena is suchdismal, amateurish junk.The story takes place on a Greek island during WWII. Various AlliedPOWs survive under the fairly relaxed custody of German officer RogerMoore, but they begin to form ideas above their station when they hearof a Nazi-occupied monastery nearby which is full of priceless arttreasures. A small group of escapees scale the island mountains andattempt to steal the loot from the German forces.Everyone looks like they're on vacation in this one. Certainly no-oneseems to give two hoots about the story. The action highlights are fewand far between, and much of the comedy banter - intended to breathelife into the characters - falls horribly flat. Moore gets top billingbut has terribly little to do with the story; Gould probably lands thejuiciest role, but he overplays it to the point of irritation.

intelearts 2012-04-14 06:36:38

A very sorry effort: the death knell of the WWII film industry

Absolutely dreadful 70s mish mash of comedy and action - all overactedand under directed. This really has lazy written all over it -dialed-in performances and everything is done in a way that belittleseveryone involved.The plot of a misfit gaggle of POWs on a Greek island with a benevolentGerman commandant (Roger Moore) who decide to rob a Monastery soundsgood but the reality is just awful, and horribly banal.The whole film is not helped by occasional forays into a harder coldersadistic SS company who arbitrarily hang and shoot the Greek citizenry,and Telly Savalas as an ex-monk with too much testosterone is nobetter.Have to be honest and say this is probably my least favourite war filmof all time - it just jars at every stage - even the great David Niven- who could make any line seem natural - seems totally bemused by theawfulness of the effort here. Maybe he did it out of paternal love forhis son who co-produced this fiasco.I firmly believe this film was one of the main reasons Hollywoodstopped making WWII films and started making Vietnam films, and on theevidence here who can blame them? Fantastic cast, awful, awful, awfulfilm - not even worth watching on a cold, wet Autumn Saturday -honestly...Look and feels like an amateur holiday video... good luckenjoying this one!

Leofwine_draca 2012-04-13 20:30:23

Cinema's most unconvincing German officer

This rather feeble wartime thriller attempts to mix together fairlydisparate elements: the liberation of a Nazi prisoner of war camp; thesmuggling of fine Greek antiques; the development of a new Naziultra-weapon and an Allied invasion. It sounds all over the place andit is: the film adopts a jokey, lighthearted tone in spite of thesubject matter that reminded me of KELLY'S HEROES – although this isfar less successful.When the film's most memorable scene sees Stefanie Powers performing astriptease to a bunch of sweaty Nazis you know you're in trouble. RogerMoore, miscast as the world's most unconvincing German, doesn't helpeither and his supposed romance scenes with Powers felt sleazy ratherthan sweet. There's a past-his-prime David Niven looking desperatelylike he wishes he was elsewhere and Elliott Gould overacting as thetoken humourist. Richard Roundtree's presence is never quite explainedand as for the pathetic Sonny Bono, the less said the better. The onlyone who comes out of this with any credit is Telly Savalas as the toughresistance leader; I loved his Greek dancing at the climax.On the plus side, the film's structured fairly well, with a series ofincreasingly fraught missions occupying much of the running time. Itdoes take a while to get going, though. There's a claustrophobicmotorbike chase about halfway through that marks a definite highlight,featuring some exceptional photography as the machines ride down narrowstreets and alleyways. George Pan Cosmatos handles the proceedings witha certain efficiency to stop this from becoming a total dud, but it'sstill a disappointment.