During a battle with the resistance, SS Major Volkmann escapes on a motorcycle with Charlie (played by Elliott Gould) chasing after him on a motorcycle with sidecar down narrow village streets. Directed by. Armstrong directed the motorcycle chase which he says took two weeks. [8], William Holden was visiting his girlfriend Stefanie Powers during filming and was persuaded to make a cameo in the prison camp scene, presumably reprising his role as Stalag 17 escapee Sergeant Sefton. Rome, March 23, 1944: 33 German soldiers are killed by a bomb. [7], David Niven agreed to be in the film because his son produced it and he liked the idea of returning to Rhodes, where he had made The Guns of Navarone. FREE Delivery on all Orders! We have David Niven going through the motions as an upper-class English archaeologist, Telly Savalas as a Resistance leader, Richard Roundtree as a black American POW and Sonny Bono as an Italian marooned on the wrong side after his country switched sides in the war. Need some streaming picks for the month? Ready to start the year by getting your finances under control? If only the emphasis had been on action throughout the film would have been a hit. Major Otto Hecht, the commandant of the prison camp, is Viennese by birth, and therefore only German by virtue of the 1938 Anschluss between Germany and Austria. As in some of his less successful Bond films he just seems content to stroll through the film without putting any great effort. The story takes place on a Greek island during WWII. "Escape to Athena" is very much an average war adventure, or even a below average war adventure, with little to set it apart from all the other indifferent war films that had appeared on both sides of the Atlantic over the preceding few decades. Escape to Athena is a 1979 British adventure comedy war film directed by George P. Cosmatos. Escape TO Athena (that's right, they aren't exactly escaping FROM the POW camp) isn't as bad as it seems. Mann, Roderick. Synopsis. Lt. Col. Herbert Kappler is ordered to execute ten times that Italians. Escape to Athena is a 1979 World War II adventure comedy movie starring Roger Moore, Telly Savalas, David Niven, Stefanie Powers, Sonny Bono, and Elliott Gould. [5], Filming began in Greece on 21 February 1978. They don't want only their freedom, but they also seek an ineffable treasure hidden in a monastery at the top of the island's mountain. The film's occasional attempts to blend humour with action (mostly involving Gould's character) tend to fall flat. During World War II, the British must attack a German ship, but it's safe in neutral Goa. This film came halfway through his reign as 007, and he sounds much the same as he did when playing James Bond, making only the most perfunctory attempt at a foreign accent. Zeno, the monks and the Americans escape the monastery before it explodes. Average connection time 25 secs. MOVIES: DAVID NIVEN LIKES LIVING IN LUXURY It's a shame, then, that in the final analysis Escape to Athena is such dismal, amateurish junk. A South African gold mine manager discovers a plot hatched by the mine owners and London bankers to flood the mine in order to curb gold production and consequently manipulate its price on the stock markets. Searching for treasure until the last minute, Charlie escapes the explosion with the only treasure the Germans left behind — tin plates adorned with Hitler's face. Two captured USO artists, Charlie and Dottie, perform a concert as cover, while the Resistance takes over the camp. Zeno, who is in contact with Allied Headquarters, is ordered to break the prisoners out of their camp and use them to help liberate the town and capture the nearby U-boat refuelling depot. World War II adventure film starring Roger Moore and David Niven. Lewin, David. ESCAPE TO ATHENA. They don't want only their freedom, but they also seek an ineffable treasure hidden in a monastery at the top of the island's mountain. I too received a copy of the film for Christmas and can confirm that whilst the film was all shot on location on Rhodes the monastery that you mention is not here in Rhodes. Reistoffer: Volkmann's adjutant, This page was last edited on 21 November 2020, at 09:35. Dangaard, Colin. 'Anglo-Saxon Type Two-double-O-eight': The enduring, highly amused, and indomitably British style of David Niven. A World War II adventure, involving a group of Allied P.O.W.s, Nazis, black market priceless art treasures, Greek resistance, a Greek monastery, and a secret German rocket base. It stars Roger Moore, Telly Savalas, David Niven, Stefanie Powers, Claudia Cardinale, Richard Roundtree, Sonny Bono and Elliott Gould. They don't want only their freedom, but they also seek an ineffable treasure hidden in a monastery at the top of the island's mountain. BBC Two - Escape to Athena This programme is not currently available on BBC iPlayer A group of Allied prisoners of war plan to escape while excavating an archaeological site on a … Was this review helpful to you? [9], According to stuntman Vic Armstrong, the crew hated the director so much they stole his hat and nailed it to a mast. 2015 | Suitable for 15 years and over | CC. [12], Another says: "Film is an uneven mix of comedy and military action, but includes a stand out motorcycle chase. [13] Author Mark Hinchliff of Motorbike Writer ranks the chase in Escape to Athena as 3rd, only after those in The Great Escape (1st) and Skyfall (2nd).[14]. Escape To Athena (1979) Directed by George P. Cosmatos - starring Roger Moore, Telly Savalas et al, presnted by Box Office Films - film and movie box office details with weekly chart and lifetime grosses. Escape To Athena [DVD]. Unfortunately it wasn't. 49 to rent. Without revealing the whole truth, Zeno tells Charlie, Rotelli and Judson that in return for helping liberate the monks from the Germans, whatever they find there would be theirs. Norwegian resistance tries to stop German efforts to produce an atomic bomb component during World War II. When terrorists take over two oil rigs, and threaten to blow them up if their demands are not met, an eccentric anti-terrorism expert volunteers his unique commando unit to stop them. Escape to Athena is a film very much of its time, both in terms of tone and casting as well as production. To be fair, however, the same could be said of most of the rest of the cast. Starring Roger Moore, Telly Savalas, David Niven 1944: an unnamed Greek island controlled by the Germans. The film is set during the Second World War on a German-occupied Greek island. George Pan Cosmatos. Still, with the pre-sales I'd made we didn't lose nearly as much as we might have". The war film is normally a male-dominated genre, although this one has rather more glamour than normal, with Claudia Cardinale as a Greek prostitute and Stefanie Powers as a swimmer turned actress (presumably based on Esther Williams), 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 an Englishman, although it must be said that he does not make a convincing German. Edit Submit Cancel We have produced a Style Guide to help editors follow a standard format when editing a listing. Add the first question. Express Delivery* - if ordered before 11pm, delivered by courier next working day. Here are the buzz-worthy titles you're going to want to mark on your calendar. Surely to assemble such talent suggests that this film started out with a promising script. Zeno finds the self-destruct clock, but he cannot deactivate it. The camp Commandant, Major Otto Hecht, a former Austrian antiques dealer, is sending some of the valuable pieces to his sister living in Switzerland. Grade had wanted an action film and felt it "did not live up to expectations of the script" turning out to be "a broad comedy with action-adventure sequences and the combination just didn't work." The music was composed by Lalo Schifrin. It's endemic of how the experiences of war had, by that stage in cinema, become so filtered through to entertainment at its purest that it starts to resemble a starry, action packed pantomime - the end point of which would become 1981's Escape to Victory. At the Movies: Producer Sets Hoffman's Sail For 'Popeye' Vote films up or down and leave your comments. It stars Roger Moore, Telly Savalas, David Niven, Stefanie Powers, Claudia Cardinale, Richard Roundtree, Sonny Bono and Elliott Gould. Passengers on a European train have been exposed to a deadly disease. During the victory celebration in the village, Hecht, Charlie, and Dottie plan after the war to capitalise on treasures Hecht has already looted, by making copies to sell to Americans. Synopsis. A British banker hires a group of British mercenaries to rescue a deposed African President from the hands of a corrupt African dictator. Free delivery for many products! In 1944, Allied prisoners at a POW camp on an unnamed Greek island are forced to excavate ancient artifacts. Average connection time 25 secs . Austrian commandant Major Otto Hecht (Roger Moore) is carrying out Hitler's orders to loot ancient art treasures on the Greek island of Athena, unaware that local resistance leader Zeno (Telly Savalas) is hatching a plot to defeat him. Live Chat. Escape To Athena General viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children. United Kingdom, 1979. There were of course many from the film Escape to Athena. Your item will … A man becomes destructively obsessed with killing a dangerous rat, which has taken residence in his, recently renovated, house. During World War II, the prisoners of a German camp on a Greek island are trying to escape. [10], Producer Jack Wiener said during the shoot that the film cost $10 million and needed to make $30 million at the box office to recoup its cost. The Great Escape + Von Ryan?s Express + The McKenzie Break + Stalag 17 + Escape to Athena + Escape from Sobibor (II GUERRA MUNDI. They also plan to make a raid on a nearby monastery in order to loot a collection of priceless Byzantine golden plates. FILM CLIPS: Lew Grade's $97 Million Projects Start Chat Delivery & Returns. Zeno uses gas to knock out most of the soldiers, but not before their commander orders a V-2 rocket launch to destroy the invasion fleet. One wonders if they signed up merely in order to spend a few months in the Greek sunshine. In wartime, however, embezzlement of this nature is a minor offence compared with the other crimes of the Nazis, and the comparatively liberal Hecht is repelled by the brutality of some of his comrades such as the fanatical SS Major Volkmann (played by Anthony Valentine who had played a very similar role in the early seventies British TV serial "Colditz"), and has no difficulties about throwing his lot in with the prisoners he is supposedly guarding.The other characters are something of a mixed bunch. (1979). Other websites. Use the HTML below. Written by Chris Makrozahopoulos
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