One of cinema's all time best war films, 1961's THE GUNS OF NAVARONE still packs quite a punch.
Gregory Peck leads an eclectic squad on a 7-day mission to destroy huge cliff side guns guarding sea lanes on the Greek island of Navarone.
With only a week from conception of the plan to execute the daring attack, Peck and his team must succeed in order to allow Allied Warships through the channel to fight the Nazis.
David Niven is good as an English demolitions expert, Anthony Quinn is a Greek officer with an axe to grind with Peck. The reliable Anthony Quayle and James Darren (who manages to sing better than act) round out the team.
They don't make movie stars like Gregory Peck anymore. He dominates the film and is believable in every scene, showing more screen presence & power than any three modern male movie stars combined!
The film gets extra credit for building its tension as it goes and never lagging during its 158 minute running time. It also is unique among war films of the era by depicting the German soldiers as having varying degrees of humanity. They aren't all paint-by-the-numbers Gestapo types and it makes the truly bad guys all the more threatening.
Avoid the lame 70's sequel and stick with the epic original. First rate, high adventure that gets a very solid A-.
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