Force 10 from Navarone (1978)

Director:

Guy Hamilton

Writers:

Robin Chapman (screenplay)
Carl Foreman (screen story)

Release Date:

8 December 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | War

Tagline:

The Odds Against Them Were 10,000 to 1...But What the Hell!

Plot:

During World War II, several oddly assorted military experts are teamed in a mission to raid and destroy a bridge vital to enemy strategy.

Plot Keywords:

Female Nudity | Dam | Decapitation | 1940s | Nazi

Cast

Robert Shaw	...	Maj. Keith Mallory
Harrison Ford	...	Lieutenant Colonel Mike Barnsby
Barbara Bach	...	Maritza Petrovich
Edward Fox	...	SSgt. Dusty Miller
Franco Nero	...	Capt. Nikolai Leskovar (as Lescovar)
Carl Weathers	...	Sgt. Weaver
Richard Kiel	...	Capt. Drazak
Alan Badel	...	Maj. Petrovitch
Michael Byrne	...	Maj. Schroeder
Philip Latham	...	Cmdr. Jensen
Angus MacInnes	...	1st Lt. Doug Reynolds
Michael Sheard	...	Sgt. Bauer
Petar Buntic	...	Marko
Leslie Schofield	...	Interrogation Officer 1
Anthony Langdon	...	Interrogation Officer 2

Also Known As:

Alistair MacLean's Force 10 from Navarone (USA) (poster title)
Force Ten from Navarone (International: English title) (alternative spelling)
Comando 10 de Navarone, O (Brazil) [pt]
Force 10 - Die Spezialeinheit (West Germany) [de]
Forza 10 da Navarone (Italy) [it]
Fuerza 10 de Navarone (Spain) [es]
Navaronen haukat (Finland) [fi]
Omada krouseos '10' ap' to Navarone (Greece) [el]
Ouragan vient de Navarone, L' (France) [fr]
Styrka 10 från Navarone (Sweden) [sv]
Styrke 10 fra Navarone (Norway) [no]
Styrke 10 fra Navarone (Denmark) [da]
Wilde Haufen von Navarone, Der (West Germany) [de]

Runtime:

118 min | 126 min (restored version)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Iceland:12 | Peru:PT | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | Singapore:PG | UK:A (original rating) (cut) | UK:12 (2005 re-rating) | UK:15 (1986-2005)

Filming Locations:

Jersey, Channel Islands

Company:

American International Pictures (AIP)

Trivia:

This was the last film completed by Robert Shaw.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The Chetnik movement fought against the Germans, not alongside them.

Quotes:

Maj. Schroeder: Ah, tell me what has all this to do with that, uh, suitcase case you keep looking at?
Mallory: Well, that suitcase is full of our penicillin.
Maj. Schroeder: Oh, indeed. Perhaps I could see some it?
Mallory: Certainly, Major. Open it Miller.
Miller: You can't do that here, sir. You'll ruin the lot. You know perfectly well that any contamination will destroy it. It's got to be opened under laboratory conditions.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Asylum: (#1.4)" (1996)

Fun

Force 10 from Navarone (1978) is,in fact,a very good and enjoyable WW2 flick,although it was keenly criticized. It gave me exactly what I was asking:fun,good performances,adventure.It manages to be playful without ever being ridiculous;it hasn't any great ambitions,but to offer some fun.

The first part is a little elliptic.The story is interesting and average.A commando is sent in a conventional,fancy Yugoslavia,a comic-strips-like one.This gives opportunity to some burlesque adventure.This is not to be taken as "history",but as pure fanciful fun.Some things are,indeed, ridiculous in a campy but enjoyable way.It has a comic strips' liveliness and a merry mood;it has to be taken as such.

Nero makes a creepy,keen,ruthless and handsome villain,as Lescovar.All the characters are marionettes.The movie is not violent,but suspenseful enough.A gentlemanly flick.This kind of film is not a mistake;it is a cinema many are not able to taste.

The photography is delightful.

Force 10 from Navarone (1978) was directed by the reputable Guy Hamilton ;he bets much on the cast,but only Nero's acting is conspicuous (such movies are never written for the actors,or for the characters' evolving).Ford is extremely banal, sulking and unnoticeable,it is so obvious that he spoiled his role,he really does nothing and is blown out by his far more interesting mates (Franco Nero,and also Shaw,Fox,Mrs. Barbara Bach). Barbara Bach is "Maritza Petrovich" (she gives somehow Yugoslavia a South Pacific breeze,being the last woman you could envisage in the clean Yugoslavian land,in the Balkanic coolness;but take it as an Euphuism,the director was so convinced we deserve to see Mrs. Barbara Bach even in this Yugoslavian adventure!).