The Guns of Navarone (1961)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Mike S

  
  Six brave souls set out on a hazardous mission to neutralize a pair of cannons (massive such I may add), installed by the Nazis on the Greek island of Navarone. It's the premise for a movie that has truly earned its pedestal in the cinematic hall of fame. A dynamite story, with… More
  Six brave souls set out on a hazardous mission to neutralize a pair of cannons (massive such I may add), installed by the Nazis on the Greek island of Navarone. It's the premise for a movie that has truly earned its pedestal in the cinematic hall of fame. A dynamite story, with richly written characters, whose multi-layered relationships and riveting interplay makes for a thoroughly engrossing experience. It also gives us the mythological beauty of Greece and its islands, which I've personally had the pleasure of visiting a few times. Not to mention the great action and constantly exciting atmosphere, which I will honor with nothing less than my most sincere recommendation. Especially if you love this brand of oldies as much as I do. Then it's an unquestionable must-see!

• Lanning :

  
  I've been killing Germans since 1937; there's no end to it.<p> Yes, that's a memorable, yet problematic, line, for me, from Stanley Baker, one of my all-time heroes from <i>Zulu</i> -- yet another "let's try to dominate the world" film.… More
  I've been killing Germans since 1937; there's no end to it.<p> Yes, that's a memorable, yet problematic, line, for me, from Stanley Baker, one of my all-time heroes from <i>Zulu</i> -- yet another "let's try to dominate the world" film. <p>I have some great friends who are German. One of them, Gordon's wife, has never and won't ever -- and I mean she swears she will never, never ever, out of national embarrassment -- watch <i>The Sound of Music.</i> So to quote De Niro in <i>The Deer Hunter:</i> Okay? (echo echo echo) Okay? <p> Kurt in <i>The Sound of Music</i> is a type. Most Nazi characters in any movie are stereoytypical as well. If you want to see a genuine representation of Germans -- Nazi WWII Germans -- as real people, you should definitely watch <i>The Longest Day.</i> <p>What am I rambling about? Shoots, flixsters, I just wanted to star-rate this one because I'm watching it again for the 99th or so time on TCM. It is a very good view. Watch it if you get the chance; that's all I wanted to say : )

• Ken S

  
  Not quite as good as Where Eagles Dare but still a hoot

• xGary X

  
  This military adventure is seriously bogged down with war movie cliches, being based as it is upon a novel by airport paperback hack Alistair MacLean. But the star presence of Peck, Quinn and Niven elevates it above the mundane.

• Dean M

  
  This is my second best adpations of an Alistar MacLean novel and greatest explosive action film.

• Khris N

  
  Classic tale! An old one, but they dont make em nowadays as they used to.

• Jeffrey M

  
  An excellent early epic World War II film, which features great chemistry from a very talented cast, headlined by Gregory Peck. This is the sort of action film that actually tries to engage the audience in the planning and preparation phase, and does so effectively, giving weight to… More
  An excellent early epic World War II film, which features great chemistry from a very talented cast, headlined by Gregory Peck. This is the sort of action film that actually tries to engage the audience in the planning and preparation phase, and does so effectively, giving weight to the actions and consequences of all those involved. It was also ahead of its' time in treating war with a sort of complexity not seen until later films. Overall, a very enjoyable and influential war film.

• Nicolas K

  
  One of the best WWII action-adventures, with an all-star cast headed by Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn, and David Niven. A very cool film!

• Ivan D

  
  I've grown up always hearing about this film, and how impeccably masculine it was. So, aside from the two female characters, it really is one of the iconic pictures to ever put a stamp on the "recruited men on a mission" sub-genre of war films. It appealed to me… More
  I've grown up always hearing about this film, and how impeccably masculine it was. So, aside from the two female characters, it really is one of the iconic pictures to ever put a stamp on the "recruited men on a mission" sub-genre of war films. It appealed to me immensely how effective the opening narration was(seems like "Fargo"), making us believe, with that voice tailor-made for telling tall tales, how perilous the "Navarone" mission was, only then finding out that its all a work of fiction courtesy of adventure novelist Alistair Maclean. Though its quite hard to view Gregory Peck as a British, he, along with his personality, physical features and his pure cinematic presence, ably passed as a believable leader of the bunch. As for the others, headed by Anthony Quinn and David Niven, they have created great chemistry among contradicting characters, an ingredient very much common for the sub-genre nowadays but was initially sparked by the influential Kurosawa classic "Seven Samurai". There were some sequences that contained unsure, half-cooked editing, but with this film heading for an ending as anticipating and explosive(though not as morally puzzling) as the one in "The Bridge on the River Kwai", these slight blunders were easily eclipsed by its more exciting moments. "The Guns of Navarone" is one of those blockbuster war films that has carried its sense of high adventure and action consistently, while maintaining its grasp on 'morality' and a pacifist message that tells about how war can put it into 'ruins', like how their mission will wreak destruction on the eponymous weapon, and a parallel to the ancient remnants of its Greek backdrop.

• Barry L

  
  Superb lineup and a great film.

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