18 September 2008

Where Eagles Dare

I was a bit skeptical on whether purchasing the DVD – a combination of old war movies “Where Eagles Dare”, “Tora Tora Tora”, “Guns of Navarone” and “The Great Escape” – would be a good idea as personally, I am not the types who watch movies/serials on mindless violence.

I remember going to a theatre in Bangalore for a late night show of “Guns of Navarone” with my parents and sister in my early childhood days. As soon as the movie began, I fell fast asleep in my mom’s lap, only to wake up in bed at home the next morning.
When in the 10th standard, I’d borrowed the book “Where Eagles Dare” from an uncle who had bought it when he was young. The book had very small font, was all tattered, yellow and the pages smelt terrible. With exams nearing, the book was moved inside the cupboard and later,when the time had come to return it to its owner, was found hidden under a huge pile of books.
When in Salzburg a few days back, Kaustubh and I had fallen short of time to visit Schloss Adler -- commonly known as "Eagles' nest" or "Castle of Eagles" because of its location (a fortress high up in the Alps in a small town called Werfen near Salzburg) -- shown in the movie "Where Eagles Dare". A visit to the palace takes almost an entire day with a lot of trekking.

I guess last Sunday evening, the time was just right: Kaustubh and my stars were in their right position, there was no “Rahu kaal” and perhaps the Sunday morning newspaper supplement read “time to complete undone activities today” below our sun-signs as the jinx broke and we finally watched “Where Eagles Dare” (WED). Believe me, WED is entertaining and a must-watch. One of the classics of its genre, the movie's got a good storyline, good cast and superb scenery. “Where Eagles Dare” takes place in Salzburg during the World War II.
The plot is twisted and fast-paced and keeps interest till the end. Richard Burton has this rich deep voice of olden times – one which I’ve always loved to hear – combined with a very English accent. Clint Eastwood (the American spy) does not have much scope for acting as Richard Burton hogs most of the show. What I liked is that the two lady double-agents have been portrayed with no less ability in what could be considered a male arena when it comes to wars and war-movies. Am now looking forward to watching the 3 other movies! :-)

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