Vlassis Tzo Pros: Music 9/10 (Lalo Schifrin's music gives more tense especially at the action scenes) Scenery 10/10 (Meteora are really breathtaking... we should see more often this place in movies) James Coburn 8/10 (Cool as always... Classic Coburn) Cons: Scenario: 4/10 (Plain scenario, no surprises... ok it's a 70's scenario but still they could have work it more... I mean James Coburn fighting Leftist terrorists on Meteora?..) Direction 5/10 (Hickox isn't Hitchcock, that's for sure... aerial shootings though where actually good) Conclusion: It's a classic 70's action movie. If you decide to spend your time to watch it you won't regret it. But the next morning you'll not remember a lot. Maybe only the stunning scenery of Meteora. It's 7/10 by me.

Jonathon Dabell Whenever actors are interviewed, they always seem to want to talk about the characters they have played in whatever movie they happen to be promoting at the time. It would have been very interesting indeed to see what the actors would have said about their roles in Sky Riders, for here we have some of the most shallow characterisation ever seen in a mainstream film. Quite why talented stars like James Coburn, Susannah York, Robert Culp, Charles Aznavour and Kenneth Griffith were needed for these roles is beyond explanation. It is a movie built solely around a novel action gimmick (hang-gliding rescue mission) – in terms of plot and characterisation, it doesn't even make it to first base.American industrialist Jonas Bracken (Robert Culp) lives with his wife and kids in a Greek villa. While he's out on business, a group of masked terrorists raid the villa, ruthlessly executing the staff and abducting Bracken's nearest and dearest. Later, the terrorists establish contact and demand a huge sum of money and various arms for their vague militant cause in return for the safe return of their prisoners. Bracken's wife, Ellen (Susannah York), used to be married to adventure-loving mercenary Jim McCabe (James Coburn). When he learns that she has been taken hostage by the terrorists, he quickly steps in to offer his services. When it becomes apparent that Ellen and her two kids are imprisoned in a mountain-top monastery which cannot be approached unseen from below, McCabe comes up with the audacious idea of flying in by hang-glider and attempting a near-impossible rescue against formidable odds.Sky Riders is the penultimate film of director Douglas Hickox (Zulu Dawn would be his last). He handles the dizzying aerial action quite well, especially in the film's final quarter. However, the film overall is a dispirited and utterly routine non-event… it's brief running time is either the result of a heck of a lot of post-production cutting, or else the script (which, unbelievably, is the product of four brains) simply misses out on a whole host of potentially interesting developments. The performers really don't stand much of a chance when they're asked to work with such threadbare material - Coburn smiles a lot and gets to perfect his cool macho posturing; York is totally wasted as the woman with two men in her life that genuinely love her; Culp spends almost the entire film wearing an anxious grimace. Harry Andrews and Kenneth Griffith turn up in a couple of one-scene cameos that could've easily been played by any half-competent bit player. Lalo Schifrin's score is at least suitably flavoursome and the Greek locations look gorgeous, but you'd be right to expect a lot more from Sky Riders. Sadly, all it leaves you with are a few morsels of decent action; besides that there's virtually nothing else.

Woodyanders A group of vicious, nefarious terrorist scum kidnap the stalwart, protective wife (a plucky, spirited Susannah York) and kids of wealthy industrialist Jonas Bracken (finely played by Robert Culp). So Jonas, assisted by York's macho, take-charge mercenary ex-husband Jim McCabe (an excellently wry and laconic performance by the always cool and unflappable James Coburn), diligent police chief Charles Aznavour, and a bunch of hang-gliding enthusiasts led by the handsome, dashing John Beck, decide to raid the terrorist's remote mountainside fortress in Greece in order to get 'em back. Directed with tight, brisk, straight-down-the-line concise and unpretentious razor efficiency by Douglas Hickox, from a similarly taut, smart and sharply honed script by Jack DeWitt, Stanley Mann and Garry Michael White, further enhanced by one of Lalo Schifrin's customary lush, stirring and majestic full orchestra scores, a pleasingly prompt, unflagging pace, top-rate aerial photography, frequent outbursts of excitingly fast'n'furious violence, solid acting, glossy production values, a properly no-nonsense let's get down to brass tacks attitude, and a wild bullets and bodies a flyin' everywhere mondo destructo shoot 'em up finale, this nifty little number overall sizes up as a satisfyingly terse and to the point action/suspense thriller.

jrs-8 "Skyriders" is a typical action film from the 70's that opened and closed within two weeks and your local theater and drive-in. It contains a few name stars (James Colburn, Robert Culp) but let's face it the action is supposed to be the star. On that score the film is not bad. The problem is it takes much too long to get to the action.Colburn stars as a pilot whose ex-wife and child (along with another child fathered by Culp) are kidnapped by mercenaries for ransom. While Culp works on raising the money and cooperating with authorities, Coburn hires a band of expert gliders to aid in a rescue. All of this could have been told in a clean quick manner but it takes forever to get to the rescue. We even have a silly montage of the skydivers training Colburn. Not necessary. We want the action! Contrary to the first comment the skyrider scenes are not too dark even though the desired effect is for it to night time. Actually I think it was shot during the day and a dark filter superimposed on the film to make it look like night. If you look closely at the rocks you can see the shadows of the gliders. I never saw such pronounced shadows at night.The gliding scenes are well done and thrilling up to a point. My biggest problem is that the escape plan seems all too easy seeing where the kidnappers are located. Of course it's not all done without a hitch but there are no real twists to keep things exciting. The last part of the film becomes a standard shoot em up film that you have scene hundreds of times before.The film is mediocre at best. The good talent is pretty much wasted in an action film with not enough action or a smart script.