HotToastyRag The beginning of The Guns of Navarone will seem a little complicated, but for your own sake, keep watching. It'll be one of the most riveting war classics you'll ever watch.I'll help you out: In the thick of WWII, the British triy to rescue 2,000 troops on an island, but they're shot to pieces by automatic machine guns on the neighboring island of Navarone. Naturally, their next mission is to sneak onto Navarone and shut off the motion-detecting guns. It sounds a lot more complicated the way the plot is described in the exposition of the movie, but basically that's the gist of it. Six men are given the assignment, and not only is it a virtually impossible mission, but not everyone in the group gets along. Anthony Quayle and David Niven are best buds, but Gregory Peck and Anthony Quinn are long-standing enemies who are one argument away from killing each other. Based on Alistair MacLean's bestselling novel, Carl Foreman wrote and directed an intense, suspenseful, and exciting film. As soon as the group is gathered together and start the mission, you're in for a non-stop, edge-of-your-seat, fantastic war thriller. Gregory Peck and Anthony Quinn show off their acting chops early on, and I won't blame you if you wonder halfway through the film, "Why is David Niven in this movie?" After all, he has a significantly smaller role than the other leads and isn't given anything to do besides make sarcastic comments. You'll be happy to hear that in the second half of the movie, he's given plenty to do. You'll be hard-pressed to find a bigger Niven fan than I, but even if you're not utterly in love with him, I'm sure you'll agree he gives a fantastic performance alongside Greg, the Anthonys, Gia Scala, Richard Harris, Stanley Baker, James Darren, and Irene Papas. The Guns of Navarone won the 1962 Oscar for Best Special Effects, and was nominated for six additional Oscars: Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Sound, Editing, and Music. As you might recall, West Side Story swept the awards that season, but after you watch The Guns of Navarone, you might think the Academy misgave a few awards. I highly recommend you rent it the next time you're in the mood to watch an actually good movie. It'll stand out among so many mediocre ones.

ElMaruecan82 As far as pro-war, anti-war or any philosophical conflicts are concerned, J. Lee Thompsons "Guns of Navarone" is certainly no "Bridge on the River Kwai". This comparison doesn't intend to diminish its impact but it's surprising that the two movies share one name in the credits that happens to be Carl Foreman, the screenwriter. In its own right, it is a pretty straightforward, conventional but efficient war movie that delivers its premise; it just happens to lack that little something that could have made it one of the greats.But this is still an entertaining spectacle typical of the early 60's productions, a muscled picture whose power and charisma rest on the broad and heavy shoulders of one of the best macho cast since "The Magnificent Seven": Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn, his namesake Quayle, David Niven and a few other rigged faces, all forming a British secret unit assigned to blow German guns located in the Greek island of Navarone, on an impregnable fortress threatening a British convoy coming to rescue thousands of Allied prisoners stranded on Greek islands. So many lives at stakes and so little time left.The film belongs to the tradition of epic-adventure-action movies with one mission for many different men as the focal point, it was made seven years after the seminal "Seven Samurai" and six years before "The Dirty Dozen", the film that pushed the concept to its anti-heroic level. In 1961, people were still seeking for regular thrills and the film provided the whole package with competent acting, directing and editing, not to mention a decent story with a captivating mission, interesting "sub-missions" and subsequent interactions. But take "Kwai" again, the climactic explosion is one of the most mind-blowing moments from any war movie, and not just for the spectacular effect but the whole psychological escalation that lead to that moment, it wasn't about the bridge, but the madness that made it explode. But in the case of "Navarone", the guns' explosion (this is no spoiler) simply indicates the success of the mission but we're always more interested by the outbursts of 'madness'.And while Gregory Peck plays as usual the tough and heroic leader, I was glad he could pass as a relatively ambiguous protagonist, enough to be confronted by his officers and questioned about the way he exploited the injury of a comrade. David Niven is the impertinent British explosives expert who makes war while secretly despising it, Quinn is the brutal but reassuring presence. As the Greek Andreas, he steals the show and carries one unexpected moment of 'pathos' that suggests a predisposition for richer and more multi-layered characters, the presence of Irene Papas as the tough resistant plays like an interesting omen of their future collaborations in "Zorba the Greek", "The Message" and "Lion of the Desert". All these actors do justice to their part and besides the action, there's not one moment of dullness or where we feel that it's getting slow.There's not much left to say, except that it's a film with many shootouts, one set in the boat where they act like fishermen and less exciting than the firing itself is its anticipation, there's a heart-pounding mountain climbing of Hitchcockian effect, many ruses and disguises and a traitor's unmasking contributing to the one very powerful moment, all of these allow "Guns of Navarone" to move rather swiftly despite its run of two-hour and half. It also raises a few questions about war ethics and tortures, but overall, like a movie lead by no-nonsense Gregory Peck, the film isn't an anti-war movie, it doesn't amplify the heroism of the protagonists nor that it demonize the Germans. As a war movie, it belongs to the likes of "The Longest Day" or "Battle of the Bulge" it is old-fashioned in a respectable way.Not too subtle or sophisticated, this is a tough movie about tough guys and you spend a good time watching it.

feakes The Guns of Navarone is one of the greatest war movies ever made. Its almost ironic that its intended as a anti war movie. but it doesn't serve well as one. Instead it shows us the brutal nasty side of war. the Plot is basic. There are a thousand men trapped on the island of Kheros. In order to get there they must pass by Navarone. The Germans have two large guns planted there hidden by the cave and mountain of Navarone. Each rescue attempt is shattered by these guns. Only one attempt is left. Captain Keith Mallory is recruited along with his old Partner from the resistance in Greece Colonal Andrea Stavros. a skilled fighter. Plus Dusty Miller a gifted man with explosives. And a few other skilled fighters. the plan Get as close to Navarone as possible hook up with the resistance and destroy the guns. not so easy when a traitor lurks among you.Guns was intended to be anti war but in the end became one of the greatest War and action movies of all times . Peck serves the film well with a dark brooding manner. Niven gives Miller a sarcastic edge but maintains a moral edge as well . All the other actors serve their roles well making this a solid memorable movie worthy of being called classic.

Lucas Versantvoort The Guns of Navarone is one of those films that has clearly aged in a lot of aspects and still offers a lot of replay value even 50 years down the line. Directed by action/adventure expert J. Lee Thompson and written by High Noon scriptwriter Carl Foreman, this film is a peculiar example of the adventure genre done right.The film presents a straightforward goal: WWII is raging on and two enormous German cannons are placed in a cave on the Greek island of Navarone, sinking all ships that enter its firing range. Rather than attempting a frontal assault, a small team of six Brits and Greeks are ordered to infiltrate the island by boat and blow up the cannons. We follow them as they narrowly survive mother nature and encounters with Germans and along the way their dispositions toward the mission and each other change.Like I said, this film has aged…mostly well. There are a lot of things that you can't really watch with a straight face. Peck's acting is a bit hammy at times and the way the tension between Peck and Quinn's characters is resolved is as symbolic as me shouting in your ear is subtle, but overall, this film manages to excel in terms of action without disregarding character development as so many modern-day action flicks tend to do.According to the trivia section on IMDb, Gregory Peck was disappointed by how many viewers failed to properly identify Navarone as anti-war and though I can understand his frustration, I think this has more to do with the style of the film than the intended message. When I think 'anti-war', I think of films like Kubrick's Paths of Glory with its clearly delineated anti-war morals. Navarone however, is first and foremost a bundle of (exciting) action set pieces. Of course there is drama, some of it still really effective, but the film's many action sequences are crucial as they define the film as just that – an action film – because these scenes tend to lack some sense of symbolism, underlying the futility of war, etc. In other words, there's anti-war stuff to be found here, but it's overshadowed by the amount of Hollywood spectacle.In the end, not every war film needs to be an in-your-face anti-war ad. The Guns of Navarone is first and foremost an exciting adventure film, excelling at many of the tropes that have made the genre popular. Even 50 years later, Navarone has a lot of replay value and (though occasionally campy) is still fun to watch and genuinely exciting.