Movie Review: The Guns of Navarone (1961)

Once again, when Courtney was gone, I picked up a movie. This one is a war movie, so thought she wouldn't feel like she was missing out. It was nominated for Academy Award for Best Picture in 1961, the year that West Side Story won. Judgment at Nuremburg and The Hustler were also nominated that year.

The Guns of Navarone features Gregory Peck, David Niven, and Anthony Quinn. David Niven had a disappointing performance - I think it was actually a miscast. These were all supposed to be rough characters in my mind, but he was cheery. I couldn't see him outside of the personality he played in Around the World in 80 Days (1956). The acting appears to be really bad overall, but I realize now it's just the way that movies were written back then. I'm sure they acting well according to the style of the day. The characters are just not believable today.

The story is not really believable either. The characters are British soldiers embarking on a quest to "take out" (remove) some huge guns that are guarding a coast. They are able to do it eventually after many trials. I think fiction is not as good as movies based on real life. In this case, the time period and geography are in real life, but not the story itself.

But apart from the bad elements, I did enjoy the special effects. The soldiers have to climb a huge cliff in the rain, after being shipwrecked. As you can imagine that is pretty cool. Then there are a lot of tanks and heavy weaponry in the movie. And there are lots of things being blown up. So I think that is really impressive.

Here's a trailer if you want a look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpMonrArlHI