The Guns of Navarone: 50th Anniversary Edition (1961)

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The Guns of Navarone: 50th Anniversary Edition (1961)

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At the height of World War II, the German army has placed two devastatingly powerful guns in a practically bomb-proof cave on the island of Navarone, overlooking a seaway leading to the vital island of Keros in the Aegean Sea.

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The guns are preventing passage to Keros where thousands of British troops have been stranded and who find themselves in the middle of a dangerous game meant to bring Turkey into the War on the side of the Axis powers. With no other options, command decides the only way to take out the guns, rescue the men, and prevent Turkey from entering on the wrong side is to conduct a daring small-team commando raid on the gun emplacement. The only problem is that the only way in is to traverse an impossibly steep cliffside. There's only one man for the job: Captain Keith Mallory (Gregory Peck), an expert climber. The rest of his team comes preassembled. There's the team leader, Major Roy Franklin (Anthony Quayle); the explosives expert, Corporal Miller (David Niven); an engineer named "Butcher" Brown (Stanley Baker); the Greek informant Spyros Pappadimos (James Darren); and the Greek officer Andrea Stavros (Anthony Quinn). With the odds against them and time running out, the men must use their collective talents to pull off the most daring and outcome-critical mission of World War II.

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The Guns of Navarone is built to entertain. It's big, it's grand, it's a whole lot of fun. Still, it's a fairly standard "Commando"-style picture – a sub-genre that it pretty much defines along with its younger sibling, 1967's The Dirty Dozen – and does little more than go through the motions, but it nevertheless gets almost everything right. There's an excellent balance between large-scale action, high adventure, drama, and character development, but the movie rightly focuses on the former two while integrating the film with the latter two as enhancements rather than elements that absolutely define the film. It's almost just as smart as it is exciting in both the way it's made and in its insistence that audiences at least partially engage the brain at various points throughout. The end result is a movie that's been painstakingly tailored to its audience and style, a trait that's all too often missing in movies both likeminded and otherwise. But that alone doesn't make it one of the more memorable World War II pictures. It's also a classy film, featuring a fine cast and delivering a steady pace even in spite of a few scenes that drag on a little longer than necessary. Fortunately, however, that doesn't erase or even in the least hinder the movie's goal of serving as pure audience escapism. The Guns of Navarone has everything audiences could want in what amounts to a World War II Fantasy picture, and it delivers it all in a tidy, easily digestible, and outright fun package.

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Of course, it just wouldn't be a high-flying, death-defying, all-out adventure-driven World War II picture without a top-notch cast. There are certainly other genre and era pictures with a more enticing cast list, but The Guns of Navarone squeezes in several name actors who squeeze out some pretty solid performances. The list is topped by the indelible Gregory Peck, whose stalwart countenance is matched by his effective delivery of dialogue and ability to muster a range of dramatic intensity that reflects the film's numerous ebbs and flows in both action and characterization superbly. Few actors can so capably emote through such a broad range of emotions as Peck. It's easier to picture the actor in his more dramatically-oriented roles in films like To Kill a Mockingbird, but his efforts in more diverse films like The Guns of Navarone and Cape Fear are the sorts that truly define his greatness as an actor. Peck is matched in intensity and reliability by Anthony Quinn; his Stavros is perhaps the film's most interesting character. Never dynamically challenged and walking a fine line between resourceful and machismo, the dynamics of Quinn's character are matched by the quality of the performance and highlighted by an incredible display of "acting inside acting" when Stavros must feign cowardice and disavow culpability to get the team out of a tight pickle. The remainder of the cast is solid, coming together seamlessly and providing a bit of a well-rounded flair to an over-the-top entertainment spectacle.

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The Guns of Navarone Blu-ray, Video Quality
In short, The Guns of Navarone looks marvelous, particularly considering the film's disastrous state prior to its restoration (as covered in the excellent Epic Restoration supplement; see below). Sony's 1080p, 2.35:1-framed image is very strongly detailed in most every scene, from the breathtakingly rough and realistic textures as seen on Greek ruins at film's start all the way through to the slightest nuances on dirty clothes and faces. Intermittent softness and extreme edge halos are present on scattered effects shots, but such eyesores simply can't – and shouldn't – distract from the high quality presentation and restoration that is the bulk of the picture. Colors do fall a little flat and lack in terms of subtle shading and range – notably in the darker scenes – but brighter outdoor shots yield a spectacular and brilliant palette. Blacks can be a little murky, and day-for-night scenes are easy to spot, though neither prove all that bothersome in context. The sharpness, clarity, and color of the Greek-inspired lettering on the title card is a marvel to behold, and general clarity remains an asset throughout. A good-looking grain structure is retained, enhancing finer details and providing a handsome cinematic texture, rounding out another wonderful vintage release from Sony.

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The Guns of Navarone Blu-ray, Audio Quality
The Guns of Navarone blasts onto Blu-ray with a steady DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Anyone expecting Saving Private Ryan should consider the source. This isn't the world's most dynamic audio track, but it's a quality affair that's brought to life with more vivid clarity and range than any home video presentation of the film before it. The opening music is triumphantly spacious and richly clear; musical surround support here and elsewhere is minimal, but effective. The back channels do pick up a few of the film's more potent and prominent directional and fully-engaged elements as planes and massive shells whiz around the listening area. General ambience, however, remains the duty of the front channels, across which gusty winds, incoming flares, outgoing rounds, and machine gun fire live. Many major effects – a crashing plane following the title cards, for instance – lack a dynamic low end or absolute clarity. Nevertheless, dialogue is superbly clear and ever-accurate, flowing always from the center channel. This isn't the finest wartime movie soundtrack, but kudos to Sony for releasing The Guns of Navarone in its best presentation yet.

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The Guns of Navarone Blu-ray, Special Features and Extras

The Guns of Navarone's Blu-ray debut is packed with extras. Commentaries, documentaries, and featurettes all build a substantial assortment of extras. The film is also available with its original "Roadshow" intermission card, but commentaries are unavailable during playback of this version.

• The Resistance Dossier (1080p): This interactive feature allows viewers to learn more about various aspects of the film and the history surrounding it. Both text and video-based supplements cover the following list of topics: Military Fact or Fiction, The Greek Resistance, The Navarone Effect, The Old School Wizardry of 'The Guns of Navarone,' The Real World Guns of Navarone, and World War II in the Greek Islands.
• Audio Commentary: Film Historian Stephen J. Rubin delivers a track that occasionally sounds as if he's reading from prepared comments, but what matters is the quality of the content. Rubin's insights are grounded in the period of history in which the film was released, but he also shares some thoughts on various technical aspects of the production. Nevertheless, the track is best enjoyed as something of a retrospective, almost college lecture-quality piece. It will enthrall audiences who wish to not only learn about The Guns of Navarone, but enjoy a journey back in time to the Hollywood of five decades ago. It's an absolute must-listen.
• Audio Commentary: Director J. Lee Thompson delivers more of a traditional from-the-set sort of commentary, offering his memories of the nuts-and-bolts inner workings of the movie. It's a bit slow and monotone, not as engaging as the Rubin track, but a worthwhile listen and a fine companion to the film and the supplements as a whole.
• Forging The Guns of Navarone: Notes from the Set (480p, 13:59): A basic, all-inclusive and brief look back at the film's early stages of production, including the process of finding the right director, the quality ensemble cast and the individual performances, anecdotes from the set, shooting locales, the making of several scenes, the construction of the prop guns, and the film's premiere and legacy.
• An Ironic Epic of Heroism (480p, 24:38): This piece is a bit more complex in its look back at the movie, but it covers plenty of material in a relatively short amount of time. It examines the subtexts in the film's narrative, the cooperation of the Greek people and government, the picture's enormous scope and complexity, the film's symbolism and nods to Greek mythology, the diversity and camaraderie of the cast, the picture's visual style and the work of Director J. Lee Thompson, life on the set, underlying themes, various plot dynamics, the interplay between the picture's action and comments on war, and plenty more.
• Memories of Navarone (480p, 29:34): Cast and crew, including Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn, James Darren, and J. Lee Thompson, look back on the movie's origins, style, and legacy.
• Epic Restoration (480p, 9:37): Videophiles and audiophiles will love this piece. It offers a nice overview of the process that was used to restore the badly neglected film and soundtrack.
• A Heroic Score (480p, 9:19): A brief but nevertheless comprehensive overview of Dimitri Tiomkin's epic music.
• Great Guns (1080p, 4:34): A vintage piece looking at Hollywood's arrival and stay in Greece for the making of The Guns of Navarone.
• No Visitors (1080p, 4:36): Another vintage piece that looks at the deluge of people who arrived on the set throughout the making of the movie.
• Honeymoon on Rhodes (480p, 4:36): James Darren narrates a quasi-promotional piece for Rhodes as a honeymoon destination.
• Two Girls on the Town (480p, 4:35): Irene Papas discusses life on the set for the only two women cast in the film.
• Narration-Free Prologue (480p, 5:45): Jon Burlingame introduces an alternate take on the film's opening that emphasizes the prologue music.
• Message from Carl Foreman (1080p, 2:00): The Writer/Producer discusses the film.
• Previews: Additional Sony titles.
• BD-Live.

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The Guns of Navarone Blu-ray, Overall Score and Recommendation
The Guns of Navarone is perhaps the epitome of World War II-as-spectacle motion pictures and is therefore not anything close to resembling the many concrete, grounded-in-reality pictures from either then or now. Instead, it's absolute escapist entertainment at its best, a movie that's perhaps a little overly long but nevertheless gripping and a whole lot of fun from beginning to end. A great cast puts the finishing touches on a movie that embodies everything that's good about classic big-budget, big-star entertainment. Sony's Blu-ray release is befitting the picture. The Guns of Navarone features strong 10800 video, quality lossless audio, and a wide variety of extra content. Highly recommended.

From BluRay.com

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Awards

Awards

Won
Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score - Motion Picture (Dimitri Tiomkin)
Academy Award Best Effects, Special Effects (Bill Warrington & Chris Greenham)

Nominated
Academy Award for Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Director (J. Lee Thompson)
DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (J. Lee Thompson)
Academy Award for Best Film Editing (Alan Osbiston)
Academy Award for Best Original Score (Dimitri Tiomkin)
Grammy Award for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture (Dimitri Tiomkin)
Academy Award for Best Sound (John Cox)
Academy Award for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) (Carl Foreman)

..:: Italian Language ::..

I cannoni di Navarone (The Guns of Navarone) è un film del 1961 diretto da J. Lee Thompson. La sceneggiatura è tratta dall'omonimo romanzo di Alistair MacLean. Ambientato in Grecia nelle isole del mar Egeo. Girato nell'isola di Rodi.

Il comandante Jensen della Marina Inglese è alle prese con una missione impossibile: evacuare una divisione della fanteria inglese dall'isola greca di Keros prima che le forze naziste nel settore la annientino. La difficoltà della liberazione sta nel fatto che lo stretto che occorre superare per raggiungere l'isola di Keros è sorvegliato da una potentissima batteria di cannoni, piazzati nella vicina isola di Navarone e a nulla è valso il tentativo della RAF di spazzarli via con l'aviazione.

Jensen arruola sotto consiglio del Maggiore Roy Franklin, ideatore del piano, il capitano Keith Mallory e Andrea Stavrou, colonnello del disciolto esercito greco. I due hanno alle spalle una stretta collaborazione in fatto di guerriglia nel territorio greco, ma a causa di un malinteso che costò la vita all'intera famiglia di Stavrou, egli stesso giurò a Mallory che avrebbe consumato la sua vendetta a guerra finita e l'amico Franklin trattiene per la missione Mallory, ignaro della promessa di Stavrou.

La missione prevede che il reparto di commandos, comprendente anche Spyros Pappadimos, un malavitoso americano oriundo greco, 'Butcher' Brown, soldato inglese con esperienza di guerra oltre le linee nemiche (Durante la Guerra di Spagna fu chiamato "il Boia di Barcellona") e il caporale John Anthony Miller, un professore di chimica esperto di esplosivi, sbarchi sull'isola arrampicandosi lungo una parete rocciosa non difesa dal nemico tedesco, penetri nella fortezza dove si trovano i cannoni, mini gli stessi, li faccia esplodere e quindi ripieghi in fuga.

Il gruppo si mette in viaggio mimetizzandosi su un barcone peschereccio, ma già nel tragitto di avvicinamento a Navarone una motovedetta tedesca si avvicina, consapevole di aver abbordato un mezzo sospetto. Di li nasce una colluttazione che porta al primo scontro a fuoco e alla dipartita del reparto tedesco. Gli uomini del Maggiore Franklin sanno ormai di esser scoperti, ma la missione continua.

L'arrivo a Navarone avviene nel bel mezzo della tempesta e nonostante l'imbarcazione non resista, l'equipaggio riesce a raggiungere la scogliera e trarsi in salvo con le attrezzature. Ma nella scalata alla parete rocciosa il Maggiore Franklin si ferisce gravemente ad una gamba e costringe gli altri a rallentare il congiungimento con alcuni partigiani greci del villaggio di Mandrakos.

Arrivati a Mandrakos il gruppo incontra Maria Pappadimos e Anna, le due partigiane incaricate di aiutarli. Maria riconosce in Spyros il fratello che lasciò la Grecia per trovare fortuna negli Stati Uniti. Nel raggiungere la fortezza, il gruppo viene sorpreso più volte da pattuglie nemiche, fino a cadere nelle mani tedesche durante una vera e propria azione di polizia. Una volta catturati il capitano Mallory confida al maggiore Franklin ferito un nuovo piano "falso", ovvero che l'esercito inglese avrebbe tentato comunque lo sbarco in un altro punto dell'isola, ben consapevole che Franklin stesso sottoposto ad interrogatorio avrebbe rivelato tale piano al nemico, e riesce a scappare con Brown, Miller, Stavrou e Pappadimos, lasciando il maggiore a ricevere le cure dovute.

Una volta raggiunta la fortezza si scopre che dall'inizio dell'impresa un delatore tramava contro il commando, e viene scoperto: la giovane partigiana Anna, a suo tempo catturata dai nazisti, temendo le torture aveva collaborato diventando una spia dei tedeschi. La sua compagna Maria, in un impeto d'ira la fredda sul colpo. Nonostante tutto, Mallory e Miller riescono a penetrare nella fortezza, soprattutto grazie allo stratagemma pensato da Mallory e alla "falsa" confessione di Franklin che fa in modo di mobilitare la gran parte della guarnigione tedesca a difesa della costa. Miller mina i cannoni e si tuffa in mare con Mallory, dove saranno poi raccolti da Stavrou e Maria.

I cannoni vengono fatti esplodere e la flotta inglese può transitare incolume lo stretto di Navarone per recuperare i soldati di Keros.

..:: German Language ::..

Die Kanonen von Navarone ist ein US-amerikanischer Kriegsfilm aus dem Jahre 1961. Der im zweiten Weltkrieg spielende Film wurde von Regisseur J. Lee Thompson nach einer Romanvorlage von Alistair MacLean und einem Drehbuch von Carl Foreman verfilmt. Ein alliiertes Geheimkommando soll auf einer griechischen Insel zwei gigantische Kanonen der deutschen Wehrmacht in die Luft sprengen.
Inhaltsverzeichnis

November 1943: Auf der ägäischen Insel Navarone hat die deutsche Wehrmacht zwei riesige Kanonen installiert, um eine strategisch bedeutsame Meerespassage zu kontrollieren. Da die Passage eine Woche darauf von einem alliierten Schiffskonvoi befahren werden soll, um 2000 britische Soldaten von der Insel Kheros zu retten, müssen die Geschütze unbedingt zerstört werden. Ein Versuch, diese mit Hilfe einer Bomberstaffel zu zerstören, scheitert kläglich. Somit bleibt Commodore Jensen auf Vorschlag von Major „Glückspilz“ Roy Franklin ein letzter Versuch, ein Kommandounternehmen loszuschicken.

Die beiden stellen ein internationales Team zusammen, bestehend aus dem neuseeländischen Bergsteiger Captain Keith Mallory, dem amerikanischen Sprengstoffexperten Corporal John „Dusty“ Miller, dem griechischen Offizier Andrea Stavros, sowie dem kampferprobten „Schlächter Brown“ und dem aus Navarone stammenden Spyros Pappadimos. Der Plan sieht vor, die schwerbewachte Insel Navarone mit einem alten Fischerboot im Schutz der türkischen Küste bei Nacht über die als unerklimmbar geltende Südklippe zu erreichen. Anschließend soll sich der Trupp mit Hilfe von einheimischen Widerstandskämpfern zu der Festung mit den Kanonen durchschlagen, diese dann zerstören und sich absetzen.

Der Kommandotrupp hat von Anfang an mit vielen Schwierigkeiten zu kämpfen. Zuerst einmal verfolgt Stavros eine Vendetta gegen Mallory, weil dieser indirekt für den Tod von Stavros' Familie verantwortlich ist, obwohl das gemeinsame Ziel sie vorerst verbindet. Nachdem die deutschen Gegner schon frühzeitig durch das arrogante Verhalten von Captain Baker von dem Unternehmen erfahren haben, müssen die Männer in einem blutigen Gefecht ein deutsches Patrouillenboot versenken. In einer regnerischen Sturmnacht schafft Mallory dann den Aufstieg über die Südklippe, Franklin stürzt jedoch ab und erleidet einen komplizierten Beinbruch. Die Truppe schlägt sich weiter über die schneebedeckten Berge zu den Ruinen von St. Alexis durch, wo sie auf die beiden Widerstandskämpferinnen Maria, die Schwester von Spyros, und die Lehrerin Anna treffen. Mit deren Hilfe gelangen sie, ständig vom Württembergischen Gebirgsbataillon verfolgt, nach Mandrakos, um einen Arzt für Franklin aufzusuchen. Sie werden jedoch verraten und von den Deutschen festgesetzt.

Stavros versucht, die Deutschen zu täuschen und gibt sich als unschuldiger Fischer aus, der zwangsrekrutiert wurde, weil er den Überfall auf das Patrouillenboot mitangesehen hatte. Oberleutnant Meusel hat jedoch bereits ein Dossier über ihn als ehemaliger griechischer Offizier. Trotzdem kann Stavros die Deutschen soweit ablenken, dass seine Kameraden wieder die Oberhand gewinnen. Sie lassen den todkranken Franklin zur Behandlung zurück und flüchten. Später aber stellt Miller fest, dass seine Sprengstoffausrüstung sabotiert wurde und er keine Möglichkeit mehr hat, den Sprengstoff ohne Wahrung eines Sicherheitsabstandes zu zünden. In einer anschließenden Rekonstruktion der vergangenen Ereignisse entlarvt er die Lehrerin Anna als eine Spionin für die Deutschen; diese wird daraufhin von Maria erschossen.

Der Trupp teilt sich auf: Mallory und Miller sollen in die Festung eindringen und versuchen, die Kanonen zu zerstören, die anderen wollen soviel Unruhe wie möglich erzeugen, um die deutschen Bewacher abzulenken. Dank des Improvisationtalents von Miller gelingt das Anbringen und die „kontrollierte“ Zündung von Sprengladungen. Der halbe Berg fliegt in die Luft und die Kanonen von Navarone versinken im Meer. Die Schiffe der alliierten Rettungsmission können Kheros ungehindert anlaufen.

Bei den Scharmützeln mit den deutschen Soldaten verlieren Brown und Spyros ihr Leben; die anderen können sich auf ein von Maria beschafftes Boot retten. Andrea Stavros bleibt bei Maria auf Navarone, während Mallory und Miller auf ein alliiertes Kriegsschiff übersetzen und nach Hause zurückkehren.

..:: Spanish Language ::..

Los cañones de Navarone es una película de 1961 La película está protagonizada por Gregory Peck, David Niven y Anthony Quinn. Basada en la novela homónima de 1957 de Alistair MacLean.

Galardonada con el premio Oscar 1962 : a los mejores efectos especiales. Con el premio Globo de Oro 1963 : a la mejor película y a la mejor música, y el premio Laurel de Oro 1962 : a la mejor película dramática , y 3º lugar a la mejor actuación masculina (Gregory Peck).

Narra las peripecias durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, de un grupo de comandos aliado, en misión de destruir la inexpugnable fortaleza alemana del Mar Egeo, donde se ubican unos cañones que han hundido varios barcos de la fuerza aliada.

Hay varias escenas tomadas en la isla de Rodas, con sus molinos del puerto viejo y las columnas con ciervos, donde dicen estaba el Coloso de Rodas.

Cañones del mismo calibre que los de la película, se encuentran en La Mola de Menorca y estuvieron en funcionamiento hasta la década de 1990.

..:: Japanese Language ::..

『ナヴァロンの要塞』（ナヴァロンのようさい、The Guns of Navarone）は、イギリスの作家アリステア・マクリーンが1957年に発表した戦争小説である。1961年に映画化され、小説・映画ともども評判となった。映画の邦題は「ナバロンの要塞」である。

本作の成功により、アリステア・マクリーンは11年後の1968年にマロリー、アンドレア、ミラーの登場する続篇『ナヴァロンの嵐』（Force 10 from Navarone）を書いた。また、後日、サム・ルウェリンによってやはりこの3人が登場する続篇『ナヴァロンの風雲』（Storm force of Navarone、1996年、日本語訳：ハヤカワ文庫 2001年）と『ナヴァロンの雷鳴』（Thundervolt of Navarone、1998年、日本語訳：ハヤカワ文庫 2002年）が書かれている。

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