Force 10 from Navarone (1978) Columbia/Action-Adventure RT: 126 minutes Rated PG (violence, language, brief nudity) Director: Guy Hamilton Screenplay: Robin Chapman Music: Ron Goodwin Cinematography: Christopher Challis Release date: December 8, 1978 (US) Cast: Robert Shaw, Harrison Ford, Barbara Bach, Edward Fox, Angus MacInnes, Franco Nero, Carl Weathers, Richard Kiel, Alan Badel, Michael Byrne, Philip Latham, Michael Sheard. Box Office: $7.2M (US)
Rating: ** ½
The belated sequel Force 10 from Navarone is something of a cinematic catch-22. The only way to enjoy it is to not compare it to The Guns of Navarone, but the first thing it does is shows clips from the classic 1961 WWII actioner. There’s something odd about the clips however. There’s not one shot of any of the original actors. When we finally do see somebody, that’s when we learn the roles once played by Gregory Peck and David Niven are now occupied by Robert Shaw (Jaws) and Edward Fox (The Day of the Jackal). That I can accept. After nearly two decades, Peck and Niven were a bit long in the tooth to go on a second mission. What I can’t get past is the convoluted screenplay. It and the characters are all over the place. So it comes down to this. The makers basically want it both ways. They want you to remember The Guns of Navarone, but forget everything that made it great. It’s a tall order, but I’ll try.
A short time after the original mission (it’s still 1943), Major Mallory (Shaw) and explosives expert Sgt. Miller (Fox) are sent back in the field to find and eliminate a German spy, the same traitor that previously betrayed them to the enemy. He now goes by the name Capt. Lescovar (Nero, Django) and is thought to have infiltrated the partisan army in Yugoslavia. To get there, they’ll be catching a ride with Force 10, a special unit led by Col. Barnsby (Ford, Star Wars). Their mission is on a need-to-know basis and the two British officers don’t need to know. Needless to say, Barnsby isn’t thrilled about the extra passengers.
They steal a plane from an airbase only to be shot down over Yugoslavia by a German plane. Only a few manage to parachute to safety- Mallory, Miller, Barnsby, Lt. Reynolds (MacInnes, Atlantic City) and Sgt. Weaver (Weathers, Rocky) who inadvertently joined the mission after escaping MP custody during a fight at the airfield. They set out to achieve their respective objectives and encounter what they believe to be a band of partisans led by hulking Capt. Drazak (Kiel, The Spy Who Loved Me). He and his men turn out to be anything but friendly. They’re German collaborators under the command of Major Schroeder (Byrne, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade). Of course, they’re taken prisoner.
Let’s jump ahead a bit. It’s finally revealed that Force 10’s mission is to blow up a bridge that gives the enemy a strategic advantage. Namely, the Germans can cross it and invade partisan territory. It’s said to be impervious to explosives which is why Mallory comes up with the idea to destroy a nearby dam. The sudden onrush of gallons of water will do their job for them.
I first saw Force 10 from Navarone on HBO in summer ’83. At that point, I hadn’t yet seen The Guns of Navarone. I couldn’t follow the plot. I thought it was because I didn’t know a lot about WWII, but it turns out that was only part of it. It was mostly because of the confused nature of the film. I figured this out only recently when I decided to give it a second look. It would have been a stronger, better picture had the makers focused on the main plot- i.e. the bridge. Instead, it gets weighed down by an impenetrable subplot involving rebels, loyalists, guerillas, double agents and the movie’s lone female character, Drazak’s mistress Maritza (Bach, The Spy Who Loved Me). It’s a long time before somebody says anything about the bridge. At that point, you’re busy trying to piece everything together.
As it stands, Force 10 from Navarone is a decent but unexceptional actioner. It should have been great given its pedigree. It’s directed by Guy Hamilton whose filmography includes four James Bond adventures (Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die and The Man with the Golden Gun), two Agatha Christie adaptations (The Mirror Crack’d and Evil Under the Sun) and the underappreciated Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins. It’s loosely (and I mean loosely) adapted from a novel by Alistair MacLean. It’s scored by Ron Goodwin, no stranger to WWII-era actioners with titles like Operation Crossbow, Where Eagles Dare and Battle of Britain to his credit. The action scenes are well done as are the special effects in the climactic sequence. What a great use of miniatures.
Force 10 from Navarone also has a good cast despite the fact it doesn’t measure up to the lineup in the first Navarone film. BTW, this is Shaw’s penultimate film; he died in August ’78 while filming his last, Avalanche Express. For the most part, the performances are pretty good for the genre. Shaw, Ford and Fox are solid leading men. Kiel hams it up to the skies. Weathers is a total bad ass with serious knife skills. The weak link in this area is Bach. She isn’t believable. I suspect she was cast solely for the gratuitous nude scene.
Okay, I’ll concede that Force 10 from Navarone is entertaining. That is, if you accept that it’s only a pale shadow of its predecessor AND it doesn’t make a lot of sense. Also, it’s a bit on the long side. I opted to watch the longer cut (original RT, 118 minutes) with added footage and some scenes moved around. You’ll forgive me if I can’t tell you in detail what’s different. It’s been 38 years since I watched it and I don’t feel like watching it again right now. It probably doesn’t make much of a difference anyway. As an action flick, it’s a little better than okay.
