With temperatures near zero in northern Illinois today, I offer these film suggestions for keeping you entertained and to help warm your imagination.
The Guns of Navarone: (1961) Gregory Peck, Davin Niven and Anthony Quinn star in this yarn about a commando team sent to destroy a large German gun emplacement in Nazi-occupied Greece. The movie has a run time of 158 minutes, but director J. Lee Thompson keeps the story moving with a nice balance of action and plot twists. Novelist Alistair MacLean penned the screenplay from his novel.
Kelly's Heroes: (1970) Clint Eastwood stars in a wildly entertaining movie about U.S. soldiers World War II who go behind enemy lines to grab Nazi gold. Donald Sutherland steals the show as Oddball, but the supporting cast delivers fine performances and includes Telly Savalas, Carroll O’Connor, Harry Dean Stanton, Stuart Margolin and Jeff Morris. There’s plenty of action, including depictions of the U.S. Sherman tank at work. Turn up the volume, sit back and enjoy.
Pork Chop Hill: (1959) Gregory Peck stars in director Lewis Milestone’ oft-overlooked yarn about one of the last major battles of the Korean War. It’s a gritty and entertaining tale about a U.S. unit’s effort to take and hold a hilltop while an end to the war is being negotiated. The action is supported by a talented cast, including Harry Guardino, Robert Blake, Norman Fell, Woody Strode and George Peppard. Watch for Rip Torn as Lt. Water Russel. If you’ve never seen this one, put it on your watch list.
The Professionals: (1966) Here’s another frequently overlooked gem. Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster, Woody Strode and Robert Ryan play four mercenaries hired by a rich Texan to enter Mexico and rescue his kidnapped wife. Marvin and Lancaster are fantastic here. The supporting cast includes Ralph Bellamy, Jack Palance and a sultry Claudia Cardinale. The film received three Academy Award nominations, including Best Director (Richard Brooks) and Best Cinematography (Conrad L. Hall).
Rambo: First Blood Part II: (1985) Sylvester Stallone reprises his John Rambo character from 1982‘s “First Blood” for this action vehicle about a Vietnam vet who is released from prison to return to Vietnam on a secret government mission to locate American POWs. The movie is light on story and heavy on action. Directed by George P. Cosmatos, the movie was nominated for an Academy Award for best sound editing. Watch this and you’ll understand why.
The Siege at Firebase Gloria: (1989) As an action movie, it’s entertaining, but it is also an uneven movie. The action scenes are good, but the dialogue and some of the acting fall short. However, Vietnam veterans praise it as a highly accurate depiction of the war. R. Lee Ermey and Wings Hauser star as recon Marines who arrive at Firebase Gloria just in time to fight off the Vietcong at the start of the 1968 Tet Offensive.
The Thing: (1982) Director John Carpenter delivers some intense thrills with this sci-fi horror story about scientists at an Antarctic facility battling a shape-shifting alien that assumes the physical appearance of the individuals it kills. The cast includes Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David and David Clennon. The movie is a loose remake of director Howard Hawks’ "The Thing from Another World" (1952).
the thing (’82)
Where Eagles Dare: (1968) Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton star in director Brian Hutton’s tale about a commando raid on a German castle to rescue an American general — and a lot more. There’s enough action in this production for two movies. Film trivia: British novelist Alistair MacLean wrote the book “Where Eagles Dare” and the screenplay for the movie simultaneously.
The Wild Bunch: (1969) Director Sam Peckinpah presents a stunning, frenetic homage to the American western with this tale of an outlaw band looking to make a final score. William Holden and Ernest Borgnine lead the impressive cast, which includes Ben Johnson, Warren Oates, Edmond O’Brien and Robert Ryan. Emilio Fernandez is terrific as the sinister, sadistic Mexican general. The American Film Institute ranks “The Wild Bunch” at No. 79 on its list of 100 Greatest American Films of All Time.
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