Thursday, August 16, 2018

Escape to Athena (1979)


Associated Film Distribution
Directed by George P. Cosmatos
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, ITV)

POWs in Greece during WWII excavate rare treasures, some of which are kept by their commander, Roger Moore. Meanwhile, the local Greek resistance leader, Telly Savalas, plans to break out the POWs and use them to liberate the town and destroy a submarine. They reluctantly agree after he promises them they can keep treasures they think are hidden in a nearby mountaintop monastery. Dream cast of washed-up or nearly washed-up 70s stars includes Moore as a German (completely unconvincing), Elliott Gould as a greedy Jewish stereotype (embarrassing), Sony Bono as an Italian stereotype, Stefanie Powers as a ditsy USO actress, Richard Roundtree as the token black character and David Niven as the smart and older British guy. Only Telly Savalas and Claudia Cardinale as his girlfriend and brothel owner have any credibility, although their final dance together is a bit uncomfortable. Nicely filmed on location in Rhodes with impressive, if overused, helicopter shots. 

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