FORCE 10 FROM NAVARONE (1978, UK) **½
Action, Drama, War
dist. Columbia-Warner Distributors (UK), American International Pictures (AIP) (USA); pr co. Columbia Pictures Corporation / Navarone Productions; d. Guy Hamilton; w. Robin Chapman, Carl Foreman (based on the novel by Alistair MacLean); exec pr. Carl Foreman; pr. Oliver A. Unger; ass pr. David W. Orton; ph. Christopher Challis (Technicolor. 35mm. Panavision (anamorphic). 2.39:1); m. Ron Goodwin; ed. Raymond Poulton; pd. Geoffrey Drake; ad. Fred Carter; cos. Emma Porteous; m/up. Peter Robb-King, Colin Jamison; sd. Dino Di Campo, Derek Holding, William Trent (4-Track Stereo); sfx. René Albouze, Giuseppe Carozza, Peter Hutchinson; vfx. Geoffrey Drake; st. Eddie Stacey; rel. 16 August 1978 (Spain), 7 December 1978 (UK), 8 December 1978 (USA); cert: PG/15; r/t. 118m.
cast: Robert Shaw (Mallory), Harrison Ford (Barnsby), Barbara Bach (Maritza), Edward Fox (Miller), Franco Nero (Lescovar), Carl Weathers (Weaver), Richard Kiel (Drazak), Alan Badel (Petrovitch), Michael Byrne (Schroeder), Philip Latham (Jensen), Angus MacInnes (Reynolds), Michael Sheard (Sgt. Bauer), Petar Buntic (Marko), Leslie Schofield (Interrogation Officer 1), Anthony Langdon (Interrogation Officer 2), Richard Hampton (Interrogation Officer 3), Paul Humpoletz (Sgt. Bismark), Dicken Ashworth (Nolan), Christopher Malcolm (Rogers), Nick Ellsworth (Salvone).
This is an at times lacklustre sequel to the 1961 hit THE GUNS OF NAVARONE. Here Shaw and Fox, taking on the roles vacated by Gregory Peck and David Niven, are assigned to assassinate a German spy who has infiltrated a resistance unit in Yugoslavia. They are unwanted passengers on Ford’s mission to blow up a bridge as the two missions become entwined. Much of the fun of this film is in the banter between Shaw and Fox and their interactions with Ford’s crack squad. The plot is a little stale and recalls earlier better films – not least the film on which this sequel is based. Hamilton’s direction feels workmanlike and unimaginative and his early use of stock footage jars – some of it is even in black and white. The acting is mixed, with Shaw, Ford and Fox the standouts, whilst Bach is awfully miscast. Kiel does well in his rebel leader role as does Weathers as an escaped prisoner who gets involved with the mission. Nero’s performance as the potential spy lacks depth. The production uses the location scenery to good advantage, but there is a lack of the bigger picture of a war taking place – it all feels too naturally beautiful and unspoiled. the result is an adequate, but ultimately disappointing sequel that is only of interest to fans of the original and the lead actors. It was originally intended the film be made in 1967, but it was reportedly deemed that Peck and Niven were too old to reprise their roles as Mallory and Miller. Alistair MacLean adapted his original screenplay into the novel he published in 1968. Some of Robert Shaw’s lines were dubbed, as the actor died before post-production had finished. This was the last film Shaw completed. He would die during the making of AVALANCHE EXPRESS (1979). The restored/extended version runs 126m.