Lobos del mar

Yes, Peck had a hard time with holding a British accent, Costner's Robin Hood didn't even try.

Yes, there were a bunch of older actors in it, it's about older characters.

No, it doesn't have an explosion a minute or a bunch of hard bodied guys or gorgeous babes, that's not what this movie is about and it doesn't need them.

It's about a bunch of geezer who, despite being a bit over the hill, still have some sense of adventure and a bit of fight left in them.

When viewed from that perspective this movie does the job very well.

It doesn't need the repeated and obviously fake explosions and computer generated torn body parts that seems to be the requisite for contemporary adventure films. It's a relatively subdued spinning of a yarn based (loosely, I suppose) on a true story.

It's heartwarming to watch the bunch of old soldiers (admitedly, not too much older than myself) pull it together one more time.

On one of those cold, bleak winter afternoons when you're feeling that you might have missed out on a few of life's adventures, watch this movie and let yourself think, maybe, just maybe there's still a chance to live them.

Based on a true story, the Sea Wolves are a geriatric impossible mission team called back to duty after 40 years of retirement with the offer of a dangerous mission that carries no hope of reward or recognition for their efforts. And they jump at the chance!

The movie itself is rather average, but the story is great fun, and more suspensible at times than one might expect. It suffers only from a decidedly 1970s made-for-television feel to the production, though the story is set in 1943. But even this drawback is ameliorated somewhat by closing credits where images of the real-life heroes from World War II are juxtaposed with those of the actors who immortalized their heroism in this film. Well worth watching.

What a group of strange reviews. Granted, I am 69 but I just started watching tons of movies since retiring (we had no money growing up). Thank God for cable, especially TCM, AMC and the History Channel. (And to IMDb.com - the first favourite added to my desktop in 1994!)

The fact that this is based on a true story made all the difference. Yes, life was like that back then.

Re: Mr. Peck's accent - I've known plenty of Englishmen who sounded like that. What odd comments.

The locations were great - nice to see something authentic. And I agree, the clothing could have been a bit less modern. Finances were tight all over during WWII.

And to say these actors were past their prime! An actor is an actor is an actor - until physically or mentally impaired. (I've felt this way since high school so it is not just compassion for those now in my age group.)

All in all, a satisfying experience.

This movie really is an oddity - as others have noted its hard to see it being made now and it was pretty odd to see it being made then. However, I'd encourage folk to watch it as its an old-fashioned yarn featuring some splendid cameos from a strong cast of supporting actors. As for the stars - well Messrs Niven, Peck and Moore aren't perhaps stretched too much but they do enough to show just why they were the stars. I think its called 'screen presence'. Peck's accent - a plucky effort and far from the worst I've heard.

A few minor points Why was the film made? Am I alone in suspecting that the director had a key role? Andy McLaglen had a penchant for casting favourite actors (a John Ford influence) and a scenario like this with ample opportunity to cast screen veterans would have appealed. He was also the son of the redoubtable Anglo-Irish actor Victor McLagan, an old soldier who (as you'll find elsewhere on IMDb)in the 1930s organised a semi-militaristic polo club called the 'Light Horse Brigade'. A coincidence - surely not, it must have appealed to McLaglen to publicise the story of another 'Light Horse' that did get to 'do its bit'.

On the German resistance. These were not crack Nazi stormtroopers - they were mainly merchant sailors (tho some would have had naval experience). They were also taken by surprise in a neutral port where they were happily sitting out the duration. Given those circumstances they put up a rather good fight in the film - and its to be noted four German survivors of the raid were advisers on the movie.

On people being shot in the arm. Were they supposed to invent extra British characters so they could kill them? On the whiskey - its the men's cover if the raid went off half-cocked as was quite possible.

On the dedication - Mountbatten was the wartime commander in the area of operations including the Indian Ocean. Being made so soon after his murder it must have appealed to McLaglen (British-born of Protestant Irish stock) to remind the viewers again that not all old soldiers get to live out their retirement peacefully. We should also recall the two teenage boys (one of them local) and the 83-year old woman killed along with Mountbatten in that terrorist atrocity.

Finally, I like the closing moments when the men are gazing at the burning ships. No champagne, no cheers, no high fives - just a comment of 'poor devils'.

They just turn up in films like this.

I loved this film. The combination of these great old stars and charecter actors having a lark in a war film. Fantastic.

The trick with this film is not to take it too seriously.

Just sit back and release your grip on reality for a couple of hours.

Pity we don't get more films like this today.