Fortaleza Proibida

I have been trying to find this film on video for many years because I remember it as being so interesting, with the rescue sequences by hang gliders. I disagree with another person who commented that they could not see the hang-gliding sequences, due to darkness in the film. There are not very many films that make a big impression on me but this one did and I still remember it though I only saw it once, when it was first released. I hope it is released on video or DVD some day so that I can see it again.

Pros: Music 9/10 (Lalo Schifrin's music gives more tense especially at the action scenes) Scenery 10/10 (Meteora are really breathtaking... we should see more often this place in movies) James Coburn 8/10 (Cool as always... Classic Coburn) Cons: Scenario: 4/10 (Plain scenario, no surprises... ok it's a 70's scenario but still they could have work it more... I mean James Coburn fighting Leftist terrorists on Meteora?..) Direction 5/10 (Hickox isn't Hitchcock, that's for sure... aerial shootings though where actually good) Conclusion: It's a classic 70's action movie. If you decide to spend your time to watch it you won't regret it. But the next morning you'll not remember a lot. Maybe only the stunning scenery of Meteora. It's 7/10 by me.

"Skyriders" is a typical action film from the 70's that opened and closed within two weeks and your local theater and drive-in. It contains a few name stars (James Colburn, Robert Culp) but let's face it the action is supposed to be the star. On that score the film is not bad. The problem is it takes much too long to get to the action.

Colburn stars as a pilot whose ex-wife and child (along with another child fathered by Culp) are kidnapped by mercenaries for ransom. While Culp works on raising the money and cooperating with authorities, Coburn hires a band of expert gliders to aid in a rescue. All of this could have been told in a clean quick manner but it takes forever to get to the rescue. We even have a silly montage of the skydivers training Colburn. Not necessary. We want the action! Contrary to the first comment the skyrider scenes are not too dark even though the desired effect is for it to night time. Actually I think it was shot during the day and a dark filter superimposed on the film to make it look like night. If you look closely at the rocks you can see the shadows of the gliders. I never saw such pronounced shadows at night.

The gliding scenes are well done and thrilling up to a point. My biggest problem is that the escape plan seems all too easy seeing where the kidnappers are located. Of course it's not all done without a hitch but there are no real twists to keep things exciting. The last part of the film becomes a standard shoot em up film that you have scene hundreds of times before.

The film is mediocre at best. The good talent is pretty much wasted in an action film with not enough action or a smart script.

Looks cheap, grungy and is thinly plotted, but the cast (James Coburn, Robert Culp, Susannah York, John Beck and Charles Aznavour) along with the Greek scenery and aerial stunt work (hang gliding) go a long way in making this an entertainingly sweeping, old-fashioned action joint with striking showpieces. The opening (the kidnapping) and closing sequences (the in and out rescue at night) do manage to rally plenty of tension especially during the climax set against an isolated medieval monastery in the mountains, but in between that it's somewhat mechanical in its elaborate structure. A waiting game and plans being formulated with some preachy inclusions. Well we have revolutionary terrorists fighting imperialism. Gladly Coburn's hardy presence keeps you hooked for the ride. Director Douglas Hickox paces it rather well and his streamlined handling offers numerous nitty gritty passages, despite some stagy moments. Music composer Lalo Schifrin gives the presentation a bit more oomph with his grand, luxurious arrangement. A tough, but breezy 70-s drive-in action adventure.

The movie starts with machinegun-toting terrorists killing the hired help and kidnapping a wife and child. The husband seeks his wife's former husband's help in getting them back. The gang's hideout territory scenery is breathtaking, an abandoned and isolated monastery in mountainous Greece. The inside of the monastery depicts ancient Christian Orthodox iconography. Coburn lines up a travelling troupe of circus-act type hang gliger performers to teach him how to fly. These are the early design of hang gliders, with a rogallo wing design. The rogallo wing consists of fabric stretched out in a triangle over two leading-edge hollow aluminum spars, with another aluminum tube for a spine, and another for a cross bar, and a lower metal loop for the dangling pilot to grip and steer by. Very much like a modern delta-style steerable kite. These were dangerous but beautiful designs, which are capable of going into a stall and nose dive, straight into the ground from a thousand feet up if you are not careful and experienced, but a delight to watch in flight. Before he approaches them, Coburn watches the travelling aerialists' circus-style open-air act, as the heartstoppingly colorful hang gliders perform aerial maneuvers with breathtaking poise and beauty. There's a pretty girl in the troup. One flyer pretends to lose his grip and plummets dozens of feet into a nearby body of water while his pilotless hang glider drifts lazily down without him. So Coburn approaches them and asks to be taught how to pilot one. Somewhere along the line, while learning to fly, Coburn gets casual and cozy, and proposes to the performers that they join him in the rescue. "If we fail," you get your money back," the teacher volunteers. "Right!" Coburn grins skeptically and knowingly, to which the others laugh. Coburn isn't bitter, but he's no fool, and suddenly they have all been won over to his side and looking at the challenge as a team. Like I said, Coburn at his best. From there on, it's a class act as Coburn and the aerialists make a stealth infiltration of the sky-high monastery via hang glider, and seek to get the woman and child out and escape again on their hang gliders before the terrorists can discover and stop them.