nzpedals

With all those big name stars, and a topic I like to know about I was looking forward to seeing it all. Not for long though, but I persevered for about 20 minutes, and then saw the last few minutes, and the extra piece on the DVD. Is that enough to be able to comment?

Well, it's longer than I've given some other really big earners! Unless I can see what is happening from very early on, they have a problem in keeping me there. They failed. So, why rate it as HIGH as 2? Coz the special effects are impressive.

Michael Caine looks better than in some other movies. Perhaps age is making him more mellow, and less brash.

The guy with the eye patch quotes Jung (I think), about the way fate sometimes delivers just the thing we really really want!

The movie starts with news clips showing the daring rescue of Mussolini and tells us that Hitler gets the idea of doing the same to Churchill. Of course, we know that didn't happen, so why bother watching all the rest of it? Coz we also know that Higgins can write action-packed thrillers (Was this really his first book?)

Having got the basic idea, the Germans set out to do a feasibility study and they have the ideal guy to do it for them, Steiner (Caine) and his band of paratroopers. Conveniently, they have captured an intact MTB AND a C47 plane.

Their plan is to pretend to be from the Polish Free Force, but they wear their German uniforms underneath so that if (when) they are caught, they won't be summarily executed as spies.

Right on very early on, the movie has the feel of a Higgins super- thriller and so I watch, wondering... how is it going to end? Other reviews will tell you if you don't want to watch it. There are a couple of silly scenes, the instant "love" between Molly and Devlin - nah, and the silly vicar, but apart from that it is all "GO".

Treat Williams an American who replaces Larry Hagman's character is the best of the support cast, and he gets a great line.. "there's no such thing as death with honour, only death". Yeah, but tell that to the jingoists.

A pleasant surprise. From a place I will never get near (Las Vegas). I thought it was going to be silly and sloppy, but no, there is a plausible story, some great lines, and very good acting from all the cast.

In the very first scene, Jillian gets pulled over for speeding (in a Mercedes 450, in the deserts of Nevada?) and we see the cop making sure his hair is tidy before getting out of his cruiser! That's the sort of detail that impresses. Then he tries to chat her up, maybe see again, tells her about the great places to eat, but gets rebuffed with a "Eating's against my religion!" she says. "Too bad speeding isn't against your religion" as he writes the ticket!

Jillian gets to town and joins the dancers at Caesar's Palace and suggests a new dance step, but it's not popular with the others and there is a bit of tension and when her ex shows up there is a bit more tension. Things get resolved. And there is a bit of serious attitude explaining. It's fun, especially the scene where a congressman lusts after her body. How does she cope? Simple, "What about the money". That silences him quickly, it is obviously bad for his self image.

Meeting up with the med student working as a parking valet brings more chances for great lines and scenes.