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Gregory Peck, David Niven, Anthony Quinn, Stanley Baker, Anthony Quayle ... see more see more... , Richard Harris , James Darren , Irene Papas , Gia Scala , Bryan Forbes , Allan Cuthbertson , Michael Trubshawe , Percy Herbert , George Mikell , Walter Gotell , Tutte Lemkow , James Robertson Justice , Albert Lieven , Christopher Rhodes , Norman Wooland , Carl Foreman

The guns of Navarone are huge Nazi cannons, installed on an Aegean island behind enemy lines. Anthony Quayle is the officer assigned by the British to lead a task force to put the guns out of commissi... read more read more...on. When Quayle is injured, the mission winds up in the relatively inexperienced hands of Gregory Peck. There's little love lost between Peck, explosives expert David Niven and Greek patriot Anthony Quinn, especially when it becomes known that there's a traitor in their midst. Resistance leader Irene Papas weeds out the traitor, but there's still those guns to take care of. Filmed on location in Rhodes and distinguished by Oscar-winning special effects, Guns of Navarone (based on Alistair MacLean's best-seller was a major box-office hit of 1961; less successful was the pared-down 1977 sequel, Force Ten From Navarone. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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82% liked it

19,740 ratings

Critics

95% liked it

22 critics

Unrated, 2 hr. 35 min.

Directed by: J. Lee Thompson

Release Date: June 22, 1961

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DVD Release Date: May 23, 2000

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Stats: 794 reviews

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Anthony Quinn & James Darren Gregory Peck and David Niven The Guns of Navarone The Guns of Navarone The Guns of Navarone Gregory Peck and Anthony Quayle Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn, Anthony Quayle, James Darren, and David Niven The Guns of Navarone The Guns of Navarone Richard Harris The Guns of Navarone The Guns of Navarone The Guns of Navarone
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Flixster Reviews (794)

  • CloudStrife84
    November 21, 2011
    CloudStrife84
    Six brave souls set out on a hazardous mission to neutralize a pair of cannons (massive such I may add), installed by the Nazis on the Greek island of Navarone. It's the premise for a movie that has truly earned its pedestal in the cinematic hall of fame. A dynamite story, with ... read morerichly written characters, whose multi-layered relationships and riveting interplay makes for a thoroughly engrossing experience. It also gives us the mythological beauty of Greece and its islands, which I've personally had the pleasure of visiting a few times. Not to mention the great action and constantly exciting atmosphere, which I will honor with nothing less than my most sincere recommendation. Especially if you love this brand of oldies as much as I do. Then it's an unquestionable must-see!
  • binky013
    May 7, 2008
    binky013
    I've been killing Germans since 1937; there's no end to it.

    Yes, that's a memorable, yet problematic, line, for me, from Stanley Baker, one of my all-time heroes from Zulu -- yet another "let's try to dominate the world" film.

    I have some great friends who are German

    ... read more. One of them, Gordon's wife, has never and won't ever -- and I mean she swears she will never, never ever, out of national embarrassment -- watch The Sound of Music. So to quote De Niro in The Deer Hunter: Okay? (echo echo echo) Okay?

    Kurt in The Sound of Music is a type. Most Nazi characters in any movie are stereoytypical as well. If you want to see a genuine representation of Germans -- Nazi WWII Germans -- as real people, you should definitely watch The Longest Day.

    What am I rambling about? Shoots, flixsters, I just wanted to star-rate this one because I'm watching it again for the 99th or so time on TCM. It is a very good view. Watch it if you get the chance; that's all I wanted to say : )
  • kenstachnik
    February 27, 2008
    kenstachnik
    Not quite as good as Where Eagles Dare but still a hoot
  • garyX
    May 20, 2007
    garyX
    This military adventure is seriously bogged down with war movie cliches, being based as it is upon a novel by airport paperback hack Alistair MacLean. But the star presence of Peck, Quinn and Niven elevates it above the mundane.
  • deano
    November 26, 2006
    deano
    This is my second best adpations of an Alistar MacLean novel and greatest explosive action film.
  • kpn666
    July 25, 2006
    kpn666
    Classic tale! An old one, but they dont make em nowadays as they used to.
  • fb704730572
    December 18, 2011
    fb704730572
    An excellent early epic World War II film, which features great chemistry from a very talented cast, headlined by Gregory Peck. This is the sort of action film that actually tries to engage the audience in the planning and preparation phase, and does so effectively, giving weight... read more to the actions and consequences of all those involved. It was also ahead of its' time in treating war with a sort of complexity not seen until later films. Overall, a very enjoyable and influential war film.
  • Nutterjr
    November 19, 2010
    Nutterjr
    One of the best WWII action-adventures, with an all-star cast headed by Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn, and David Niven. A very cool film!
  • Ivan6655321
    November 18, 2010
    Ivan6655321
    I've grown up always hearing about this film, and how impeccably masculine it was. So, aside from the two female characters, it really is one of the iconic pictures to ever put a stamp on the "recruited men on a mission" sub-genre of war films. It appealed to me immensely how eff... read moreective the opening narration was(seems like "Fargo"), making us believe, with that voice tailor-made for telling tall tales, how perilous the "Navarone" mission was, only then finding out that its all a work of fiction courtesy of adventure novelist Alistair Maclean. Though its quite hard to view Gregory Peck as a British, he, along with his personality, physical features and his pure cinematic presence, ably passed as a believable leader of the bunch. As for the others, headed by Anthony Quinn and David Niven, they have created great chemistry among contradicting characters, an ingredient very much common for the sub-genre nowadays but was initially sparked by the influential Kurosawa classic "Seven Samurai". There were some sequences that contained unsure, half-cooked editing, but with this film heading for an ending as anticipating and explosive(though not as morally puzzling) as the one in "The Bridge on the River Kwai", these slight blunders were easily eclipsed by its more exciting moments. "The Guns of Navarone" is one of those blockbuster war films that has carried its sense of high adventure and action consistently, while maintaining its grasp on 'morality' and a pacifist message that tells about how war can put it into 'ruins', like how their mission will wreak destruction on the eponymous weapon, and a parallel to the ancient remnants of its Greek backdrop.
  • DrLappos
    July 9, 2007
    DrLappos
    Superb lineup and a great film.

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Critic Reviews

Eric Melin
October 27, 2011
Eric Melin, Scene-Stealers.com

The movie holds up pretty well as a rousing action picture, and also throws in a couple of comments about the contradictions of war. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
June 16, 2007
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

One of the best WWII action-adventures, with an all-star cast headed by Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn, and David Niven, this Oscar-winner (in special effects) is stirringly directed by the vastly undere... Full Review

Arthur Ryel-Lindsey
May 7, 2007
Arthur Ryel-Lindsey, Slant Magazine

David Niven is the subservient but stylish chemist Miller, rounding out a film that ranks among the best war movies. Full Review

Carol Cling
November 11, 2005
Carol Cling, Las Vegas Review-Journal

Rousingly old-fashioned WWII adventure

Scott Weinberg
November 9, 2005
Scott Weinberg, DVDTalk.com

The Guns of Navarone has long been a big-time favorite of the war-movie aficionados, and the film still holds up resoundingly well today. Full Review

Steve Crum
October 23, 2004
Steve Crum, Kansas City Kansan

Superior WWII spectacle

Dennis Schwartz
February 22, 2004
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

It was forgettable but highly entertaining. Full Review

Brian Mckay
March 21, 2003
Brian Mckay, eFilmCritic.com

Another classic WW2 epic. Suspense, espionage, and some big BIG guns.

Rob Vaux
February 6, 2003
Rob Vaux, Flipside Movie Emporium

A good old-fashioned Nazi ass-whomping, aided by some great effects and a charming pair of heroes.

Ken Hanke
August 7, 2002
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Great old-fashioned war thriller

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The Guns of Navarone Trivia

  • Name the movie that starred Anthony Quinn, Gregory Peck and David Niven  Answer »
  • In THE GUNS OF NAVARONE, who played Miller - the explosives expert?   Answer »
  • "You in the red, huh? Well I'm a mushroom cloud layin' mothafucka, mothafucka! I'm the Guns of the Navarone! Every time I touch brain, I turn into Superfly TNT!"  Answer »
  • In what country was the movie "The Guns of Navarone" filmed?  Answer »
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