One of a number of films adapted from MacLean's books, but is not up to the same standard of films as the Guns of Navarone or Where Eagles Dare, I would rate it alongside Puppet on a Chain or Caravan to Vaccares.
This is an enjoyable film that has dated reasonably well, and despite what would ... Read review
Philip Calvert, is a secret service agent assigned to stop the ruthless pirating of ... more
millions of pounds of gold bullion in the Irish Sea.His search takes him to a small port in the Hebrides where numerous fishing boats, yachts and people have mysterious...
A Naval Secret Service agent's tough assignment is to stop the ruthless pirating of gold ... more
bullion in the Irish Sea. The trail takes him to a tiny port in the Hebrides where mysterious disappearances of boats yachts and people are commonplace...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Production Year: 1977 - Action/Adventure - Director: Clint Eastwood - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring:Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, William Prince, Bill McKinney
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Advantages: Anthony Hopkins does well in his role Disadvantages: Not as Good as the Book
One of a number of films adapted from MacLean's books, but is not up to the same standard of films as the Guns of Navarone or Where Eagles Dare, I would rate it alongside Puppet on a Chain or Caravan to Vaccares.
This is an enjoyable film that has dated reasonably well, and despite what would appear to be a modest budget, does bring together some of the best British actors. Anthony Hopkins does well in his role as the non-Bondesque British ... ...Jack Hawkins (Sir Anthony Skouras) and Robert Morley (Uncle Arthur) in their roles.
MacLean in writing the screenplay keeps close to the original storyline, with Calvert on the hunt for gold bullion robbers in the Irish Sea. Within this setting there is some decent cinematopgraphy of the Scottish coastline but lack of budget does make such things as the helicopter crash look somewhat false in the current days of CGI
For the most part ... more
One of a number of films adapted from MacLean's books, but is not up to the same standard of films as the Guns of Navarone or Where Eagles Dare, I would rate it alongside Puppet on a Chain or Caravan to Vaccares. This is an enjoyable film that has dated reasonably well, and despite what would appear to be a modest budget, does bring together some of the best British actors. Anthony Hopkins does well in his role as the non-Bondesque British spy, Philip Calvert, and there is some decent support from Jack Hawkins (Sir Anthony Skouras) and Robert Morley (Uncle Arthur) in their roles. MacLean in writing the screenplay keeps close to the original storyline, with Calvert on the hunt for gold bullion robbers in the Irish Sea. Within this setting there is some decent cinematopgraphy of the Scottish coastline but lack of budget does make such things as the helicopter crash look somewhat false in the current days of CGI For the most part the film attempts to stay true to the book but the ending of the film is a disappointment in comparrison to the original book, which has a more complex storyline
At it's lowest purchase price I would recommend adding it to your collection but bear in mind that it is not a film that you will want to watch time after time, whereas the book I have read numerous times
Alistair MacLean adapted WHEN EIGHT BELL TOLL's screenplay from his own novel. It stars Anthony Hopkins as a ruthless spy, moving about Scotland investigating the disappearance of a missing gold bullion vessel off the coast. With support from the ever-reliable Robert Morley and Corin Redgrave, this witty adventure treads a more 'Boys-Own' path into James Bond territory.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
ITV DVD; CINRAM LOGISTICS
Release date
17/05/2004
No of Discs
1
Catalogue No
37115 06063
Barcode
5037115060631
Screenwriter
Alistair MacLean
Author
Alistair MacLean
Languages
Main Language
English
Hearing Impaired Language
English
Technical information
Aspect Ratio
4:3
Sound
Stereo
Dubbing Sound
Stereo English
DVD Description
Alistair MacLean adapted WHEN EIGHT BELL TOLL's screenplay from his own novel. It stars Anthony Hopkins as a ruthless spy, moving about Scotland investigating the disappearance of a missing gold bullion vessel off the coast. With support from the ever-reliable Robert Morley and Corin Redgrave, this witty adventure treads a more 'Boys-Own' path into James Bond territory.
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