Tom Willett (yonhope) This is certainly not as great as a James Bond action film. It is a very good movie with a simple plot. It has a wonderful cast and a great outdoor location for the major action scenes. Not a spoiler, just pay attention when action starts. Do watch closely when a helicopter scene begins. You will see James Coburn doing a real scary stunt hanging from under the helicopter. Not a stuntman doing the job. Also close your eyes when Coburn speaks and ask yourself if it is Leonard Nemoy. They have the same voice. This is well worth seeing. It is not real dumb. It also is not an educational film. No nudity or gore. James Coburn is the main attraction here. There are very nice aerial shots. The stunt hang glider pilots are very skilled.

lost-in-limbo 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.

ceqa02 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.

gridoon Utterly ordinary, thoroughly routine and totally forgettable adventure tale that's good only if you want to waste some time -although there are many better time-wasters around. There are no surprises and no attempts at distinguishing this film from dozens of similar films. As for the hand-gliding sequences, many of them are filmed at night and we can barely see what's happening onscreen!