"Escape to Athena" is a very odd WWII film. In many ways, it seems a lot like "Raiders of the Lost Ark" combined with "Hogan's Heroes"! It is certainly a strange film...likable but historically speaking it's pretty silly...especially seeing (and hearing) Roger Moore play an Austrian major!
I mentioned "Raiders of the Lost Ark" because the Nazi soldiers in this film are stationed on an unnamed Greek island and their mission seems to be to dig for various artifacts in order to send them back to Germany. There is some basis for this, as some German officers (Herman Goering, for example) used that war as an excuse to plunder all they could from occupied lands. I also mentioned "Hogan's Heroes" because it's about some POWs who are being forced to work here...and they are able to defeat the Germans because they all seem pretty stupid! There's no laugh track...but otherwise, I definitely see a lot of "Hogan's Heroes"! Obviously the film never takes itself very seriously and is about folks getting rich off the war (which actually makes it a bit like "Kelly's Heroes" as well)...and if you DO take it seriously, your head might explode because so much of the film can't be taken seriously.
Here are a few examples of the film and its strangely comic elements. Perhaps the silliest is a captured USO entertainer (Elliot Gould) who CONSTANTLY throws Yiddish expressions into his speech...which is INSANE since these folks are NAZIS. And, last time I checked, the Nazis weren't particularly fond of Jews. Additionally, all the Germans, though professional soldiers, can't seem to hit their targets...whereas the partisans, entertainers and POWs are amazingly accurate! And, of course, I mention (again), Roger Moore as an Austrian!! You need to hear his accent to believe it! As I said, you can't really take any of this seriously.
Despite being a historical mess, the film features some very nice camerawork (especially at the beginning...it's most impressive as the camera seems to glide about Rhodes) and the acting is generally pretty good....though Gould's character is just bizarre and seeing Sonny Bono among the POWs was odd. The only actor who seemed to take his role seriously was Telly Savalas.
So is it worth seeing? Yes, provided you set your expectations really low and you just want a good laugh. If you are a history teacher (I used to be one), it might be hard to take...but I apparently had low expectations and found it modestly entertaining.
I mentioned "Raiders of the Lost Ark" because the Nazi soldiers in this film are stationed on an unnamed Greek island and their mission seems to be to dig for various artifacts in order to send them back to Germany. There is some basis for this, as some German officers (Herman Goering, for example) used that war as an excuse to plunder all they could from occupied lands. I also mentioned "Hogan's Heroes" because it's about some POWs who are being forced to work here...and they are able to defeat the Germans because they all seem pretty stupid! There's no laugh track...but otherwise, I definitely see a lot of "Hogan's Heroes"! Obviously the film never takes itself very seriously and is about folks getting rich off the war (which actually makes it a bit like "Kelly's Heroes" as well)...and if you DO take it seriously, your head might explode because so much of the film can't be taken seriously.
Here are a few examples of the film and its strangely comic elements. Perhaps the silliest is a captured USO entertainer (Elliot Gould) who CONSTANTLY throws Yiddish expressions into his speech...which is INSANE since these folks are NAZIS. And, last time I checked, the Nazis weren't particularly fond of Jews. Additionally, all the Germans, though professional soldiers, can't seem to hit their targets...whereas the partisans, entertainers and POWs are amazingly accurate! And, of course, I mention (again), Roger Moore as an Austrian!! You need to hear his accent to believe it! As I said, you can't really take any of this seriously.
Despite being a historical mess, the film features some very nice camerawork (especially at the beginning...it's most impressive as the camera seems to glide about Rhodes) and the acting is generally pretty good....though Gould's character is just bizarre and seeing Sonny Bono among the POWs was odd. The only actor who seemed to take his role seriously was Telly Savalas.
So is it worth seeing? Yes, provided you set your expectations really low and you just want a good laugh. If you are a history teacher (I used to be one), it might be hard to take...but I apparently had low expectations and found it modestly entertaining.