Despite the interesting cast (Elliot Gould! David Niven! Roger Moore as a German! Sonny Bono!) and the truly amazing scenery on the island of Rhodes, I have to disagree with other posters on this site who have given this film even a modestly positive rating. This has to be one of the worst war films ever.If you've ever seen Kelly's Heroes (1970), you may remember Donald Sutherland's character Oddball, who spoke in a late-60s, early-70s hippy-dippy patois, calling things "groovy" and "out-a-sight" and so on. This kind of anachronistic speech spoils large sections of Escape to Athena. I wonder how old the script was at the time it was made... When Gould's character says to Moore's that he will have the "grooviest camp around," I had to check the release date (NINE years after Kelly's Heroes).***SPOILERS AHEAD*** Near the end of the film, when the true objective of the Greek resistance becomes clear (a V-2 type rocket installation), the Germans roll out one of their weapons, trailed by a company of men in (anachronistic) mirrored-visor helmets. I presume that buying the helmets was cheaper than hiring more extras, since they allowed any actor, even one that had appeared earlier, who had been shot or blown up, to reappear in a jumpsuit and helmet and...march...slowly... in lockstep....behind...a rocket...without performing any function whatsoever! It's laughable! I though I had suddenly fallen through a filmic wormhole into a bad James Bond imitation.A complete waste of time.

This film is a fantastic brochure for Greece and it's surrounding Isles. There are some beautiful shots of mountains and hills and then Roger Moore steps in and blocks the view. We get to see a gorgeous, ancient monastery but then Telly Savalas blocks the view by firing a machine gun and lumbering around. Damn. The ocean view was very pretty until Elliot Gould got in the way, slipping on a banana skin. "Move out of the way, Elliot! You're blocking the scenery!" The trees were particularly lovely until David Niven blocked the view. These actors keep getting in the way of the visual tour of the islands that we are treated to. I wonder if the Greek Tourism Commission got a rich cut of this films earnings? What? What do you mean it flopped?

I remember seen the movie when I was a kid and didn't like it then much. So when I tried a second viewing, as an adult, my opinion worsened considerably. The inspiration for this comment is the credit shot of the movie. It starts as a traveling from the sea towards the island and ends in a medium shot of man killed (irrelevant to the story) after we have watched him trying to escape from his predators. This aerial single shot which lasts for several minutes, includes many difficult framings within the shot and incredible timing, is one of the best helicopter shots ever being filmed. The movie although totally uninspiring has other well crafted aerial shots and a very good motorcycle chasing in very narrow streets. Everything else just falls apart after the first 10 minutes. A failed effort to advertise the beauties of the Greek island of Rhodes.

When people compile a list of the greatest war films ever they often overlook this rip roaring action adventure.......this film has everything you could ever want in a film and more....The story involves a group of prisoners of war (David Niven, Elliot Gould, Claudia Cardinale) held on a Greek island during WWII, who recruit the aid of their sympathetic camp commandant in harassing the SS. Below I have tried to identify the factors that separate this film from run of the mill war films.1) Tele Savalas as a Greek resistance fighter / Monk. Tele as you would expect brings the same gritty realism as he did to his Portrayal of Blofeld in 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service'.2) David Niven is superb as a British Antiques expert held prisoner by the German army. Niven expertly manages to convey the characters inner turmoil and disbelief of the situation he has found himself in. Niven also manages to turn in a great comic performance with the help of Elliot Gould's character.3) The director George P Cosmatos manages to expertly capture the futility and horrific nature of war, in a style of direction that is reminiscent of early William Friedkin work.4) However, the real star of the show is Roger Moore. Moore plays a German Officer who witnessing the atrocities carried out by his country decides to switch sides and help the allies, namely Tele and his band of fighters. Moore shows once again what a truly gifted actor he is, with the simple twitch of an eyebrow he can convey the purest of emotions, that would send even the most stone hearted person to tears.So in summary...Escsape to Athena is a life changing movie, it shows that the British film industry could still produce films as good as / or even better than their American rivals, but from a personal view it restored my faith in humanity and what people can achieve when they work together.