Lots of derring-do, espionage, exotic locations, debonair, and action and thrills. A superb cast of actors and a great supporting cast too. Gregory Peck, David Niven & Roger Moore were good pals off-screen and they have great chemistry on. It's a film based on true events and real ex-Servicemen - British special operations during World War II, Operation Postmaster (1942) and Operation Creek (1943) - though it combines them both into one single story.

This movie warrants a technical 3/10 but for the many ways it ends up being intriguing and funny for all the wrong reasons, and the way it is all carried along by a briskly-paced direction. The clumsy misogyny of Roger Moore's character, the tendency of the all-too-obvious Mata Hari type person to corpse when Roger delivers his lines, and so many other things worth a chuckle. Gregory Peck attempting an English accent is a hoot. The movie's alleged basis in fact is interesting as the story has an archetypal oddball-Brits-pull-it-off-again feel. However there is no missing that dialogue is pitiful, the relationships implausible - both brotherly and romantic. The smutty banter is straight out of Carry On film tradition. There's so little to feed the mind on the menu with no real historical context, and a meagre helping of just a few very thin back stories. So to get the best of this film, do adjust your expectations and take this quirky offering lightly, and in good humour and to best enjoy the ride.

This affectionate wartime thriller sees a bunch of old timers meeting up for one final mission, their aim to destroy a trio of German ships that have been responsible for destroying many allied ships off the coast of India. It's a nostalgic movie that harks back to the good old days of derring-do and stiff upper lips, and I have to say that I enjoyed the feelings and memories it evoked. It's also pleasing to see a film entirely populated (for the most part) by "old" actors who prove themselves just as capable as their younger brethren.The film isn't perfect by any means and in fact it's rather rough around the edges: the running time is bloated and I would have preferred the exclusion of all the sub-plots surrounding Roger Moore's character. Moore is playing a Bond type in rather laborious subterfuge scenes in which he visits casinos, beds a beautiful woman (Barbara Kellerman, who went on to be the White Witch in the BBC LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE), has a few shoot-outs with German henchmen, and tracks a deadly traitor. Sadly, all of these moments are extraneous to the central plot and drag the pacing down. Moore is at his cheesy worst despite the presence of his twinkling blue eyes and he makes half the film feel like a sub-Bond outing.The scenes involving the gang of old codgers aboard their boat are far better and a lot of fun. I loved the way these aged heroes play against stereotype, raring to go and looking for action despite the creaks and groans. Gregory Peck adopts a fine British accent as the chief hero, and he's supported by a quite wonderful cast of familiar British faces: David Niven, Trevor Howard, Patrick Macnee, Patrick Allen, and Percy Herbert to name but a few. The actual storming of the German ship only takes place in the last twenty minutes of the film, but it's a riveting and action-packed climax and one that (rarely) doesn't disappoint.

Yep, it's another of those trans-generation pot-boilers like 'Cassandra Crossing' and 'Shout At The Devil', enabling a group of superannuated movie grandees to top-up their pension-funds whilst the new generation graduates from drama class.Although loosely based upon a true story, it hardly does the heroes credit. Gregory Peck leads a creaking cast containing Roger Moore (never a good sign), David Niven and many others in such a pedestrian actioner that there are times when it almost needs a Zimmer frame.It's a raid on some German merchant ships interned in Goa harbour. One of them is transmitting intelligence to submarines. Somehow it accomplishes this task without an aerial. That's about it. We only ever see one ship. After attaching external limpet-mines with timers, for some reason they have to board them (it) as well. Quite why is unclear, but it provides a hammy firefight or two. Tension is at best Luke-warm. The script is pretty unimaginative. Directing is by numbers. And as to camera-work - most tourists could match its ingenuity with their holiday films.Directing is the key. All of the leads know how to act. We've seen Peck and Niven working well together in the similar 'Guns Of Navarone'. Yet despite this movie being almost 20-years more recent, it doesn't pack in a fraction of the pace and tension. Old geezers don't need to be, or portrayed as, laughable old duffers. That's patronising and stereotypic. Just check-out Big Larry's Dr Zell in 'Marathon Man'. Serious and scary, or what? And couldn't they have found a couple of genuine old freighters ready for scrap and made some authentic bangs and sinkings? Apparently not; they had to raid someone's Airfix collection with fireworks. There's plenty of good Boys Own actioners out there that are really worth your time and attention. This one isn't.