The mission?  They're to assassinate, er, sorry, eliminate a traitor who sold them out the first time around.  But things are never that simple, and after getting captured, and escaping, and going back and freeing the rest of the gang, they discover the real mission of Force 10:  To destroy a key bridge so the Germans can't advance into this part of Yugoslavia.  That figures!

Long story short, the bridge is destroyed, the traitor is really a German spy, and is subsequently eliminated anyway.  Yeah its about that simple.  Of course nothing goes off like its supposed to, and that's part of what makes the movie fun, is how the team overcomes the curveballs thrown at them.

What surprised me though is the poor marks this picture generally receives.  I don't know, I actually didn't find that much to really gripe about.  It's a fun action picture more than anything, and in that respect its really quite good.  Sure its not all that accurate in most respects, and it doesn't need to be.  There are a lot of humorous bits thrown in to boot, most revolving around the ever-irreverent Sgt. Miller and the wayward Sgt. Weaver.

Also appearing is Richard Kiel as the imposing native German collaborator Capt. Drazak.  You might remember him better as James Bond's nemesis Jaws... and Michael Byrne as the German Commander, who would later pair up again with Ford in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade as, well, another German Commander type.

All-in-all, Force 10 From Navarone makes for a good Saturday, nothing-else-to-watch, popcorn muncher, but don't go looking for any profound statements on war and the duality of man or really any deeper meaning at all.

Technorati Tags: war movie reviews, force 10 from navarone, 1978, harrison ford, edward fox, robert shaw, richard kiel, world war ii 2