Escape to Athena
The patriot, the professor, the comic and the stripper... were fighting for what they believed in... Getting rich!
During the World War II, the prisoners of a German camp in a Greek island are trying to escape. They not only want their freedom, but also seek an ineffable treasure hidden in a monastery at the summit of the island's mountain.
Adventure
Comedy
War
5.7
123 reviewsRuntime: 125 min.
Budget: N/A
Revenue: N/A
Release Date: 1979-05-21
Director(s): George P. Cosmatos
Production: ITC Entertainment
Languages: English
IMDB: tt0079117
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CinemaSerf★ 6/101/2/2025
I can just imagine Telly Savalas getting a few of his pals around a table for some ouzo on the rocks and suggesting they set a comedy-adventure film on a Greek island so they can all get a tan whilst he exudes his obvious pride in his homeland. Luckily, David Niven's experiences at cirrhosis-by-the-sea made him ideally qualified to take part and Roger Moore was also up for something shaken not stirred, so off to Rhodes they all went, bringing along Stefanie Powers and Elliott Gould for some extra international box office. Niven is an archeology professor; Moore the commandant of an open-air excavation/prison and their host is a local freedom fighter determined not just to get shot of the Nazis, but to prevent the looting of some ancient Byzantine treasures reputedly being hidden by the monks in a mountaintop monastery. "Dane" (Gould) and the temptress "Dottie Del Mar" (Powers) are on an USO tour when their plane is shot down and so she takes to doing the troop-entertaining while her more "greedy than suspicious" pal sets about helping stoke the fires of a coup! This is all light-hearted and engaging stuff with everyone looking like they are enjoying themselves, some stunning photography of the island - how did they ever manage to build a monetary like that? There's loads of over-acting, thick accents and Michael Sheard (after he'd been strangled by "Darth Vader") seems to have found his feet as a scene-stealing sergeant. Lalo Schifrin's score tries it's best to emulate the "Zorba" style theme of Mikis Theodorakis and on the whole I did quite enjoy their daft seaside escapades.