Movie Review: Escape to Athena (1979)

Escape to Athena is sort of your standard Great Escape-type POW escape film that might have worked better had it been less comedic. But at the same time I can’t deny how funny Elliott Gould is here.

The movie features an all-star cast including Roger Moore, David Niven, Claudia Cardinale (still gorgeous even in her forties), Sonny Bono, Richard Roundtree, and Telly Savalas. There’s simply a lot to like here.

The movie’s definitely too long, and it’s pretty slow of course at least in the first half. The first half does do a pretty good job of establishing the state of Nazi-occupied Greece, though. And the second half pays it off with some fun action.

There’s a really outstanding motorcycle chase that’s far and away the best scene of the movie. The rest of the action is okay, but nothing spectacular.

Rating: 6/10