View source for Force 10 from Navarone (film)

{{Short description|1978 film by Guy Hamilton based on the 1968 novel}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Force 10 From Navarone
| image          = Force 10 From Navarone movie.jpg
| caption        = US [[film poster]] by Brian Bysouth
| alt            = 
| based_on       = {{based on|''[[Force 10 from Navarone (novel)|Force 10 from Navarone]]''<br>1968 novel|[[Alistair MacLean]]}}
| screenplay     = [[Robin Chapman]]<br />'''Uncredited:'''<br />[[George MacDonald Fraser]]<ref name="fraser">{{cite book| first1=George MacDonald| last1=Fraser| title=The Light's on at Signpost| publisher=HarperCollins| year=2003| pages=130–141| isbn=978-0007136476}}</ref>
| story          = [[Carl Foreman]]
| starring       = [[Robert Shaw (actor)|Robert Shaw]]<br />[[Harrison Ford]]<br />[[Barbara Bach]]<br />[[Edward Fox (actor)|Edward Fox]]<br />[[Franco Nero]]<br />[[Carl Weathers]]<br />[[Richard Kiel]]<br />[[Alan Badel]]
| director       = [[Guy Hamilton]]
| producer       = [[Oliver A. Unger]]
| studio         = Navarone Productions
| distributor    = [[Columbia Pictures]] <small>(United Kingdom)</small><br>[[American International Pictures]] <small>(North America)</small>
| released       = {{Film date|1978|12|07|United Kingdom|1978|12|08|North America|df=y}}
| runtime        = 118 minutes <small>(release)</small><br />126 minutes <small>(restored)</small>
| music          = [[Ron Goodwin]]
| cinematography = [[Christopher Challis]]
| editing        = [[Raymond Poulton]]
| country        = United Kingdom<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120713211803/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b71a0d778 BFI: ''Force 10 from Navarone''] Retrieved 31 December 2012</ref><br>United States
| language       = English
| budget         = US$10.5 million<ref name="nav"/>
| gross          = $3.2 million<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/americanfilmdist0000dona/page/300/mode/1up|title= American film distribution : the changing marketplace|last=Donahue|first= Suzanne Mary|year=1987 |publisher=UMI Research Press |page=300|isbn= 978-0-8357-1776-2}} Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada</ref>
}}

'''''Force 10 from Navarone''''' is a 1978 [[action film|action]] [[war film]] loosely based on [[Alistair MacLean]]'s 1968 [[Force 10 from Navarone (novel)|novel of the same name]]. It is a sequel to the 1961 film ''[[The Guns of Navarone (film)|The Guns of Navarone]]''. The parts of Mallory and Miller are played by [[Robert Shaw (actor)|Robert Shaw]] (who died before the film was released), and [[Edward Fox (actor)|Edward Fox]], succeeding in the roles originally portrayed by [[Gregory Peck]] and [[David Niven]]. It was directed by [[Guy Hamilton]] and also stars [[Harrison Ford]], [[Carl Weathers]], [[Barbara Bach]], [[Franco Nero]] (in a role previously played by [[Tutte Lemkow]]), and [[Richard Kiel]].

The film gets its title from the Alistair MacLean [[Force 10 from Navarone (novel)|book of the same name]], but bears so little resemblance to the novel that MacLean loosely adapted part of the screenplay into his 1982 book ''[[Partisans (novel)|Partisans]]''.

==Plot==
{{Long plot|date=September 2021}}
In [[World War II|1943]], sometime after [[The Guns of Navarone (film)|destroying a German fortress on the island of Navarone]], Major Keith Mallory and Sergeant Donovan "Dusty" Miller are ordered to track and eliminate Nicolai, a [[Nazi Germany|German]] spy who betrayed the Navarone mission. Nicolai is believed to have infiltrated the [[Yugoslav Partisans]] under the assumed identity "Captain Lescovar". Mallory and Miller are attached to "Force 10", an American commando unit led by [[United States Army Rangers|Rangers]] lieutenant colonel Mike Barnsby. They steal a [[Royal Air Force]] [[Lancaster bomber|bomber]], joined by Weaver, a [[U.S. Army Medical Corps]] [[sergeant]] who has escaped [[Military Police]] custody. When the bomber is intercepted and forced down, only Barnsby, Mallory, Miller, Weaver, and Lieutenant Doug Reynolds survive the crash.

The survivors are captured by [[collaborationist|pro-German]] [[Chetniks]] led by Captain Drazak. They tell a German army commander, Major Schroeder, they are actually deserters and that Miller's suitcase, stuffed with high explosives and sabotage gear, contains [[penicillin]] which will spoil if exposed. The next morning, Schroeder announced he opened the case, finding it full of firewood. The prisoners claim they buried the drug samples. Schroeder sends Barnsby and Mallory to retrieve them, guarded by his [[concubine]] Maritza and three soldiers.

Far from camp, Maritza kills the Germans and reveals she is a partisan and hid the explosives. She directs Mallory and Barnsby towards a camp commanded by her father, Major Petrovich. Mallory and Barnsby meet another partisan patrol led by Lescovar. They're taken to their camp near a [[hydroelectricity|hydroelectric dam]]. An arch bridge spanning the river ravine will be used by German forces for an impending assault on the partisans, who are unable to destroy the bridge. Barnsby reveals the bridge is actually Force 10's assigned target.

Mallory convinces Petrovich to rescue demolitions expert Miller, and along with Lescovar and Marko they infiltrate the Chetnik camp disguised as Chetniks escorting captives. Drazak discovers that Maritza must have helped Miller and Mallory escape and beats her. Schroeder and Reynolds are killed in a gun battle, but the others escape with a badly hurt Maritza and the explosives. Miller assesses the explosives as too weak to destroy the solidly built bridge. Mallory suggests destroying the upstream dam in order to destroy the bridge. An air resupply is arranged, but Lescovar calls for German planes to intercept it. Maritza discovers Lescovar's treachery but he kills her before she can warn the others and German planes bomb the drop zone.

Angered by the botched air drop, Petrovich orders the men to be sent to partisan commander [[Marshal Josip Broz Tito|Tito's]] headquarters for transport back to [[Italy]]. Accompanied by Lescovar and Marko, the team instead infiltrates a German marshaling yard to steal explosives. Lescovar alerts a German sergeant to their presence. Marko sacrifices himself so the others can escape with Lescovar aboard a train  for [[Sarajevo]]. Lescovar is questioned,  gives himself away and is shot dead by Barnsby, who asks Mallory to return the favour by helping him accomplish Force 10's original mission.

Jumping the train near the dam, the team splits up: Miller and Weaver run a diversion using various gadgets from his briefcase, while Mallory and Barnsby sneak into the dam. Weaver kills Captain Drazak in a knife fight. Mallory and Barnsby blast the concrete dam, and it [[Dam failure|bursts]], releasing a torrent of water that topples the bridge. The German assault is thwarted, saving Petrovich and the partisan guerrillas.

Mallory and Barnsby rejoin Miller and Weaver on the wrong side of the river, and the men begin a strenuous journey back to friendly territory.

==Cast==
{{castlist|
* [[Robert Shaw (actor)|Robert Shaw]] as Major Keith Mallory
* [[Harrison Ford]] as Lieutenant Colonel Mike Barnsby
* [[Edward Fox (actor)|Edward Fox]] as Staff Sergeant John Miller
* [[Barbara Bach]] as Maritza Petrović
* [[Franco Nero]] as Captain Lescovar / Colonel Von Ingolsleben, a German [[Abwehr]] intelligence officer
* [[Carl Weathers]] as Sergeant Olen Weaver
* [[Richard Kiel]] as Captain Dražak
* [[Alan Badel]] as Major Petrović
* [[Michael Byrne (actor)|Michael Byrne]] as Major Schroeder
* [[Philip Latham]] as Commander Jensen
* [[Angus MacInnes]] as Lieutenant Doug Reynolds
* [[Michael Sheard]] as Sergeant Bauer
* Petar Buntic as Marko
* Paul Humpoletz as Sergeant Bismark
* Ramiz Pasic as Mallory's Boy
}}

==Production==
===Initial development===
There had been plans to produce the film shortly after the 1961 film, with Gregory Peck and David Niven reprising their roles. Following the success of the original film, producer [[Carl Foreman]] asked MacLean to write a hardcover sequel novel on which a follow-up film would be based, but the author was reluctant to write an entire novel and instead delivered a screen treatment.

In April 1967 Foreman announced he would make ''After Navarone'' with [[Anthony Quinn]], Gregory Peck, and David Niven reprising their roles and [[J Lee Thompson]] returning as director. The film would be made by Columbia.<ref>{{cite news |title=Second ''Navarone'' Film Set |last=Martin |first=Betty |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=13 April 1967 |page=d19}}</ref> In May 1967 it was announced the film would be called ''The High Dam'' and filming would take place in 1969.<ref>{{cite news |title=Firm Will Do McGee Films |last=Martin |first=Betty |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=20 May 1967 |page=b9}}</ref> Filming, however, did not proceed: MacLean decided to develop the screen treatment as a book; he published ''[[Force 10 from Navarone (novel)|Force 10 from Navarone]]'' in 1968, and the novel became a best seller.<ref>{{cite news |title=Best Sellers 1969 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=28 December 1969 |page=BR23}}</ref>

Throughout the 1970s Foreman tried to get financial backing for the film. In December 1972 MacLean said Foreman's plan was to use the original cast, but commented, "they'll look a bit old for the war now."<ref>{{cite news| title=War Is Hell, but It Pays Off for MacLean| url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/385792279/?terms=War%2BIs%2BHell%2C%2Bbut%2BIt%2BPays%2BOff%2Bfor%2BMacLean| last1=Johnstone| first1=Jain| newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]| date=17 December 1972| page=1| url-access=subscription| access-date=5 August 2019| archive-date=27 April 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427012531/https://www.newspapers.com/image/385792279/?terms=War%2BIs%2BHell%2C%2Bbut%2BIt%2BPays%2BOff%2Bfor%2BMacLean| url-status=live}}</ref>

===Financing===
In September 1976 it was announced Foreman, [[Oliver Unger]] and the German finance company, Mondo Films, had acquired the screen rights to the novel and screenplay ''Force 10 from Navarone''.<ref>{{cite news| title=A Cinematic Course of 'Water'| last1=Kilday| first1=Gregg| url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/383084742/?terms=A%2BCinematic%2BCourse%2Bof%2B%27Water%27| newspaper=Los Angeles Times| date=20 September 1976| page=10 Part IV| url-access=subscription| access-date=5 August 2019| archive-date=27 April 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427012514/https://www.newspapers.com/image/383084742/?terms=A%2BCinematic%2BCourse%2Bof%2B%27Water%27| url-status=live}}</ref> Foreman wrote the treatment and served as executive producer, but Unger wound up producing.<ref name="nav"/>

The producers wanted [[Robert Bolt]] to write the screenplay but he was busy working with David Lean. Bolt's agent Peggy Ramsey suggested they hire [[Robin Chapman]].<ref>Hollywood battles: [Final 1 Edition] ''Sunday Times'' 12 May 2002: 18.</ref>

In August 1977, the production company set up to make the movie, Navarone Productions, signed an agreement with AIP for the latter to distribute the film. AIP provided $2.1 million of the budget.<ref name="law">{{cite court| url=https://www.leagle.com/decision/1986115186bjtc106511090| website=Leagle| litigants=William J. Law and Helen M. Law, Petitioners v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Respondent| vol=86| reporter=T.C.| opinion=1065| date=1986| access-date=4 August 2019}}</ref>

The film was originally budgeted at $8,312,224. AIP provided $2,104,942.93 to Navarone Productions and subsequently spent an additional $97,109.15 to produce a U.S. version of the film. Columbia Pictures advanced $2.9 million and agreed to pay an additional $1.1 million after delivery of the film in return for the exclusive and perpetual distribution rights in all territories outside the United States and Canada. A German investment group contributed $1 million, a Yugoslavian production company lent or provided services equal to $2 million; and [[American Broadcasting Company]] paid $1.8 million for the right to broadcast the motion picture three times on network television.<ref name="law"/>

Cinematographer [[Christopher Challis]] recalled that the film was originally considered to be filmed in Pakistan until someone realised that Pakistanis did not resemble Yugoslavians or Germans and the expense to make them appear as such on film would be financially prohibitive.<ref>{{cite book| page=158| last1=Challis| first1=Christopher| title=Are They Really So Awful?: A Cameraman's Chronicles| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OBQ5VIVuA58C&q=Are+They+Really+So+Awful| publisher=Janus Publishing Company| year=1995| isbn=978-1857561937| access-date=10 December 2020| archive-date=27 April 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427012515/https://books.google.com/books?id=OBQ5VIVuA58C&q=Are+They+Really+So+Awful| url-status=live}}</ref>

===Casting===
By the time film was to start, 17 years after the original, Peck and Niven were considered too old and the decision was made to recast.

By October 1977 the main cast had been settled: Robert Shaw, Edward Fox, Harrison Ford, Franco Nero, Barbara Bach. Shaw said "I find it a bit ridiculous at my age to be running around a mountain in Yugoslavia saying 'Let's go'."<ref>{{cite news| title=At the Movies: Robert Shaw goes from war-yarn pillar to spy-thriller post| last1=Buckley| first1=Tom| newspaper=[[The New York Times]]| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/03/24/archives/at-the-movies-robert-shaw-goes-from-waryarn-pillar-to-spythriller.html| date=24 March 1978| page=C8| access-date=5 August 2019| archive-date=5 August 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190805035739/https://www.nytimes.com/1978/03/24/archives/at-the-movies-robert-shaw-goes-from-waryarn-pillar-to-spythriller.html| url-status=live}}</ref>

It was Ford's first film after the release of ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]''.<ref>{{cite news| title=At the Movies: Producer Sets Hoffman's Sail For 'Popeye'| last1=Flatley| first1=Guy| newspaper=The New York Times| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/10/14/archives/new-jersey-weekly-at-the-movies-producer-sets-hoffmans-sail-for.html| date=14 October 1977| page=58| access-date=5 August 2019| archive-date=5 August 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190805035741/https://www.nytimes.com/1977/10/14/archives/new-jersey-weekly-at-the-movies-producer-sets-hoffmans-sail-for.html| url-status=live}}</ref> He says he picked the part because it was a "strong supporting character" that was "very different from Han Solo. I wanted to avoid being stereotyped as a science fiction type."<ref>Blowen, Michael. Harrison Ford Shuns 'Star Wars'. ''[[The Boston Globe]]'' 8 July 1982: 1.</ref> Ford later said he did the film "to take advantage of the chance to work. And it was a job I did for the money."<ref name="ford">{{cite book| page=[https://archive.org/details/harrisonfordstor00mcke/page/31 31]| title=The Harrison Ford Story| last1=McKenzie| first1=Alan| year=1984| publisher=Arbor House| isbn=978-0877956679| url-access=registration| url=https://archive.org/details/harrisonfordstor00mcke/page/31}}</ref>

Fox at the time was best known for ''The Day of the Jackal'' and playing [[Edward & Mrs. Simpson|Edward VIII]] on television.<ref>At the Movies: A Hollywood drama in the making of 'Movie, Movie.' Buckley, Tom. New York Times 8 December 1978: C8.</ref> [[Caroline Munro]] said she was offered the female lead but she turned it down because it involved too much nudity.<ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://archive.org/details/Fangoria_004_1980_Spock_OQuinn| magazine=[[Fangoria]]| date=February 1980| page=[https://archive.org/details/Fangoria_004_1980_Spock_OQuinn/page/n17 17]| first1=Seve| last1=Swires| title=Fantasy Films' Femme Fetale Caroline Munro| issue=4}}</ref>

MacLean was reportedly unhappy with the prominence given to the Barbara Bach character. "She's of minimal importance in my novel," he said.<ref>{{cite news|title=Alistair in high spirits after sparks fly over Barbara|last1=Dempster|first1= Nigel|date= 1 February 1978|page=17}}</ref>

===Filming===
Filming went for five months starting in late 1977.<ref>Lee, Grant. FILM CLIPS: One on One in 'Rocky II'. ''Los Angeles Times''  23 September 1978: B6.</ref> [[Shepperton Studios]] outside London were used for most indoor scenes and included a full-scale mock-up of a Lancaster bomber, while scenes were shot around the [[Đurđevića Tara Bridge]], [[Montenegro]], and [[Jablanica Dam]] on [[Jablaničko lake|Jablaničko Lake]] in Jablanica, [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] with the assistance of [[Jadran Film]]. Scale models of the dam, the valley and the bridge were constructed at the Mediterranean Film Studios in [[Malta]].

President Tito of Yugoslavia authorised his government to assist the production, including providing 2,000 soldiers as extras as well as uniforms and equipment and several Yugoslavian army [[T-34]] tanks. He visited the set.<ref>{{cite news| title=Movie fan's guide: Scenic Yugoslavia| url=https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/image/386682945/?terms=Movie%2Bfan%27s%2Bguide%3A%2BScenic%2BYugoslavia| last1=Higgins| first1=Jim and Shirley| newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]| date=11 February 1979| page=I16| access-date=4 August 2019| url-access=subscription| archive-date=27 April 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427012558/https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/image/386682945/?terms=Movie%2Bfan%27s%2Bguide%3A%2BScenic%2BYugoslavia| url-status=live}}</ref>

Some scenes were also shot in the Royal Naval Dockyard (South Yard) in [[Devonport, Plymouth]]. During a shot of the railway carriages the letters PSTO(N) can be seen, this stands for Principal Supply and Transport Officer (Navy), and is on [[Jersey]] in the Channel Islands.<ref name="nav">Radin, Victoria. Storm clouds over Navarone. ''The Observer'' 29 January 1978: 29. {{full citation needed|date=August 2019}}</ref>

[[George MacDonald Fraser]] was hired to do further work on the script during filming in [[Yugoslavia]], in part because he and Guy Hamilton got along well when both worked on ''[[Superman (1978 film)|Superman]]'' (1978). However, Fraser is not credited on the film.<ref name="fraser"/>

Edward Fox said five people worked on the script. "The action had been laid down but the characters were still stick figures. We had to dress them up and make the lines fit them as we went along."<ref>{{cite news| title=CRITIC AT LARGE: Fox: The 'Force' Is With Him| last1=Champlin| first1=Charles| newspaper=Los Angeles Times| date=5 January 1979| page=F1| url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/384615309/?terms=CRITIC%2BAT%2BLARGE%3A%2BFox%3A%2BThe%2B%27Force%27%2BIs%2BWith%2BHim| access-date=5 August 2019| archive-date=27 April 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427012601/https://www.newspapers.com/image/384615309/?terms=CRITIC%2BAT%2BLARGE%3A%2BFox%3A%2BThe%2B%27Force%27%2BIs%2BWith%2BHim| url-status=live}}</ref>

Ford said during filming, "I was lost because I didn't know what the story was about. I didn't have anything to act. There was no reason for my character being there. I had no part of the story that was important to tell. I had a hard time taking the stage with the bull that I was supposed to be doing."<ref name="ford"/>

The bridge over the Tara River, which is the target of the commando operation in the film, was destroyed by partisans in 1942 with the original engineer that built the bridge (Lazar Jauković) involved in the operation to destroy it.<ref>[[Đurđevića Tara Bridge]]</ref>

Shaw said during filming that "I'm seriously thinking that this might be my last film. I no longer have anything real to say. I'm appalled at some of the lines. I'm not at ease in film. I can't remember the last film I enjoyed making."<ref>{{cite news| title=Shaw: Cash crunch adds up to misery| url=https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/image/386226510/?terms=Shaw%3A%2BCash%2Bcrunch%2Badds%2Bup%2Bto%2Bmisery| last1=Dangaard| first1=Colin| newspaper=Chicago Tribune| date=29 January 1978| page=E20| url-access=subscription| access-date=5 August 2019| archive-date=27 April 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427012604/https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/image/386226510/?terms=Shaw%3A%2BCash%2Bcrunch%2Badds%2Bup%2Bto%2Bmisery| url-status=live}}</ref> Shaw's words proved prophetic as he died in August 1978 of a heart attack, before ''Navarone'' was released. It was his penultimate film, as he was filming ''[[Avalanche Express]]'' when he died.<ref>{{cite news| title=FILM CLIPS: Memories of Robert Shaw: 'A Gallant Man'| last1=Lee| first1=Grant| url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/384300346/?terms=Memories%2Bof%2BRobert%2BShaw%3A%2B%27A%2BGallant%2BMan%27| newspaper=Los Angeles Times| date=2 September 1978| page=B5| access-date=5 August 2019| archive-date=27 April 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427012601/https://www.newspapers.com/image/384300346/?terms=Memories%2Bof%2BRobert%2BShaw%3A%2B%27A%2BGallant%2BMan%27| url-status=live}}</ref>

Filming went over budget to more than $10 million and the completion guarantor had to step in and provide additional funds.<ref name="law"/>

===Musical score===
Composer [[Ron Goodwin]] scored the film to the 126-minute version during the summer of 1978. Before the film was released it was shortened to 118 minutes. Additional music cues were created by recycling music from other parts of the film – typically reusing suspense passages in scenes for which they were not written. The CD release of the soundtrack by ''[[Film Score Monthly]]'' chronicles these changes, and presents the score as Goodwin wrote and recorded it for the 126-minute version.

==Release==
After being screened at [[Camp David]] as the [[Thanksgiving]] film for US President [[Jimmy Carter]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-09-15 |title=Every Single Movie That Jimmy Carter Watched at the White House |url=https://gizmodo.com/every-single-movie-that-jimmy-carter-watched-at-the-whi-1728538092 |access-date=2023-02-20 |website=Gizmodo|quote=Force 10 From Navarone (1978) — November 29, 1978}}</ref> the film was released in the United States on 8 December 1978 to mixed reviews (according to production notes that accompanied the 2000 DVD release).

Before the film came out Maclean said in an interview that the only film he liked made from his writings was ''Guns of Navarone'' and "I am hopeful this return to ''Navarone'' will be good too, although the storyline bears little resemblance to what I wrote. Robert Shaw was a good actor, one of the most in demand in the world today. And I am told he did a good job. Whatever, this couldn't help be the best [of the recent adaptations of his work for the screen] because the rest were rubbish. But I am not bitter, you understand. The sale of my stories to the movies has been a matter of business – a process from which I usually detach myself."<ref>{{cite news| title=Mystery of success: Alistair MacLean wants to be great| last1=Dangaard| first1=Colin| url=https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/image/385441638/?terms=Mystery%2Bof%2Bsuccess%3A%2BAlistair%2BMacLean%2Bwants%2Bto%2Bbe%2Bgreat| newspaper=Chicago Tribune| date=11 September 1978| page=B1| url-access=subscription| access-date=5 August 2019| archive-date=27 April 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427012602/https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/image/385441638/?terms=Mystery%2Bof%2Bsuccess%3A%2BAlistair%2BMacLean%2Bwants%2Bto%2Bbe%2Bgreat| url-status=live}}</ref>

The 118-minute cut was released theatrically overseas by [[Columbia Pictures]], which had released ''[[The Guns of Navarone (film)|The Guns of Navarone]]''.

==Reception==
{{Rotten Tomatoes prose|68||22}}<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/force_10_from_navarone/| title=Force 10 From Navarone| website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]| access-date=11 July 2025| archive-date=26 January 2025| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250126184626/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/force_10_from_navarone/| url-status=live}}</ref> {{Metacritic film prose|42|seven}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/force-10-from-navarone/|title=Force 10 from Navarone|website=[[Metacritic]]|access-date=17 May 2025}}</ref>

[[Roger Ebert]] of the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' gave the film 2 1⁄2 out of 4 stars and wrote, "[A] director like Guy Hamilton, a graduate of four of the Bond pictures, can turn out action movies like this in his sleep. This time, alas, that's apparently what he did."<ref>{{cite news|title=Force Ten from Navarone|last1=Ebert|first1=Roger| url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/force-ten-from-navarone-1979| newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]| date=20 February 1979|access-date=17 May 2025}}</ref>

Harrison Ford said, "It wasn't a bad film. There were honest people involved and it was an honest effort. But it wasn't the right thing for me to do."<ref name="ford"/>

===Box office===
The film made a quarter of what the original did at the box office.<ref>{{cite journal| title=Grosses Gloss: Breaking Away at the Box-Office| last1=Beaupre| first1=Lee| journal=[[Film Comment]]| volume=16| issue=2| date=March–April 1980| pages=69–73, 80| url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/i40136513| url-access=subscription| access-date=5 August 2019| archive-date=5 August 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190805035741/https://www.jstor.org/stable/i40136513| url-status=live}}</ref>

==Legal action==
Although three producers of the film are deceased ([[Carl Foreman]], Sidney Cohn and Oliver Unger), their estates and surviving producer Peter Gettinger sued [[Sony Pictures]] (owner of [[Columbia Pictures]]) for unpaid sums from distribution rights. Following a May 2008 trial in the [[New York Supreme Court]], a judgement awarded the producers more than 30 years of funds withheld by Columbia Pictures.<ref>{{cite court| url=http://law.justia.com/cases/new-york/other-courts/2008/2008-52595.html| litigants=Navarone Prods., N.V. v HSBC Gibbs Gulf Ins. Consultants Ltd| opinion=600707| volume=04| reporter=N.Y. Sup.|date=29 December 2008| access-date=31 December 2012}}</ref> Sony appealed, but the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court upheld the initial verdict on 1 September 2009.<ref>{{cite court| url=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ny-supreme-court-appellate-division/1068747.html| litigants=Navarone Productions v. HSBC Gibbs Gulf Insurance Consultants Limited| court=N.Y. App. Div. 1st Dept| date=1 September 2009| access-date=31 December 2012}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb title|0077572|Force 10 from Navarone}}
* {{TCMDb title|20592|Force 10 from Navarone}}
* {{AFI film|56337}}
* [http://www.alistairmaclean.com/Force-10-from-Navarone-(1978).html Movie review at AlistairMacLean.com]

{{Guy Hamilton}}
{{Alistair MacLean}}
{{George MacDonald Fraser}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1978 action films]]
[[Category:1970s adventure films]]
[[Category:1970s war films]]
[[Category:1978 films]]
[[Category:American International Pictures films]]
[[Category:British adventure films]]
[[Category:British sequel films]]
[[Category:British war films]]
[[Category:Columbia Pictures films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Ron Goodwin]]
[[Category:Films based on British novels]]
[[Category:Films based on military novels]]
[[Category:Films based on works by Alistair MacLean]]
[[Category:Films directed by Guy Hamilton]]
[[Category:Films set in 1943]]
[[Category:Films shot in Bosnia and Herzegovina]]
[[Category:Films shot in Montenegro]]
[[Category:Films shot in Yugoslavia]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by George MacDonald Fraser]]
[[Category:Films set in Yugoslavia during World War II]]
[[Category:British World War II films]]
[[Category:Films shot in Jersey]]
[[Category:Films shot in Malta]]
[[Category:Films shot in Devon]]
[[Category:Films shot at Shepperton Studios]]
[[Category:1970s English-language films]]
[[Category:1970s British films]]
[[Category:English-language action films]]
[[Category:English-language war films]]
[[Category:English-language adventure films]]