The Heroes of Telemark [DVD]

Classic movie

The Norwegian resistance tries to stop German efforts to produce an atomic bomb component during world war 2.Resistance fighter Knut Straud ( Richard Harris ) enlists the reluctant help of physicist Rolf Pedersen ( Kirk Douglas ) in an effort to destroy the German heavy water production plant near the village of Rjukan in rural Telemark.Released in the UK in November 1965 this film directed by Anthony Mann is a rousing story of bravery. The film was budgeted at over 5 million dollars.There is a menu of extras for this film. The trailer is the first item on the extras menu followed by a featurette. This consists of interviews with the films stars plus several location reports.The first interview is with Richard Harris then there is a location report narrated by director Anthony Mann.There are two interviews with Kirk Douglas the first of which is in Weymouth where some sequences of the film were shot. The second interview is at Pinewood studios. Kirk is quite informative as he confirms that there was some friction on set between himself and Richard Harris at the start of production. He also talks about some of the other films he had recently starred in including Lust For Life.There are also interviews with Michael Redgrave and Ulla Jacobson and director Anthony Mann.All of the interviews confirm how cold it was shooting the film in Norway.All of this footage is shot in black and white.The last item on the extras menu are potted biographies of the four stars plus the director.This is an excellent purchase for fans of sixties war films and a vivid re-enactment of real events.

Based on a true story, the film tells of how a small group of Norwegian resistant fighters led by Knut Strand (Richard Harris) joined by reluctant participant Rolf Pedersen (Kirk Douglas) a Norwegian physics professor mount an assault on a German Hydro-plant situated on the outskirts of Rjukan in the county of Telemark in occupied Norway.After the realisation that the Germans were manufacturing the component Hard-Water in an effort to win the race to develop the Atom Bomb, an assault force is sent from Britain to assist the resistant fighters to destroy the ability to produce it, however when the craft carrying the force crashes killing them, Knut's small team along with Rolf must go it alone.Successfully halting production it was felt, job-done, however, the Germans had back-up equipment to send to the plant from Berlin, instead of a year it takes them just a few weeks to get the plant producing hard-water again.After an air-raid fails to stop operations it is left again to Knut and Rolf to prevent the Germans from shipping the water.The film also starring amongst it's cast-list Michael Redgrave and Ulla Jacobsson.Although arguably dated in many respects in comparison to the high-tech modern-day presentations, the 1965 offering does give a very watchable account of the heroics by the few to prevent the war being lost because of the Germans having the Bomb at their disposal.With a superb cast list, the film takes you back in time to the movies that captured audiences at that time.Worth a re-visit or nostalgic viewing.Footnote -If you have access to network TV, give the new Shaft a spin, great action, great fun with three generations of John Shaft on view.

This movie has always been one of my favorite christmas time war movies to watch. Along with(Where eagles dare 1968) and (Battle of the bulge 1965).Because they all have a snowy landscapes. Great movie and highly recommended. :).

An excellent War film. Used to be a perennial on weekends and Bank Holidays as a child. One of my late Mothers favourites - Douglas and Harris being two of her favourite actors. She particularly enjoyed the scene in which the Quisling played by Roy Dottrice gets shot in cold blood by Douglas!Recently shown on BBC2 just after Christmas 2020...oddly part of a double bill that afternoon with another great War film - "Operation Crossbow" preceding it....I hadn't seen either in years, a few decades in fact....I was surprised that the BBC decided to put both films on...having enjoyed the film after all these years and remembering how brilliant it was, I just had to buy a copy.Yes, the filmmakers did take some liberties with the story as compared to the real mission, but, all in all, the combination of Kirk Douglas and Richard Harris and a scene stealing Eric Porter make this one to watch....they certainly don't make them like this anymore...which, given the fact the great Directors and Actors of film and television are now (sadly regrettably and indeed inevitably) long gone is reason why. Film and TV today pales in comparison and is only good for conserving electricity by switching off the tv.Imdb.com and the Wikipedia article on the film have some very interesting trivia concerning the making of the film too.Highly recommended.

Two of the best actors, some of the greatest acting, a must have.

Great to own a copy of this classic movie.

This is the Carlton Special Edition DVD that has English audio only and English subtitles. It also has an hour long feature that has interviews with the stars of the movie.Although this is a british movie it has all the hallmarks of a Hollywood movie with many of the usual World War II cliches and lots of heroic activities by the cast which may or may not be true. Nevertheless it's a well made exciting movie and a nice tribute to the Norwegians who fought against the Nazi's.