History Film / WhereEaglesDare

* FiveBadBand:
** TheBigBad: General Julius Rosemeyer.
** TheDragon: Major von Hapen.
** TheEvilGenius: Colonel Paul Kramer.
** TheBrute: Weissner.
** TheDarkChick: Anne-Marie Kernitser.

* XanatosGambit: [[spoiler:The secondary plan to expose all of the other German spies present in Britain, deliver bogus D-Day plans and assassinate key officers of the Alpenkorps under the guise of a rescue attempt]].

* YouJustToldMe: Used as part of the XanatosGambit; [[spoiler: because he's convinced Schmidt is actually a double agent working for the Germans, Kramer voluntarily gives Smith the notebooks containing the lists of spy contacts working undercover in Britain ''and'' confirms the name of the lead mole]].

** TheBrute: Weissner.

** [[spoiler:Smith's fight with Christiansen and Berkeley also has him rather coldly kick a begging Christiansen off of the cable car. In fact, Smith even pursuing them and getting ''into'' the fight to begin with, after they'd kept their promise to release Schaffer, seems pretty ruthless.]]
* TheAppleFallsFar: Poor [[spoiler:Christiansen]] has a good, long look at just far he's going to have to fall when Smith kicks him off of the cable car.

* CableCarActionSequence: Smith fights Christiansen and Berkeley on top of one.

* LighterAndSofter: [=McLean=]'s novel is considerably less violent than the movie. Plenty of Nazis still get killed in the various shootouts ([[spoiler:Christiansen and Berkeley still die in the cable car fight]]), [=McLean=] has the commandos non-fatally disable most of the PunchClockVillain Nazi guards they encounter. Most famously, [[spoiler:Smith rescues a radio operator he'd tied up earlier from burning to death, and, instead of shooting all the high-ranking Nazis at the dinner table, he and Schaffer just inject them with a drug which knocks them out.]]

-->-- '''Major Smith'''

A bunch of seven Allied paratroopers are dropped behind enemy lines in the Alps, ostensibly to find and rescue a captured American general who's a key player in the plans for D-Day. However, after some members of the group appear to have been assassinated by a member of the gang and then the local Nazis are informed of their presence, it's clear to the viewer that there's a traitor in their midst. Is everyone in the team who they appear to be? Can the team accomplish their mission against all odds? And how many Nazis can be killed in just one castle anyway? [[hottip:0:[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRHqtbt3ORc&feature=related A lot.]]]]

* AdventureDuo: Smith and Schaeffer.
* AmericaWinsTheWar: Played with. Schaefer, as a Ranger, single-handedly mows his way through two thirds of the Wehrmacht, but it's quite clear that Smith is no slouch in the killing department. [[spoiler: It's also made clear that Schaefer is there only because Smith needs an ally, as the Brits can no longer trust their own team.]]

* {{Badass}}: Smith and Schaefer both. In fact, individually they'd be classed as a OneManArmy.
* BadassCrew: Smith, Schaefer and Mary.

* BlondGuysAreEvil: Major Von Hapen.
* BoobyTrap: And how. Smith and Schaefer smuggle enough tripwire/timer-activated TNT into the castle to... well, blow it and everyone in it into smithereens.

* CableCarActionSequence: A lengthy one is the climax of the movie.

* FaceHeelTurn / HeelFaceTurn: Smith manages both in the space of five minutes [[spoiler: in order to first convince the Nazi generals that Schaefer is an American assassin in order to gain their trust, and then back again when he's collected the information he needs and kills the generals]].
* FakeDefector: [[spoiler:Smith turns in Schaefer to the German command after his apparent FaceHeelTurn]]

* GambitRoulette: Played with. [[spoiler: All of the commanders are aware that some of the commando group are loyal whilst others are double agents. However, only Smith, Schaefer and Rolland are aware of each other's loyalty but aren't sure which members of their own group are loyal. Part of the overall plan is to expose them.]]

* GrenadeHotPotato: Played perfectly straight with Schaefer throwing back a grenade when under siege. He later retreats when they start throwing two grenades at a time.
* GunsAkimbo: Schaeffer's [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome CMOA]] is dual-wielding [=MP40s=] to hold of dozens of soldiers.

* LeaveBehindAPistol: Smith cautions Schaffer against shooting [[spoiler:Colonel Turner]], noting "We mustn't cheat the hangman," but raises no objections when [[spoiler:Turner]] chooses to throw himself out the plane's door rather than face trial.

** Another truck seems to explode beccause it drove past an exploding building.
* MeaningfulName: [[spoiler: John Smith/Johann Schmidt is the man you can't trust to be who he says he is, Schaefer (Shepherd) is there to protect Smith, Colonel Turner is the traitor.]]

-->'''Colonel Kramer:''' It's incredible![[hottip:*:And at this point, he doesn't know even half of it.]]\\

'''Schaeffer:''' Major, right now you got me about as confused as I ever hope to be.
* TheMole: [[spoiler: Colonel Turner. Whilst it's only revealed at the end of the film, it becomes apparent that the British have suspected him as the mole for a long time and organised the mission to secure proof. Not to mention all the other moles who were killed in getting that information.]]

* NotWithTheSafetyOnYouWont: Subverted [[spoiler: in that Rolland removed the firing pin from Turner's gun before the mission started]].

* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: When Schaeffer asks Smith what the hell is going on, the cameraman wanders off. [[spoiler:Turns out Smith probably lied anyway, considering he pulls a gun on Schaeffer later and calls him a second rate punk.]]

* NoSeatBelts: This caused the death of the Mooks who were escorting Smith and Schaefer into custody.

** TheBigBad: Julius Rosemeyer.
** TheDragon: Major Von Hapen.
** TheEvilGenius: Paul Kramer.
** TheDarkChick: Anne-Marie Schwartz.

** TheHero: Smith.
** TheLancer: Schaffer.
** TheChick: Mary.

* Played straight with the booby traps on the road - how did they know no one would use that road until they made their escape?

''Where Eagles Dare'' is a 1968 seminal action thriller set in WorldWarII starring ClintEastwood and RichardBurton. It follows in the footsteps of ''Guns of the Navarrone'', where there was a shift in war movies, eschewing historical accuracy in favour of exploding Nazis, and a very high {{HSQ}} in order to appeal to a new generation of moviegoers.

-->'''Smith''': "Heidi's been one of our top undercover agents in Bavaria for years. And... eh... [[MaleGaze what a disguise]].

* SoMyKidsCanWatch: Specifically written by Alistair McLean to give his mate Richard Burton a good old-fashioned adventure romp to show the kids.

* FaceHeelTurn/HeelFaceTurn: Smith manages both in the space of five minutes [[spoiler: in order to first convince the Nazi generals that Schaefer is an American assassin in order to gain their trust, and then back again when he's collected the information he needs and kills the generals]].

''Where Eagles Dare'' is a seminal action thriller set in WorldWarII. It follows in the footsteps of ''Guns of the Navarrone'', where there was a shift in war movies, eschewing historical accuracy in favour of exploding Nazis, and a very high {{HSQ}} in order to appeal to a new generation of moviegoers.

* BlackAndGrayMorality

* XanatosRoulette: Played with. [[spoiler: All of the commanders are aware that some of the commando group are loyal whilst others are double agents. However, only Smith, Schaefer and Rolland are aware of each other's loyalty but aren't sure which members of their own group are loyal. Part of the overall plan is to expose them.]]

** [[MentorArchetype The Mentor]] / TheSmartGuy: General George Carnaby.

* FiveBadBand:
** TheBigBad: Julius Rosemeyer.
** TheDragon: Major Von Hapen.
** TheEvilGenius: Paul Kramer.
** TheDarkChick: Anne-Marie Schwartz

-->-- '''IronMaiden''', "[[FilkSong Where Eagles Dare]]"