EssenceStory Well Deserved Praise

Nonureva Really Surprised!

SparkMore n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

Seraherrera The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

MartinHafer The story in "The Sea Wolves" is based on a real and rather strange episode in World War II history. Not wanting to provoke an international incident with neutral Portugal, the British decide to attack a German ship docked in Goa (an Indian city controlled at the time by the Portuguese) using civilians....elderly non-coms at that! They need to destroy or capture the boat because the ship is being used against Allied shipping. And, the film starred a lot of older stars--the likes of Gregory Peck, David Niven, Roger Moore and Trevor Howard! This really sounds like an interesting story, right? Well, oddly, it wasn't. In fact, after a while I was just looking forward to the film ending. Why? Well, I think the problem is mostly because none of the characters were very interesting. They had a nice idea but the writer simply didn't instill enough in the characters to make them the least bit endearing or realistic. Sad. As a result, it's a film that you could watch if you have nothing better to do or you could just skip it. My vote? Flip a coin.

verna-a The basic story is great and could have made an exciting film, but this is rather an inept production. I have never seen a greater gallery of distinguished British male actors in one film, but most of them are given very little to do. The only one to distinguish himself with his material is that underrated actor Patrick Allen. Unfortunately he's not on the screen for very long. Peck struggles to be a Brit, Niven is better but looking pretty awful at this stage of his life, Roger Moore is..well..Roger Moore which is just lovely but his stuff with the female spy is extraneous to the story and contributes to the film dragging out and becoming rather boring. It's the sort of film where you get up, go to the kitchen and make a cup of tea at any stage without worrying about what you're missing on screen. Overall there is a lack of quality and authenticity, and some aspects (eg the music, the special effects and the credits) are quite painful. The critical eye was clearly lacking in most facets of this production.

lost-in-limbo ..."We all do." No I'm not talking about "The Expendables 2", but actually from the film this bit of dialogue was actually stolen from; the 1980 boy's own adventure "The Sea Wolves". A classy, star-studded cast (Gregory Peck, Roger Moore, David Niven, Patrick MacNee, Trevor Howard, Kenneth Griffith and Patrick Allen) features in this rather dull, if big-scale old-fashion war-spy adventure of old men (pretending to be drunk businessmen who shower themselves in alcohol while parting on a clunker of boat) in exotic locations (in neutral Goa) dealing with Nazi radio ships who were involved in the sinking of allied ships. For most part even with its clowning nature and inspired plot threads these true World War 2 exploits come across as colourless and tired, just like its stars. The lead-up reconnaissance groundwork by Peck and Moore's characters can somewhat meander. The cast become distractions. Peck is simply going through the motions, Moore does his casual Bond shtick (being enticed by the lovely Barbara Kellerman) and MacNee enjoys standing on his head. Andrew V McLaglen's handling of the action is competent and there's a plethora of it, but simply it lacks the thrills and energy to sustain its long-winding length. McLaglen also did the similar, if much more exciting "Wild Geese".Sturdy, but mechanical entertainment.

fred-houpt Oh, I don't know...such great actors stuck in such a stinky and crappy film. I can't imagine the private conversations between them. The good thing is that this film is based on a true story. The bad thing is that from my vantage point in 2012, it looks awful, cheesy, horribly edited, grating music, clumsy special effects. Things for me started off bad from just a casual glance at the photographs of Peck, Moore and Niven on the jacket of my DVD and even on the photo here at IMDb. I cannot recall a moment in this film when Niven and Moore dressed up like German naval officers. So, why have them depicted as such in the photos? Ridiculous.Gregory Peck, one of the finest actors ever, was there ever a miscasting mistake in his career worse than this one? Atticus Finch tries desperately to sound like a lord of the manor and it is painful to listen and watch. Some actors just should not attempt to sound British and the sad joke of Kevin Costner trying to be Robin Hood in his Yankee-English disaster....is the stuff of Hollywood jokes. So no, Peck should not have been cast as a British officer. He was, strangely enough, very powerful and frightening as the evil Dr. Mengele in "The Boys from Brazil". He pulled that role off with great effect. In Sea Wolves I was almost howling with displeasure.Roger Moore was apparently in between shooting two James Bond films and the Sea Wolves was the sandwich centrepiece. His debonair mannerisms were detracting. David Niven looked exasperated and embarrassed to be stuck in this clunker. Oh, the better days were way behind him. The great Trevor Howard is wasted in this film, his time on screen too short and the material just garbage.This is a film that should be remade and with a better script. And please, next time, don't include the scotch dowsing scene.....just such a sad sight to see good scotch wasted.....on such a dreadfully boring film.