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The Cannonball Run
Film
FilmPG1979
Escape to Athena
Directed by George P. Cosmatos
During the World War II, the prisoners of a German camp in a Greek island are trying to escape. They not only want their freedom, but also seek an ineffable treasure hidden in a monastery at the summit of the island's mountain. From TMDB
14 reactions from 2 sources (Bluesky, TMDB reviews) · newest Jan 26, 2026 · last updated Oct 15, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
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No Data
Sentiment labels for these sources are still being hand-checked; no score yet.
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bluesky * | 4 | 2 | 7 |
| TMDB reviews * | 0 | 0 | 1 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
What people are saying
A written summary appears once the title has a score.
At a glance
Escape to Athena is a 1979 adventure comedy war film, directed by George P. Cosmatos, starring Roger Moore, Telly Savalas and David Niven.
- 14 people have posted about this film on Bluesky, TMDB reviews
- posts span Oct 25, 2023 to Jan 26, 2026
Assembled from TMDB, Wikidata and Steam fields and our own counts, nothing written by a model. Method
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
14 public posts have mentioned Escape to Athena so far, but it needs 10 opinionated reactions from checked sources before it gets a score. Seen it? Post your take.
The Experts
57%
avg of 1 source
The People
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audience score
Reactions
14 of 14 · most liked firstFilms where first 4 mins are best bit? Escape to Athena. Beautiful opening aerials around Athos monastery then cut to Schifrin’s wonderful music really kicking in with amazing 🚁 single take over sea, then Acropolis on Rhodes before closing in on action. youtu.be/lBeUEYx8Gj0?...
positive · AI labelView post →I had myself a Claudia Cardinale film festival this weekend: The Pink Panther, 8 1/2 (which is incomprehensible), Escape to Athena (awful), Fitzcarraldo (excellent), The Professionals, The Leopard, and of course Once Upon A Time in the West #hatm
negative · AI labelView post →RIP to actor Richard Roundtree. With a 50 year stage and screen career he'll forever be known as John Shaft, the iconic role he created for the 1971 film, "Shaft". His other films include, Earthquake, Escape to Athena, Seven and the tv soap Generations. Cancer sucks.
neutral · AI labelView post →Escape to Athena (1979) is a film that certainly isn’t the sum of it’s may disjointed parts, but my, some of those parts are glorious, like Claudia Cardinale and Terry Savalas dancing to some Lalo Schiffrin scored mandolin music
neutral · AI labelView post →9 July 1942 – 2023 Richard Roundtree, 81, US actor. Shaft (1971 + film series) * Shaft's Big Score! * Shaft in Africa * Shaft (1973–74) * Earthquake * Roots * Escape to Athena * Se7en * Shaft * Desperate Housewives * Diary of a Single Mom * Being Mary Jane * Shaft * Family Reunion (2019-22)
neutral · AI labelView post →'Escape to Athena' (1979). With that cast (apart from Moore) it could have been a decent war movie on the lines of 'The Guns of Navarone', but the poster shows how inappropriately camp it was and really missed the mark. A shame too that while Telly Savalas plays a Greek in it, it is a caricature.
negative · AI labelView post →Escape To Athena is a VERY Saturday teatime film.
neutral · AI labelView post →I really enjoyed the hell out of that movie. I’d triple feature it with Escape To Athena & The Eagle Has Landed
positive · AI labelView post →Watched bizarre 1979 movie 'Escape to Athena'...a WW2 Stalag is being used to recover Greek artifacts by the Nazis. Why biz? Roger 007 Moore as a German officer with an English accent, Sonny Bono singing opera, Elliot Gould at his hammiest, Telly Savalas as a priest...other gems but no space here.
neutral · AI labelView post →I didn’t even need to know the year to predict that Escape to Athena would be on One. The most Boxing Day film to have ever Boxing Dayed.
neutral · AI labelView post →Not the best film ever made or Lalo Schifrin's best soundtrack, but the start of Escape To Athena has always struck me as a great way to start your movie youtu.be/lBeUEYx8Gj0?...
positive · AI labelView post →He scored some excellent films, Bullitt, Enter The Dragon, Dirty Harry, the list goes on and on. The Eagle Has Landed theme on the organ is class. The zither on Escape to Athena may be the best thing in the film.
neutral · AI labelView post →Knee deep in 70’s films. Escape to Athena might be the quintessential 70’s film. Stefanie Powers is an USO POW in Greece and fights off Nazis on a platform she rigged with bombs wearing a scuba outfit straight out of Hustler
positive · AI labelView post →I can just imagine Telly Savalas getting a few of his pals around a table for some ouzo on the rocks and suggesting they set a comedy-adventure film on a Greek island so they can all get a tan whilst he exudes his obvious pride in his homeland. Luckily, David Niven's experiences at cirrhosis-by-the-sea made him ideally qualified to take part and Roger Moore was also up for something shaken not stirred, so off to Rhodes they all went, bringing along Stefanie Powers and Elliott Gould for some…
neutral · AI labelView post →
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