When the author of this review went to watch Star Wars for the first time, he was introduced to the effect hype can have on society. It materialised not only in endless cue lines in front of cinema, but also in demand for George Lucas’ film outstripping supply provided by my home town’s theatre infrastructure. Problem, additionally worsened by the presence of experienced and well-organised ticket scalpers, was such that me and my friends quickly concluded that we lacked patience, money or any serious chance to watch Star Wars that day. Instead we went to watch Sky Riders, 1976 action thriller directed by Douglas Hickox.
Relatively simple plot begins in Athens, where the home the home of wealthy industrialist Jonas Bracken (played by Robert Culp) becomes targets of masked intruders who kill the staff and abduct industrialist’s wife Ellen (played by Susannah York) and her two children. The abductors reveal themselves to be radical leftists whose method of achieving just society includes extorting money from the rich capitalists in order to buy arms for violent revolution. Jonas is willing to pay the outrageous ransom, but Greek police inspector Nikolaidis (played by Charles Aznavour) appears to be more interested in taking out dangerous terrorists rather than rescuing the hostages. Jonas receives help from Ellen’s ex husband Jim McCabe (played by James Coburn), mercenary pilot with shady business connections. Using a detail in the photograph sent by abductors, he discovers that the hostages are held in abandoned clifftop monastery, a well-guarded and almost inaccessible location. The only practical approach appears to be from the air, so McCabe gets in contact with the group of travelling hand gliding enthusiasts led by Ben (played by John Beck) and hires them to take part in daring rescue mission.
Sky Riders became known for the very troubled production, which included a death of a crew member and producers having to spend months in Greek jail. Those problems, however, don’t reflect on screen. Script is a minimalistic and effective, without any unnecessary character exposition of subplots (with possible exception of Nikolaidis’ unfortunate nephew), and disciplined direction by Douglas Hickcox keeps this film under 90 minutes. Main actors are solid, but leave less impression than veteran character actors Harry Andrews and Kenneth Griffith in small roles of McCabe’s shady friends. Film also features quite impressive aerial photography, good use of locations of Meteora (later used in James Bond film For Your Eyes Only), good soundtrack by Lalo Schifrin as well as some impressive stunt work, which included James Coburn himself. Some scenes are disappointing, namely the night landing which uses annoying “day for night” technique which keeps everything confusing, and the finale features spectacular but overlong and repetitive gun battle. Despite that, Sky Riders can be recommended as a good action film and even better alternative for today’s Hollywood blockbusters than blockbusters many decades ago.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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