DVD : The Heroes of Telemark [Region 2]
Price: $59.99 Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Binding: DVD
EAN: 5037115055132
Format: PAL
Number Of Discs: 1
Region Code: 2
Sales Rank: 93715
Theatrical Release Date: September 02, 1966
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Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
"Heroes of Telemark" is loosely based on the World War II efforts by the Norwegian Resistance to prevent Nazi occupation forces from moving materials crucial to the development of an atomic bomb out of Norway.
The movie opens with the escape from Norway by sea of a group of resistance fighters (led by actor Richard Harris). Among the passengers is a professor from Oslo (played with characteristic me-first bravado by Kirk Douglas). The leading resistance fighter and the professor are persuaded to return to Norway to combat the Nazi procurement of heavy water, a by-product of a power plant in the Telemark region but vital to producing an atomic bomb.
The two men return to Norway, reconnoiter the facility, and plan and execute an attack in mid-winter. Their subsequent escape across the wilds of central Norway, closely pursued by the Nazis and their turncoat allies, is a dramatic highpoint of the movie.
The attack cripples the facility, but unfortunately, the Germans salvage stores of the heavy water and make plans to ship it out of Telemark by the same ferry used by the Norwegian civilian facility workers. The "heroes of Telemark" must plan one final mission, one that puts their fellow Norwegians gravely at risk.
The movie is notable for having been filmed on location in Norway, and for highlighting the exceptional risks run by the Norwegian resistance, and Norwegian civilians, in a country occupied by a large and ruthless ... Read More
Rating: -
A decent action-adventure based very loosely on the sabotage of the Nazi heavy water program by Norwegian resistance. It is a little-known and therefore underappreciated corner of the war and so, for that reason, it is good we have this movie to remind us. It is only unfortunate that hollywood thinks too often it can improve on the drama of real life. It is generally better to tell the story closer to the truth than to try and improve it. Still, despite that disappointment, it is an entertaining film with an exciting story to keep you interested to the end. But you will want to read one of the several books available to get the real excitement of this story.
Rating:  -
Warning Alert Danger:
In the smallest possible print, in an easily overlooked part of the seller's data, is the fact that their version of this film is DVD Region 2, ie, not playable in the US. They refuse to accept return of the disc on this basis. Do not purchase from them unless you are one of the four people in the US who owns a multi-region player.
Some sellers may offer the Region 1 (US) version of the disc. The guys who knowingly sold me an unsuable disc are bums.
Rating:  -
This is one of my favorite World War 2 movies, but if you want to see it on DVD today (April 2006) you will need a region-free player as it has yet to appear in the format here in Region 1.
Luckily, I have a region-free DVD player and the Region 2 DVD that includes a nice, informative documentary shot at the time of the movie's production that talks extensively about the historical basis for the script. It's a worthwhile purchase, but I am baffled by the lack of any such release for North American DVD collectors who do not have region-free players.
Though not exactly the most historical accurate of movies, this film (like the similarly Hollywood-ized BATTLE OF THE BULGE) is true to the heroic spirit of the participants. In fact, whereas this movie shows the resistance fighters arranging for the children on the ferry to wear lifejackets so they can be saved from drowning. In actual fact the Norwegian partisans were under orders from London not to attempt a rescue and were long gone by the time the ferry sank.
In reality the first attempt at attacking the Norsk Hydro plant, "Operation Freshman", a British glider commando raid, ended with one tow plane crashing, killing both the crew and commandos. And a second glider crashing, leading to the death of some in the accident with the rest executed by the Gestapo.
An attempt by the United States Army Air Force to destroy the Norsk Hydro plant from the air failed, the British then turned to the Norwegian section ... Read More
Rating:  -
"The Heroes of Telemark" was based on three different accounts of what the Norwegian Underground had undertaken to sabotage the Nazi machine operating in occupied Norway during World War II. The heavy water plant operated by Norsk Hydro in Vemork just west of the town of Rjukan was taken over by the Nazis in hope that they would develop a hydrogen bomb. There had been an earlier film I've seen on VHS released in Norway called "Kampen om Tungtvannet" (the Struggle for the Heavy Water) (1947) with nearly all of the surviving saboteurs from both the "Swallow" and "Gunnerside" groups playing themselves. In reality, all of the saboteurs survived this particular operation. One or two had been killed in later campaigns, which also appeared in "The Heroes of Telemark". There was a scene where the Nazis were shipping the heavy water in railroad cars to be taken to Berlin and a portion of the trip would be transporting it aboard a passenger ferry across one of Norway's deepest lakes. Three of the saboteurs slipped unnoticed onto the ferryboat to set charges to blow it up once it reached the deepest part. In reality none of them remained aboard the ferry to play a game with children "race to the lifeboats" in order to save lives. These heroic men, though they had hoped to save lives of innocent men, women and children, were under orders from London that nothing could be done to save them and the plan had to be carried out even if it meant the loss of innocent lives. The saboteurs were long ... Read More
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