A 1979 war comedy that blended high-stakes action with an unexpected motorcycle chase

Entertainment · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Set on a German-occupied Greek island during the Second World War, Escape to Athena features Allied prisoners, a resistance movement, and a hunt for Byzantine treasure. While critics found the film an uneven mix of comedy and combat, its daring motorcycle chase remains celebrated as a cinematic standout.

Directed by George P. Cosmatos and released in 1979, the film follows a group of Allied prisoners held in a camp commanded by Major Otto Hecht, an Austrian antiques dealer more interested in looting artifacts than fighting. The prisoners, including an American comedian and a professional chef, eventually join forces with a local resistance leader named Zeno to liberate the town and neutralize a German garrison atop Mount Athena.

The production, filmed on the island of Rhodes, was part of a $97 million slate of movies financed by Lew Grade’s ITC Entertainment. Despite a star-studded cast including Roger Moore, Telly Savalas, and David Niven, the film struggled to find a consistent tone. Grade later admitted that the project failed to live up to the script, noting that the blend of broad comedy and military action did not work as intended, though he praised the final forty minutes of the film as action-packed.

Behind the scenes, the production was marked by friction; stuntman Vic Armstrong recalled that the crew disliked Cosmatos so much they nailed his hat to a mast. Nevertheless, the film is often remembered for its high-octane motorcycle chase through narrow village streets. Critics and enthusiasts, including author Mark Hinchliff, have ranked this sequence among the most memorable in cinema history, placing it behind only The Great Escape and Skyfall. While the film was not a commercial hit, it remains a curious artifact of 1970s action-adventure filmmaking, featuring an uncredited cameo by William Holden that serves as a nod to his role in Stalag 17.

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