User Reviews

Yes, Peck had a hard time with holding a British accent, Costner's Robin Hood didn't even try.

Yes, there were a bunch of older actors in it, it's about older characters.

No, it doesn't have an explosion a minute or a bunch of hard bodied guys or gorgeous babes, that's not what this movie is about and it doesn't need them.

It's about a bunch of geezer who, despite being a bit over the hill, still have some sense of adventure and a bit of fight left in them.

When viewed from that perspective this movie does the job very well.

It doesn't need the repeated and obviously fake explosions and computer generated torn body parts that seems to be the requisite for contemporary adventure films. It's a relatively subdued spinning of a yarn based (loosely, I suppose) on a true story.

It's heartwarming to watch the bunch of old soldiers (admitedly, not too much older than myself) pull it together one more time.

On one of those cold, bleak winter afternoons when you're feeling that you might have missed out on a few of life's adventures, watch this movie and let yourself think, maybe, just maybe there's still a chance to live them.

Based on a true story, the Sea Wolves are a geriatric impossible mission team called back to duty after 40 years of retirement with the offer of a dangerous mission that carries no hope of reward or recognition for their efforts. And they jump at the chance!

The movie itself is rather average, but the story is great fun, and more suspensible at times than one might expect. It suffers only from a decidedly 1970s made-for-television feel to the production, though the story is set in 1943. But even this drawback is ameliorated somewhat by closing credits where images of the real-life heroes from World War II are juxtaposed with those of the actors who immortalized their heroism in this film. Well worth watching.

The Sea Wolves is based on a true incident in which a bunch of middle aged and more than middle aged old soldiers from the British Raj in India got together and blew up three German freighters interned in the Port of Goa on the western coast of India.

The British had a delicate diplomatic problem. For over 300 years Goa and some surrounding suburb was Portugese territory and Portugal under Salazar was neutral in World War II. Made it a place for a whole lot of intrigue. The Nazis had a transmitter on one of those ships that was relaying information about allied shipping and the U-boats were cleaning up.

You might ask why it was the Nazis and not the Japanese. Very simply the Japanese never developed any real submarine capability just as the Nazis disdained developing aircraft carriers. Had both done so, World War II might have turned out differently, at least that's a pet theory of mine.

Gregory Peck and Roger Moore get the job of doing something about the spying and the transmitter. Roger Moore goes into Goa and does a little counterespionage. He certainly as James Bond has the right credentials. He even has a fling with the head Nazi who is a woman played by the very beautiful Barbara Kellerman.

Peck trains a force of former members of the Indian army now retired and waiting for the Raj to end as everyone but Winston Churchill knew it would. David Niven, Trevor Howard, Allan Cuthbertson, Patrick MacNee are some of men employed to go into Goa harbor and do away with those ships.

These are patriotic men whose country is in her biggest crisis and feel helpless in not being able to be of service. It's that way when you've spent your life in the military. When the opportunity knocks, they kick down the door.

In a recent biography of David Niven it's mentioned that Niven enjoyed being reunited with his Guns of Navarone co-star Gregory Peck and another guy who he had worked with, Trevor Howard. But the film was done in actual location in India and it was sometimes 140 degrees fahrenheit. It was pretty stressful and it exacerbated the symptoms of an undetected Lou Gehrig's disease that eventually took David Niven from us.

I remember in the early sixties Goa was eventually just taken over by India. The Portugese had a lease there just as they did at Macao and the British did in Hong Kong. But the Indians just weren't that patient.

The Sea Wolves is a good and entertaining film about a little known and very minor operation during World War II.

True WWII story about a commando-style mission undertaken by a group of middle-age semi-retired British Cavalrymen in 1943 . The crew of veteran saboteurs (most of them formed by veteran actors as Trevor Howard , Patrick Mcnee ,Morgan Sheppard , Terence Longdon and several more besides ) commanded by Gregory Peck and David Niven are assigned the dangerous operation by the general (Kenneth Griffith) to blow up a German ship called Ehrenfels that carries a radio station located in the port of Marmagoa . They must destroy a transmitter in Goa , a Portuguese colony and neutral territory . As the end credits of this movie state , "during the first 11 days of March 1943, U-boats sank 12 Allied ships in the Indian Ocean , after the Light Horse raid on Goa, only one ship was lost in the remainder of the month¨. The film is dedicated to the memory of the honorary colonel of the Calcutta Light Horse , Admiral of the Fleet the Earl Mountbatten of Burma , K.G. 1900-1979 . The producers wish to thank the Government of India and Administration and peoples of Goa and to pay tribute to commander B.S. Davies whose skill and courage at the helm of ¨Phoebe¨ contributed so much to the success of the mission . There are not the ¨Sea Wolves ¨of the title also called ¨Wolf pack¨ , that refers to the Nazi U-boats that are doing the shipwrecked and damage on the Allied fleet.

This exciting film contains intrigue , suspense , noisy action scenes ,fascinating battles and an enjoyable love story with treason and tragedy between Roger Moore and Barbara Kellerman who results to be the main fascination of the film . Other chief excitements about the movie, will be in the intervention of famous British secondaries who realize professionally competent interpretations , some of them with no more than a line or two to say as Allan Cuthberson ,Patrick Allen , Donald Houston , Jack Watson , Grahame Stark , John Standing , Percy Herbert and several others . Vibrant and rousing musical score by Roy Budd with agreeable final song titled ¨The precious moment¨ sung by the usual Matt Monroe . Colorful and evocative cinematography by Tony Imi .

The picture finely directed by Andrew V. McLagen is based on the book ¨Boarding party¨ by James Leasor who took actual events for his writing , these are the following : On reserve since the Boer War, they are most noted for their attack with members of the Calcutta Scottish against the German ship, Ehrenfels. The operation was organized by SOE's India Mission. It was kept covert, to avoid the political ramifications of contravening Portuguese neutrality in Goa, and was not revealed until thirty-five years afterwards, in 1978. The Ehrenfels was known to be transmitting information on Allied ship movements to U-boats from Mormugao Harbour in Portugal's neutral territory of Goa on 9 March 1943.The Light Horse embarked on the barge Phoebe at Calcutta and sailed around India to Goa. After the Ehrenfels erupted in a fireball and was sunk by the team of British saboteurs, British intelligence dispatched an open message over the wire falsely warning that they would invade Goa. The crews of the other two German ships in the Harbour, the Drachenfels and Braunfels, received the message and scuttled their ships in Goa's Harbour in the belief that they were protecting their ships from capture by the British. Italian ships in the Harbour were also destroyed. In 1951 all three ships were salvaged.

A neutral Portugese port in India has three German cargo ships in it. One of them is believed to contain a hidden short wave radio that is transmitting the locations of British war ships to U-Boats, costing the British Navy dearly in the Indian Ocean. Because the port is neutral, Allied forces are not allowed to enter and destroy the radio. A plan is finally devised to use aged retired members of the, no longer in use, Calcutta Light Horse, who are now enjoying the joys of civilian life. But, is there really a radio in the harbor? If so, which ship is it on? This is quite an entertaining film, especially for those who enjoy (and remember) Gregory Peck, David Niven, Trevor Howard, and many many more British actors.

This movie really is an oddity - as others have noted its hard to see it being made now and it was pretty odd to see it being made then. However, I'd encourage folk to watch it as its an old-fashioned yarn featuring some splendid cameos from a strong cast of supporting actors. As for the stars - well Messrs Niven, Peck and Moore aren't perhaps stretched too much but they do enough to show just why they were the stars. I think its called 'screen presence'. Peck's accent - a plucky effort and far from the worst I've heard.

A few minor points Why was the film made? Am I alone in suspecting that the director had a key role? Andy McLaglen had a penchant for casting favourite actors (a John Ford influence) and a scenario like this with ample opportunity to cast screen veterans would have appealed. He was also the son of the redoubtable Anglo-Irish actor Victor McLagan, an old soldier who (as you'll find elsewhere on IMDb)in the 1930s organised a semi-militaristic polo club called the 'Light Horse Brigade'. A coincidence - surely not, it must have appealed to McLaglen to publicise the story of another 'Light Horse' that did get to 'do its bit'.

On the German resistance. These were not crack Nazi stormtroopers - they were mainly merchant sailors (tho some would have had naval experience). They were also taken by surprise in a neutral port where they were happily sitting out the duration. Given those circumstances they put up a rather good fight in the film - and its to be noted four German survivors of the raid were advisers on the movie.

On people being shot in the arm. Were they supposed to invent extra British characters so they could kill them? On the whiskey - its the men's cover if the raid went off half-cocked as was quite possible.

On the dedication - Mountbatten was the wartime commander in the area of operations including the Indian Ocean. Being made so soon after his murder it must have appealed to McLaglen (British-born of Protestant Irish stock) to remind the viewers again that not all old soldiers get to live out their retirement peacefully. We should also recall the two teenage boys (one of them local) and the 83-year old woman killed along with Mountbatten in that terrorist atrocity.

Finally, I like the closing moments when the men are gazing at the burning ships. No champagne, no cheers, no high fives - just a comment of 'poor devils'.

I would concur with the previous reviewers comments, though perhaps a little less enthusiastically. The Sea Wolves is entertaining, owing largely to a cast of good British actors. I saw this film on the History Channel, and as World War II buff, my interest in the film is largely around its wartime premise. I don't mind that the film makers have exercised minor artistic license with some of the story. It's often essential for good film storytelling.

In this case, the true story, which was declassified by the British government in 1978, two years before the making of the film, is such a good story that little embellishment is needed to make a good film. I suspect that in this film the romantic exploits of Roger Moore are fiction, but no matter. My favorite films of the war genre, "Force 10 from Navarone" and "The Dirty Dozen" are historical fiction. The Sea Wolves has a similar element of misfit commandos, which is really tautology. Both Force 10 from Navarone and The Dirty Dozen are wildly humorous. Having served in two wars, I recall much of what happened as humorous to the point of farce, equally mixed with the parts that were serious, including a few terrifying experiences. A few brief moments of terror can go a long way, when experienced in real life, but not nearly as far when watched on the screen. Therefore, film makers typically alter the mixture, adding more action to keep us riveted. Like the historical epics films, based on the books of Connelious Ryan ("The Longest Day" and "A Bridge Too Far"), The Sea Wolves seems to strive to be faithful to the actual events, and in doing so, ends up being a little slow in the start.

My harshest criticisms of the Sea Wolves are that its cinematography is rather uninspired, and its costumes are a disappointing to the historical enthusiast. Some of the uniforms and civilian clothes appeared to be reproductions in synthetic fabrics not used at the time. Also, as is typical of studio productions, some of the hairstyles were more influenced by contemporary styles than faithful renditions of the styles of the period. The film was shot entirely on location in India, where the authenticity of the sets and extras offer some consolation for the film's other failings.

In summary, The Sea Wolves, while having the makings of two kinds of great war movies-- the entertaining all-star blockbuster and the ultra-accurate historical epic-- but fails to fully deliver either. Still, a good story and competent acting make it work a look. In doing a little research on the Web, I was able to locate a book, entitled "Boarding Party: The Last Action of the Calcutta Light Horse." The reviews of the book on Amazon are very promising for both entertainment and history. The film has got me interested, so I'll be sure to read it.

The Sea Wolves is one of those "old guys still got it!" movies, so if you prefer your action heroes to be young and fit, you might not like this. Me, I usually prefer men with a little mileage on them, and I'll watch anything with David Niven—at any age—so I was very excited to watch as he, Gregory Peck, Roger Moore, and Trevor Howard took on the Germans in this true WW2 story.

Unfortunately for me, Niven had the second smallest part of the four, but any Niven is better than nothing! Gregory Peck might not have the best British accent in the world, but I don't really think anyone minds, as long as he's full of integrity and leads his troops to do the right and noble thing. And even though I would have preferred Niven to play the romantic lead, Roger Moore was very charming in his pursuit of Barbara Kellerman.

All in all, there are some funny moments, cute music, and a pretty good and safe story. I mean, with Gregory Peck in charge, what could go wrong, right?

The story is based on actual events from the early 40s, during WWII, but the fashion (clothes, hair, etc.) make this seem like a joke. The entire "Bond" storyline drags the lousy movie down even further, but the acting is poor anyway. It's really a shame that this amazing event is represented by this pile of garbage!

What a group of strange reviews. Granted, I am 69 but I just started watching tons of movies since retiring (we had no money growing up). Thank God for cable, especially TCM, AMC and the History Channel. (And to IMDb.com - the first favourite added to my desktop in 1994!)

The fact that this is based on a true story made all the difference. Yes, life was like that back then.

Re: Mr. Peck's accent - I've known plenty of Englishmen who sounded like that. What odd comments.

The locations were great - nice to see something authentic. And I agree, the clothing could have been a bit less modern. Finances were tight all over during WWII.

And to say these actors were past their prime! An actor is an actor is an actor - until physically or mentally impaired. (I've felt this way since high school so it is not just compassion for those now in my age group.)

All in all, a satisfying experience.

Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and adapted from James Lensor's book, Boarding Party, The Sea Wolves gathers up a gang of stalwart actors and pitches them into a war time drama.

Clearly taking its lead from The Wild Geese, pic itself is based on the exploits of the "Calcutta Light Horse" band of men who enacted "Operation Boarding Party" during World War II 1943. Their mission was to scupper German ships that were sending communications to Nazi U-Boats that were sinking British merchant ships. It was a group made up of old volunteers who had the extensive army knowledge needed to make the mission a success. So who to play these wily old soldiers? Enter Messrs Niven, Moore, Howard, Macnee and, erm, Peck, who sneaks in as an honorary Brit.

It's all very grand in a robust flag waving way, making the Sanatogen taking men look as heroes being an honourable thing. The formula is adhered to as the men are put through a number of familiar training scenarios whilst showing stiff upper lippery in the process. Roger Moore gets to play James Bond in a war film, in a not wholly convincing romantic sub-plot, and once the mission finally arrives, as the men storm the enemy ships, it's exciting and suspenseful. If only half an hour had been cut out of the run time! For sadly there is not enough material here to sustain a two hour movie, director McLaglen labouring to hold our attention in readiness for that finale. 6/10

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.

(1981) The Sea Wolves WAR

Depicting a particular time in WWII history in which theirs a small group of Special Operatives Executives, who are a bunch of senior men rallying together in combating some Nazis hiding in neutral waters in Goa, Turkey, succeeding in transmitting signals against sinking many hidden allied war ships. The movie stars Gregory Peck, Roger Moore and David Niven portraying real life characters on a mission that was not divulge to the open public, but are finally made into a film based on a book written by James Leasor from actual transcripts, and directed by Andrew V. McLaglen director of some John Wayne Westerns. It's main problem is that for a film that is two hours it sometimes feels way too long, that at times one may want the story to move right along, cutting to the chase for it drags. Upon seeing this film a long time ago while flipping the channels as a young kid, initially thought I was watching Roger Moore playing the James Bond role again but was disappointed that he wasn't, but upon re-watching it again as I'm older realized that his persona is similar to it without doing very much except to act in the same movie with some veterans as Peck and Niven. If it wasn't based on true events would've given this film a mediocre rating for it's entertaining value, since it sometimes feels lifeless.

THE SEA WOLVES is an engaging enough romp, that kinda pays tribute to the brave men of the Calcutta Light Horse who cut off the Germans' intelligence pipeline out of Portugese Goa, but it's very hard to believe that this film was shot just one year before RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. That it was directed by Andrew McLaglen may account for its old-fashioned look and feel, but really this kind of studio production was pretty much redundant by 1980.

It's worth a look, but you'd spend two hours more profitably by watching a better war film than this one - for example THIN RED LINE. Come to think of it, even corny 1960s stuff like THE DIRTY DOZEN is better put together than this. Good story, fair script. Bit of waste of a great cast, really ...

What great escapist fun! This movie is excellent as long as you don't take it seriously, like the above critics did. Anyone who knows the Brits will understand. The two critics main complaint is that the movie is too slow getting where it is headed. My answer to them is: 'It is not reaching the goal that counts but the journey itself!' Today's 'modern' movies are far too fast-paced for their own good in my opinion.

Granted, it is strange to make almost a parody out of a true WW II exploit, but then again, making fun of serious matters and of oneself is the basis of British humor... The cast of course is great, how enjoyable is it to watch the likes of Gregory Peck, David Niven, Roger Moore and many others really having fun filming this flick! I very much enjoyed this cross between 'Bridge on the River Kwai', James Bond and 'Monty Python'. They don't make them like this any more... Highly recommended, as long as you don't expect a 'real' WW II film.

A British war adventure; A story about a group of retired armed forces officers and British businessmen in India who are called upon to deal with the threat the German Navy pose to Allied shipping. Based on James Leasor's book Boarding Party, this commando-style film is based on British wartime missions Operation Postmaster in 1942 and Operation Creek in 1943, combined in a single story. It is a meandering adventure about august men of advancing years in a tale of derring-do. Comedy arises from the cheery, sentimental bravado and patriotism of its over-the-hill characters. It lacks vigour due to its rudimentary plot but it finishes strong with suspense.

While it is a long way from a terrible film, 'The Sea Wolves' was a disappointment considering the talented cast and that the story could have been a really good one if executed well.

Starting with the good things about it, the best asset of 'The Sea Wolves' is the climax, which is sheer rousing excitement and the most riveting 'The Sea Wolves' gets. The locations also are quite nice and evoke a sense of atmosphere, the most professional the film looks by quite some margin. The direction has occasional verve, particularly towards in the climax and the build up to it.

A couple of the performances are good. Best of the bunch is David Niven, who brings understated dignity to his role, while Patrick MacNee has fun with his and Barbara Kellerman is a gorgeously sensual but appropriately dangerous femme fatale.

On the other hand, Gregory Peck (so brilliant in the likes of 'Roman Holiday' and 'To Kill a Mockingbird') is robotic and sleepwalks through his role. Roger Moore both over-compensates and slums it, trying too hard to be suave and such but coming over as cheesy and Trevor Howard's screen time is too short with a character that's severely underwritten and the dialogue awkward (a waste).

Visually, only the locations impress. The photography, like most of the direction, is pedestrian and routine, and also looking like it would be out of date even in the late 70s-early 80s. The costumes, hairstyles and make-up mostly look cheap and noticeably anachronistic to the period.

Can't say any better news about the music. The score doesn't fit at all and always at odds tonally, often setting a completely different mood to the storytelling with constant crying out for a darker edge. Even Matt Monro's marvellous singing can't stop the song (not a particularly good song to begin with) feeling so out of place and similarly ill-suited to the mood and the subject of the story.

Dialogue is long-winded and stilted and the story only comes to life in the climax. The rest is dull and severely lacking in thrills or suspense, not helped by the unnecessary spy subplots which drags the film down and convolutes it as well.

Overall, while the climax excites, the locations are nice and a few performances are good, the rest of 'The Sea Wolves' just didn't engage me. 4/10 Bethany Cox

A ponderous, but stately homage to the British Empire and the actual superlative function of British Intelligence. It is beautifully photographed, and in no hurry, which is somewhat refreshing in the light of modern, hyperactive drama. The film features solid acting by some great names supported by a prime polo stable of British character actors. The film makes a conscious effort to keep close to the historical record, which would be the reason for some of its more unlikely episodes. Only the writers of fiction need restrict themselves to the probable.

David Niven is worthy of himself, as is Gregory Peck, with an underplayed British accent. Roger Moore has a great deal of fun being a spy who is NOT James Bond, and is clearly enjoying the role. His feminine antagonist is portrayed as lethal and skilled, and Trevor Howard does himself credit in advanced old age.

The film's accurate sets and equipment are the results of many of the actual parties involved assisting in the film, which was made two years after the actual records of the Raid on Goa were finally made public by the British government.

Good old fun if you can get past some of the dull expository stuff early on (which the actors even don't try to liven up) and if you don't mind the less than successful evocation of Goa, India in WW2 - it looks and feels like the 70s. The action scenes are a bit mistimed and not entirely convincing either, so not sure quite why I still enjoyed this. Perhaps it helps to be a bit old too and to miss these stars. Scenes of cricket, polo, sailing, gambling, spying, seduction, betrayal and lots of whiskey going down. One of the old boys bites the bullet - see if you can guess which one it'll be.

Take one of the most unusual stories of WWII. Get a cast of brilliant actors. Make all the sets dead on. GET ALL THE DETAILS OF THE STORY RIGHT Mix it all together and the result is, Sadly disappointing, When I read the book 'Boarding Party:the Last Action of the Calcutta Light Horse, I said to myself "what a great movie this would make" Then I saw the cast, monster stars all. I watched with great anticipation. What a serious letdown, what had been a brilliant book about a brilliant exploit by retired old gentlemen giving one last hurrah for king and country fell surprisingly and totally flat. the story that cried for hamming it up for totally lacked the energy and joie de verve it needd. Whether it was the script or the dierection, something sucked the life out of the story.

all I can recommend is to read the book ''Boarding Party:the Last Action of the Calcutta Light Horse. A truly unique story of WWII.