WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

lost-in-limbo Looks cheap, grungy and is thinly plotted, but the cast (James Coburn, Robert Culp, Susannah York, John Beck and Charles Aznavour) along with the Greek scenery and aerial stunt work (hang gliding) go a long way in making this an entertainingly sweeping, old-fashioned action joint with striking showpieces. The opening (the kidnapping) and closing sequences (the in and out rescue at night) do manage to rally plenty of tension especially during the climax set against an isolated medieval monastery in the mountains, but in between that it's somewhat mechanical in its elaborate structure. A waiting game and plans being formulated with some preachy inclusions. Well we have revolutionary terrorists fighting imperialism. Gladly Coburn's hardy presence keeps you hooked for the ride. Director Douglas Hickox paces it rather well and his streamlined handling offers numerous nitty gritty passages, despite some stagy moments. Music composer Lalo Schifrin gives the presentation a bit more oomph with his grand, luxurious arrangement. A tough, but breezy 70-s drive-in action adventure.

zardoz-13 "Brannigan" director Douglas Hickox's above-average adventure epic "Sky Riders" qualifies as an entertaining but improbable abduction opus. James Coburn of "Our Man Flint" fame stars as a smuggler who struggles to rescue his ex-wife and two children from the clutches of a treacherous group of trigger-happy kidnappers that call themselves World's Activist Revolutionary Army. This swiftly-paced, PG-rated, 91-minute suspense thriller draws its title from the hang gliders that Coburn employs to snatch Susannah York and two children from a mountain-top monastery. Robert Culp co-stars as wealthy industrialist Jonas Bracken who married Susannah York's character after she divorced the Coburn hero. "Sky Riders" was the first time that the picturesque monastery was used in a Hollywood actioneer. Several years later, producer Albert R. Broccoli used the location in the Roger Moore James Bond thriller "For Your Eyes Only." The aerial assault on the monastery is spectacular stuff, and Coburn appears to be performing his own stunt when he clings to the skid of a helicopter in flight. Unfortunately, despite its scenic settings, dazzling cinematography, and big-name cast, "Sky Riders" suffers from the absence of a strong villain. Scenarists Jack DeWitt, Greg MacGillivray, and Stanley Mann penned the screenplay from a story by Bill McGaw, Hall T. Sprague, and Garry Michael White. Two problems plague this aerial actioneer. They don't have an intimidating villain, and the dialogue remains pretty bland. French singer Charles Aznavour plays a Greek police man who wants to arrest the bad guys. Lalo Schifrin's music enhances the bloody violence

Jonathon Dabell Whenever actors are interviewed, they always seem to want to talk about the characters they have played in whatever movie they happen to be promoting at the time. It would have been very interesting indeed to see what the actors would have said about their roles in Sky Riders, for here we have some of the most shallow characterisation ever seen in a mainstream film. Quite why talented stars like James Coburn, Susannah York, Robert Culp, Charles Aznavour and Kenneth Griffith were needed for these roles is beyond explanation. It is a movie built solely around a novel action gimmick (hang-gliding rescue mission) – in terms of plot and characterisation, it doesn't even make it to first base.American industrialist Jonas Bracken (Robert Culp) lives with his wife and kids in a Greek villa. While he's out on business, a group of masked terrorists raid the villa, ruthlessly executing the staff and abducting Bracken's nearest and dearest. Later, the terrorists establish contact and demand a huge sum of money and various arms for their vague militant cause in return for the safe return of their prisoners. Bracken's wife, Ellen (Susannah York), used to be married to adventure-loving mercenary Jim McCabe (James Coburn). When he learns that she has been taken hostage by the terrorists, he quickly steps in to offer his services. When it becomes apparent that Ellen and her two kids are imprisoned in a mountain-top monastery which cannot be approached unseen from below, McCabe comes up with the audacious idea of flying in by hang-glider and attempting a near-impossible rescue against formidable odds.Sky Riders is the penultimate film of director Douglas Hickox (Zulu Dawn would be his last). He handles the dizzying aerial action quite well, especially in the film's final quarter. However, the film overall is a dispirited and utterly routine non-event… it's brief running time is either the result of a heck of a lot of post-production cutting, or else the script (which, unbelievably, is the product of four brains) simply misses out on a whole host of potentially interesting developments. The performers really don't stand much of a chance when they're asked to work with such threadbare material - Coburn smiles a lot and gets to perfect his cool macho posturing; York is totally wasted as the woman with two men in her life that genuinely love her; Culp spends almost the entire film wearing an anxious grimace. Harry Andrews and Kenneth Griffith turn up in a couple of one-scene cameos that could've easily been played by any half-competent bit player. Lalo Schifrin's score is at least suitably flavoursome and the Greek locations look gorgeous, but you'd be right to expect a lot more from Sky Riders. Sadly, all it leaves you with are a few morsels of decent action; besides that there's virtually nothing else.

ceqa02 The movie starts with machinegun-toting terrorists killing the hired help and kidnapping a wife and child. The husband seeks his wife's former husband's help in getting them back. The gang's hideout territory scenery is breathtaking, an abandoned and isolated monastery in mountainous Greece. The inside of the monastery depicts ancient Christian Orthodox iconography. Coburn lines up a travelling troupe of circus-act type hang gliger performers to teach him how to fly. These are the early design of hang gliders, with a rogallo wing design. The rogallo wing consists of fabric stretched out in a triangle over two leading-edge hollow aluminum spars, with another aluminum tube for a spine, and another for a cross bar, and a lower metal loop for the dangling pilot to grip and steer by. Very much like a modern delta-style steerable kite. These were dangerous but beautiful designs, which are capable of going into a stall and nose dive, straight into the ground from a thousand feet up if you are not careful and experienced, but a delight to watch in flight. Before he approaches them, Coburn watches the travelling aerialists' circus-style open-air act, as the heartstoppingly colorful hang gliders perform aerial maneuvers with breathtaking poise and beauty. There's a pretty girl in the troup. One flyer pretends to lose his grip and plummets dozens of feet into a nearby body of water while his pilotless hang glider drifts lazily down without him. So Coburn approaches them and asks to be taught how to pilot one. Somewhere along the line, while learning to fly, Coburn gets casual and cozy, and proposes to the performers that they join him in the rescue. "If we fail," you get your money back," the teacher volunteers. "Right!" Coburn grins skeptically and knowingly, to which the others laugh. Coburn isn't bitter, but he's no fool, and suddenly they have all been won over to his side and looking at the challenge as a team. Like I said, Coburn at his best. From there on, it's a class act as Coburn and the aerialists make a stealth infiltration of the sky-high monastery via hang glider, and seek to get the woman and child out and escape again on their hang gliders before the terrorists can discover and stop them.