Tim Burton’s Favorite Movie Is This 58-Year-Old Clint Eastwood WW2 Classic With 86% on Rotten Tomatoes

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In this modern age of cinema, it’s not all too often that filmmakers like Tim Burton, by far one of the most imaginative directors in the industry, come along with such a distinctive vision. Even though most of his recent films have been adaptations of other source material or even based on true stories, he always manages to tackle them in a uniquely creative way that’s all his own. So, considering just how different their film-making sensibilities are, and even though they’ve never worked with one another, what exactly is the connection between him and Academy Award-winning director/actor Clint Eastwood? When it comes to Burton’s favorite films that have inspired his own, some of those on his list may not be too surprising. There is one, however, that those who have become familiar with his visual aesthetic would probably have never guessed would be one of his «go-to» comfort films.

When most people think of Clint Eastwood, some of his many westerns are more than likely to be the first films that come to mind. But while he’s racked up quite a few credits with films of other genres, especially with his career in the director’s chair, even in his early acting days, he had films that showed he could be far more than just a scowling, gunslinging cowboy. Even though Where Eagles Dare is considered to be one of the best films in Eastwood’s entire filmography, it’s also widely thought of as being overlooked as it surprisingly doesn’t get mentioned all too often in comparison to the others. Seeing just how much of an impression it’s left on someone like Burton, however, is proof of just how worthy it is of having a wider sense of appreciation from general audiences.

Some of Tim Burton's Favorite Movies Make Perfect Sense, But One is Quite Surprising

Even Though Where Eagles Dare Is Nothing Like His Own Works, He's Named as his "Go-To" Movie

Taking a look at an article from Taste of Cinema, which lists the favorite films of such iconic and highly acclaimed filmmakers as Wes Anderson, Katheryn Bigelow, and the Cohen Brothers, the entry listing Tim Burton’s picks contains a few choices that honestly aren’t too surprising for someone like him. With his unique style that could be best described as a Gothic storybook aesthetic that’s just the right mix of darkness and legitimate charm and magic, it’s easy to understand why the films that are listed could have inspired his own filmmaking sensibilities. His obvious love for stop-motion and practical effects can be clearly traced back to his admiration for such named titles as the Japanese Kaiju classic, War of the Gargantuas, along with Jason of the Argonauts, best known for the VFX work of Ray Harryhausen.

Even though they are two completely different types of vampire films with two actors at totally opposite ends of the spectrum, he also named the classic Christopher Lee Dracula film, Horror of Dracula, along with The Omega Man starring Charlton Heston (whom Burton declared «the greatest bad actor of all time») as two other favorites of his. It’s within the directorial style of Brian G. Hutton in Where Eagles Dare, however, that Burton has claimed to have revisited the most, especially after having a bad day.

It is quite a surprising and admittedly unusual choice of a favorite for Burton, given how it’s completely unlike any of the other previously mentioned films in both genre and tone. Regardless of any director’s personal style or preferred genre of film, it’d be hard to argue against why any of them would name it as a favorite. It would be even harder, however, for anyone else to deny what it is about the film that has made it the enduring classic that it still is today.

Why Does Tim Burton Love Where Eagles Dare So Much?

While It's Not the Kind of Film That Burton Usually Gravitates Towards, It's One That He Always Loves to Revisit

The story of Where Eagles Dare follows a Special Operations Team during World War II, tasked with the mission of rescuing an Allied general being held captive by Nazis in the fortified (and fictional) Schloß Adler castle. When the team arrives, however, things take a shocking twist of a turn when they realize that the real mission was not at all what they were originally sent out to do. It’s an action-packed thrill ride of intense espionage that almost any fan of historical fiction or war films in general is sure to be highly entertained by.

Considering how much of a high regard in which Burton holds the film, it probably wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to say that he took some inspiration from it for the sequence in Big Fish depicting Edward Bloom’s days in the army during the Korean War. One has to wonder, however, what is it about the film overall that keeps him coming back to it as much as he claims it does?

In an article for Far Out Magazine, Burton elaborated further on what about the film captivated him in such a way that others haven’t. He claimed to not only have enjoyed Eastwood and Burton’s performances and also mentioned the use of its setting: the backdrop of the snowy mountains, which creates a highly intense setting with a suspenseful atmosphere.

See, a lot of this has to do with when a movie comes on and I end up watching it…There are a lot of other ones… I love [Where Eagles Dare], there’s something about it, it’s not my kind of film, but it’s the setting. It’s got Clint Eastwood, Richard Burton, which is an odd combination; the snow, the setting and the Nazis, and the two women. It’s just great…I think what I go through during a day is bad, and I just have to watch that movie and how much they’re climbing, and all this sh*t they’ve got to do.

Where Eagles Dare is One of the Best Films of Clint Eastwood's Acting Career

With Impressive Action and Clever Writing, It's Surprising That It Doesn't Get Talked About More

Over the last 30 years, Clint Eastwood has become arguably best known for his work as a director, and the way he’s tackled several different stories, ranging from legal dramas like Juror #2, biopics like Richard Jewell, and even musicals like Jersey Boys, have shown that he’s capable of doing far greater things than just westerns. But even in Eastwood’s early acting days, films like Where Eagles Dare proved that he could also be more than just The Man with No Name. As unusual as it was to pair him with an accomplished Shakespearean actor like Richard Burton, the way in which the two play off each other surprisingly well makes for one of the film’s best elements, with the former’s quiet intensity being the perfect contrast against the latter’s magnetic theatricality.

Of course, their performances would’ve been nothing if it weren’t for the ingenious writing of the script by Alistair MacLean (adapting his own book of the same name). Unlike other action films in which the plot progresses around the action, MacLean’s story gives the opposite approach, creating fully realized and well-developed characters in a story that’s full of twists and turns that create a heavy atmosphere of suspense.

Even the action sequences are some of the best of their time, as director Brian G. Hutton brought his A-game to each scene, creating a tense feeling of danger around every corner. It may not be the most talked-about film of Eastwood’s career, but the fact that someone like Tim Burton could be so impressed and enthralled by what it managed to accomplish is something that truly speaks to how much more it deserves to be mentioned as one of the actor’s absolute best works.