MovieChat Forums > Sky Riders (1976) Discussion > Location of the terrorist hideout

Location of the terrorist hideout

posted 17 years ago by crazymanmichael
3 replies | jump to latest

To whoever it was in the FAQs that wanted to know the location of the hideout where the rebels held the kidnap victims: yes, it is in Greece. It's the Roussanou monastery, one of the six remaining Meteora monasteries in the Tessaly district. It's an active nunnery and also a pretty popular tourist spot, despite the fact that you have to make a pretty steep climb to get to it. The monasteries were apparently built on the tops of rock pillars like that so that they would be difficult for the Turkish invaders to attack. That painting by which McCabe identifies the location is actually in the Roussanou monastery, so that much at least is accurate.

The lads who did the flying in the movie, the Wills brothers and rest of their flying team, Chris Price, Dean Tanji, etc. actually did fly in the region (no special effects), which is about the last place a hang glider pilot would voluntarily fly, due to the ruggedness of the terrain, which created a ridiculous amount of turbulence in even the lightest winds. They had guts... Or maybe they were just paid lots of dough.

[–] lancer525 17 years ago

Isn't that the same Greek monastery that so prominently figured in the Bond film "For Your Eyes Only"? The one where Bond climbs up the side of the mountain using his shoelace?

I also think that several scenes from this movie were used in the opening montage of film clips that comprised the beginning of the TV show "The Fall Guy". I know for certain that the scene where the guy is laying on the skid of the helicopter is in this montage, and also from this film. In fact, I seem to remember somewhere that Coburn did this stunt himself, much to the dismay of the production company.

I remember this movie, not from its first run, but because it was one of the first ten films ever shown on HBO when that first started back in the mid 1970s. Along with The Hindenburg, The Gumball Rally, Gemini Affair, a really bad Zorro remake, and a couple other forgettable films that somehow are still rather unforgettable in their own way.

[–] xavimc60 10 years ago

Not sure but I think that in the Bond movie, the only access available to the monastery was through a kind of "lift" and also in the Bond movie, the building had bigger and steadier looking rooms.

[–] HLB1 12 years ago

I would like to know how you build something like this. It is incredible.

Go ahead, make my day....