In 1942, Britain sends a group of British-trained Czech commandos to Prague to assassinate SS-General Reinhard Heydrich, head of the Nazi security services. (fonte: Imdb)

Il film è basato sulla vera storia dell'Operazione Anthropoid, che portò all'uccisione del generale nazista Reinhard Heydrich a Praga. Il soggetto è stato adattato dal libro Seven Men at Daybreak di Alan Burgess. (fonte: Wikipedia)

Although not 100% accurate this is still a reasonably faithful narration of the events that led to the assassination of SS General Reinhard Heydrich (Anton Diffring), the "Butcher of Prague" in 1942. It follows three British-trained Czech soldiers - Jan Kubis (Timothy Bottoms), Jozef Gabcík (Anthony Andrews) and Karel Curda (Martin Shaw) - who are parachuted into occupied Czechoslovakia with orders to meet up with the local resistance and assassinate Heydrich. The film follows the operation and the vicious Nazi reprisals that followed it. The film is directed in a cool, clear understated manner by Lewis Gilbert and is as much about the character of the main protagonists as it is about the actual assassination plot. Action set pieces are limited but Gilbert still manages to deliver plenty of tension and intrigue all the way to the heart breaking ending where the real world fate of the all the main individuals involved in the plot is poignantly outlined. The acting is very good throughout - Anton Diffring is the quintessential cold and calculating Nazi while Martin Lewis manages to imbue the traitorous Karel Curda with a tortured humanity. "Operation Daybreak" is a great, dramatic war film that paints a moving portrait of bravery and resistance. ( )

Nel 1942, la Gran Bretagna manda un gruppo di commando cechi addestrati in Gran Bretagna a Praga per assassinare il generale SS Reinhard Heydrich, capo dei servizi di sicurezza nazisti.