I think this is an enjoyable film. It is not very much like the book though.Jon Voight is great as the journalist (Peter Miller). His German accent is very good too.Maximilian Schell is also great as the German war criminal (Eduard Roschmann) now living as an apparently reputable businessman.There are some tense moments including when Miller fights and kills the man who was sent to kill him. This is just before he obtains the Odessa File of the title which gives the new identities of Nazi war criminals. This shows him where he can find Roschmann. He has a personal reason for wanting revenge on him as he murdered his father in the war. He found this out from the diary of an ex concentration camp inmate who had killed himself because he had seen Roschmann living comfortably and felt that nobody was doing anything about war criminals. The ending is very good. Roschmann denies that he actually killed any concentration camp inmates. Even when Miller makes it clear that, although he is sickened by what Roschmann and the Nazis did, he is only really there because he wants revenge for his father Roschmann rambles on about being innocent of any killings of Jews. Miller is so disgusted by Roschmann that he can't even kill him although he is forced to when Roschmann tries to shoot him.I found the acting to be excellent. There are a couple of faults including obviously 1970s cars in one scene when the film is set in the 60s but overall I think this is a tense and enjoyable film.

Insure you are the single non-member participant at a Society meeting and flash theeee biggest lightbulb for photos of this memorable event, grow a kewl 70s stash n become completely unrecognizable to those you have recently interacted with, call your girlfriend under surveillance and shout your current location and THEN question who the girl is who answered the phone, make believe you are a priest somehow because you twisted your white tie or ??? around your collar and get the safe number (of course she has to say: the last four digits of the phone number vs 9753 b/c she is feeling chatty)!I looked forward to viewing this film and was most intrigued with diary account and then the plot became plodding, trying to keep up with the Israel destruction game plan vs why Miller is really committed to the personal vendetta only to be revealed at the last moment is beyond my comprehension, knowing the level of danger at any moment and walk down a dark alley alone and whistle a happy tune was the undertones of this film... so glad that train was crawling along to avoid any real disaster and thank goodness mr. evil had an even chance with his own handgun to create more suspense, think we kinda hated him enough already, hence unnecessary devices to junk up the sweet ending... High recommend for Voight fans, accent aside, found his role riveting, compelling and worthy of high praise, just not the proper vehicle for his talents...

This thriller opens in 1963 with a brief prologue where we see Israeli intelligence officers discussing an Egyptian plan to launch a biochemical attack on Israel; the only thing the Egyptians require is a missile component being made in West Germany. The action then moves to West Germany where Peter Miller, a freelance reporter with an eye for a story, follows an ambulance only to discover it was just going to an old man who had committed suicide. The next day the investigating police officer gives Peter the old man's dairy thinking it might make a human interest story... it does far more than that though; it tells of how he had survived Riga concentration camp where he'd seen his wife killed at the orders of camp commandant Eduard Roschmann, the dairy goes on to allege that Roschmann is still alive having been given a new identity by an organisation known as ODESSA. Having read the dairy Miller is determined to find Roschmann and expose ODESSA; it soon becomes clear it reaches deep into the West German state and it isn't long before an attempt is made on his life. With few clues in Germany he heads to Vienna to see Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal; not long after that he is approached by Israeli intelligence; they have a plan to send him undercover into ODESSA; a dangerous task where exposure could mean death but success could destroy ODESSA.Most thrillers seem to be packed with action however this one keeps things tense with a feeling of almost constant danger; this means when the few action scenes do come they feel more intense. Jon Voight does a fine job as protagonist Peter Miller; it was good to have a thriller about Nazis where the hero is German; even if he isn't played by one! Maximilian Schell only has a fairly small role as Roschmann but he makes the character quite chilling due to the way he first denies having anything to do with the slaughter in Riga, then making out that it was nothing important then finally boasting of the greatness of the SS. The story is well told and kept me gripped from the moment we learnt the contents of the old man's dairy... just the time Miller got gripped by the story too! If there is a flaw it was the suddenness of the end and the way he managed to find Roschmann alone in a castle; still the story demanded that they be alone together for their final talk so that improbability can be forgiven. Overall this is definitely worth watching if you like your thrillers tense and don't demand nonstop action and special effects.

Certainly not as spellbinding as it's horrifying plot promises, but this is nonetheless an exciting, well made thriller. German journalist Jon Voight uncovers a plot to utilize Nazi ingenuity(?) to aid Egypt in its plan to annihilate Isreal in the early 1960s. Hooking up with Isreali intelligence, he hunts all over Germany and Austria for lunatic ex-Concentration Camp Commandant Maximilian Schell. Directed with more finesse than usual by Ronald Neame (a great film editor who became a decidedly journeyman director) and featuring some stellar cinematography by Oswald Morris. Voight is pretty good and Schell is decidedly nasty. Shmuel Rodensky has a cameo as Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal. While the film is set in and around Germany, all the players speak English with a German accent. The music by none other than Andrew Lloyd Webber includes the song "Christmas Dream" sung by Perry Como. Maria Schell plays Voight's mother and Mary Tamm, Derek Jacobi & Günter Meisner are in it too.