The Films of Alistair MacLean has been written to provide a comprehensive look at the seventeen motion pictures that have been made based on MacLean's novels. Alistair MacLean (1922-1987), the Scottish novelist who wrote some thirty novels, all of them best-sellers, began writing in 1955, and by the early 1970s sales of his books had reached the tens of millions. Seventeen of them have been turned into films, most of which have been extremely successful, both financially and critically. MacLean also wrote the screenplays to several of these films. For the first time in print,...

Adventure films by definition mean many different things to different people. Elements of the films include danger, suspense, and life-threatening situations. Exotic locales are often featured. Plot elements include exploration, lost continents, treasure hunts and are frequently set in a period background that may include historiacl or fictional adventure heroes. Locations such as the ocean, islands, the desert or safaris also are frequent locations for the films. Adventure films also combine other genres, such as war films.

Mystery films are primarily concerned with solving crimes, most often murders. Detectives are generally heavily featured, whether they are of the private variety or those who work for a police force of some kind. This central character frequently investigates an unsolved crime and unmasks the perpitrator. These films in general conceal the identity of the guilty party almost right up to the end, although some of them will allow the viewer to identify the culprit right from the start and then watch as the police or detective tries to trip him up.