The Eagle Has Landed (1977)

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED is a great little 'what if?' WW2 movie, based on a novel by popular thriller writer Jack Higgins. The film features an all-star cast and a wonderfully gritty 1970s-era thriller atmosphere, in which the focus is on realism throughout rather than endless explosive action and the like. It's the final film in the career of MAGNIFICENT SEVEN director John Sturges, and it's a rather grand effort.The plot is a little similar to that of WENT THE DAY WELL. Himmler decides on a plan to kidnap Winston Churchill from Norfolk, and a crack team of Nazi troops are sent in undercover to get the job done. The first hour is all set up but it's never less than engaging, but it's once the troops arrive in England that the fun and endless tension really starts. Michael Caine is a typically likable lead and Donald Sutherland and Jenny Agutter share an unusual romance. The action, when it hits, is quite electrifying, and the film is unpredictable enough to keep you on your toes throughout. I loved it.

What makes THE EAGLE HAS LANDED special to me is its slight deviation from traditional metrics and the unique feeling I receive when watching this film as a result. The first 35 or so years following the end of WWII saw many movies inspired by the events and or battles that took place in the European theater of war, and most of these flicks conform to traditional depictions of the Allies fighting the Nazis-- usually either a small Allied commando team on a fictitious mission to search and destroy Nazi targets, i.e. The Guns of Navarone, The Dirty Dozen, Where Eagles Dare, Force 10 From Navarone, etc. or cinematic interpretations inspired by actual events i.e. The Great Escape, Patton, Battle of the Bulge, To Hell and Back, A Bridge Too Far, etc.Based on the fictional novel written by Jack Higgins, THE EAGLE HAS LANDED takes a unique spin on the former through its portrayal of a Nazi commando unit dispatched to eliminate an Allied target. Because of this, several unique elements rise to the surface-- First, the unique setting in the English countryside rather than traditional European theater of operations in France, Italy, Belgium, Holland, and Germany. This provides a rather peaceful undertone to the movie as opposed to more traditional worn-torn areas portrayed in other WWII European theater war films. This creates a nice contrast during fight scenes and provides the viewer with a false sense of security.Second and most notably, this film actually makes me cheer for the traditional "bad guys" (to a certain extent), which is very unique in a Hollywood genre and period in which protagonist Allied characters are always supposed to be victorious, right? Okay, so the unique setting and antagonists make this movie special to me and sets it aside from other war films as previously mentioned, but third, the CAST is phenomenal-- Robert Duvall portraying a "Stauffenberg-type" Nazi officer, Donald Pleasence playing an impeccable 'Himmler', Donald Sutherland's character providing the laughs and light undertones, and of course Michael Caine at his best. These actors endear me to the film and provide enough sophistication to diminish less impressive performances seen at various points during the movie. Let's not forget Treat Williams ('Captain Clark') and John Standing ('Father Verecker'), as they execute their character's roles in the film wonderfully as well.This movie does have its slow points early on, but that is to be expected in a 2h 15min film in 1976. The movie also seems to lack a certain production quality if one decides to compare it to the following year's film, A Bridge Too Far, and two years later, Force 10 From Navarone, but this should not be a surprise nor a knock on the movie. All in all, this is a nice, feel-good WWII war movie with a unique, riveting plot and a solid cast.

A low grade production,an extremely implausible load of daring-do dos from a thriller which in fairness was probably able to explain the mad plot and all the business with Himmler and the politics behind the scenes.Maybe the reasons passed me by.Donald Pleasance,born to play Himmler,did this with sufficient malice but Duvall's, mit de one-eye,''ver is das Stukely Constable''? got lost after the plot got under way and the next time we see him is shot for failure.Why did Mr Integrity with a unit of Poles(?!)decide to carry on with this ludicrous plan when he manifestly hated the Nazis he was representing?.Even when it meant his demise ,on he went,down a convenient secret passage,to shoot the poor sap who stood in for Winnie.Yes it was a way out for him but it seemed weak. A cartoon Irishman,hilarious Donald Sutherland, with a grievance,a South African with a grievance.Note the shoe-horning in of the ,who originated Concentration camps? fact.Did we know about them then,anyway? A horsey girl who falls for Sutherland instantly and shoots her old boyfriend,because he is going to the police,so enamoured is she of the Irishman! On and on,cliché after cliché,stout vicar with dutiful sister,lots of strange catholic bowing,choccy box village in North Norfolk shot up at the end(if only!),gung-ho JR going down guns blazing,but finally Treat Williams sorts it out thank goodness and a grass chewing local makes the only 2 jokes in the piece.

Based on Jack Higgen's novel, film tells the story of a secret German plan to kidnap Winston Churchill as a bargaining chip against Great Britain! Michael Caine leads the mission, where they are disguised as Polish soldiers on maneuvers, and helped by an IRA supporter(played by Donald Sutherland) who will do anything in his war against the British. Robert Duvall, Donald Pleasance, Jenny Agutter, and Jean Marsh round out the fine cast.Despite the fanciful premise, this is an old-fashioned and very entertaining adventure, well directed by John Sturges, and features a good script as well, leading to the surprise climax.