The Eagle Has Landed (DVD)

...Tom Manckiewicz and based on the novel by Jack Higgins, it boasts a top drawer cast and some thrilling action, all with the tongue placed slightly in the cheek.

With the war seemingly slipping from the grasp of the German forces, a last gasp effort to pacify an increasingly maniacal Feuhrer is dreamt up. A plan to kidnap Winston Churchill, using a crack squad of paratroopers, and then escape with him back to Berlin is proposed. High ...
...(Robert Duvall) sees promise in the proposal. Enlisting the help of his aide Karl (Michael Byrne) they put together a feasibility study which Himmler is quick to seize and approve.

With orders seeming to come from the very top of the Nazi heirachy, Radl is ordered to make the mission a reality and bring Churchill to Berlin forcing the allies to then negotiate an end to the conflict.

Colonel Kurt Steiner (Michael Caine) ... more

File under entertaining hokum along with 'Where Eagles Dare' and 'Kelly's Heroes'. This 1976 Second World War actioner directed by veteran John Sturges, his last film before passing away in 1992, is undoubtedly enjoyable stuff. Armed with a screenplay by Bond contributor Tom Manckiewicz and based on the novel by Jack Higgins, it boasts a top drawer cast and some thrilling action, all with the tongue placed slightly in the cheek.

With the war seemingly slipping from the grasp of the German forces, a last gasp effort to pacify an increasingly maniacal Feuhrer is dreamt up. A plan to kidnap Winston Churchill, using a crack squad of paratroopers, and then escape with him back to Berlin is proposed. High ranking Admiral Canaris (Anthony Quayle) dismisses the idea as unworkable and futile, but Colonel Maximillian Radl (Robert Duvall) sees promise in the proposal. Enlisting the help of his aide Karl (Michael Byrne) they put together a feasibility study which Himmler is quick to seize and approve.

With orders seeming to come from the very top of the Nazi heirachy, Radl is ordered to make the mission a reality and bring Churchill to Berlin forcing the allies to then negotiate an end to the conflict.

Colonel Kurt Steiner (Michael Caine) is a highly decorated soldier, disillusioned with the Nazi regime and seeking an honourable way to serve the army. Rescued from a court martial for intervening in the deportation of Jewish citizens, he agrees to lead his outfit into England, capture Churchill and escape on an E-boat back to safe shores.

With inside information coming from the Irish terrorist Liam Devlin (Donald Sutherland), the paratroopers infiltrate the sleepy Norfolk village of Studley Constable, posing as Polish troopers, and await the arrival of Winston Churchill.

If Devlin can stay out of trouble, and the stationed US Troops led by Colonel Pitts (Larry Hagman) continue to remain oblivious to the presence of Steiner and his men, the plan suddenly looks very likely to suceed.

'The Eagle Has Landed' benefits from a sparkling script and the delivery by a cast of well known faces clearly having fun with the material. Sturges conducts proceedings well, and generates a tense and thrilling atmosphere without losing a light hearted touch to the movie. The locations are superb, and are used to good effect, lending the film an expansive feel. The design work is commendable and Lalo Schifrin contributes a workable score which occasionally shines but more often than not merely accompanies the onscreen shennanigans.

The cast is where the real entertainment lies though. Robert Duvall is superb and copes admirably with a German accent while Michael Caine is clearly struggling. Luckily a plot device affords Caine's character the luxury of a perfect english speaking voice. Caine fashions a good part out of the slightly underwritten Steiner, who promises much in the early stages but is allowed to revert to stereotype later. Larry Hagman has a ball as Colonel Pitts, shouting and hollering in an over the top performance that does little to endear his character to anyone, but somehow you just can't help but warm to the man. Donald Sutherland also scores highly as the devious and cunning Devlin, even if his part requires that he embarks on a very rushed and contrived love affair with the delectable Jenny Agutter.

The screenplay is a nicely judged and well balanced one, allowing for sympathies and allegiance to fall on both sides of the warring factions. Both the allies and nazi soldiers are presented as human, and characters with great dignity and intelligence, as well as the village folk of Studley Constable who get to have some colour too. To Jack Higgins, Tom Manckiewicz and John Sturges credit, the plan always seems perfectly feasible and not at all outlandish, and ensures that 'The Eagle Has Landed' remains a firm favourite for late night Christmas viewing.

But surely you don't need to watch it at Christmas if you can own it on DVD I hear you cry. Well, this is where I urge you in the strongest possible way not to purchase this abominably bad disc. £5.99 it may be, but even I have to admit it was £5.99 badly spent. Carlton entertainment are an insult to the DVD distribution industry, and a purchase of 'The Ipcress File' many years ago should have warded me off of this bunch of shysters. Unfortunately a bad mood and moment of weakness in Tesco saw this drop into my trolley, and it's every bit as bad as the Harry Palmer outing.

A 900th generation print with frequent damage, constant inconsistencies in colour and wildly fluctuating sound levels has been slapped onto DVD with as little concern as possible. Panned and scanned, though at least the box did warn me of this, it is far far worse than any TV broadcast I have seen. John Sturges directorial efforts and those of his cinematographer Anthony B Richmond are wasted on the viewer with this blurry, smeary, washed out nasty nasty nasty transfer. Noses frequently talk to noses, and the pan and scan more often than not rests on the character with least to do in a scene.

DVD was not invented for this. We want original ratios, with the picture and its content as good as the day it was first released, and as those who worked so hard on the feature intended it to be seen.

Avoid this cheap and insulting disc, and don't think you can fall back on a region one release either. Investigation proved that it is also a 4:3 picture ratio and is therefore possibly taken from the same awful master as this transfer.

Interestingly, the equally tawdry packaging which features the sort of design work I do in my sleep, boasts that the film runs to 118 minutes. This contradicts a UK running time of 134 minutes and a US release length of 124 minutes. Whilst DVD and video run faster than film, a loss of 16 minutes suggests that some hefty editing has also been done, and bearing in mind it's been a long time in between viewings, I'm intrigued as to what has been left out and why we are being even more short changed than I at first thought.

Sound is apparently a dolby digital mono channel, which is a contradiction in terms. There is nothing that suggests the soundtrack has been treated in any way for a digital release, well, other than just slapped onto a DVD as found. The film is rated 15, but that's by the by, do not under any circumstances add this disc to your collection.

The film is great stuff, an action romp of the highest calibre, the disk is an insult. To compound that statement, extras are non-existent and the trailer featured is not for the movie, but instead for the rest of the Carlton range. So, if you fancy a blurry smeary 'Educating Rita' or a crackly fizzy 'Ipcress File'...you're in luck!

Additional: contrary to earlier claims in this review, there is a new region 1 release of the film, running to 131 minutes and in a widescreen ratio. Also, IMDB.com lists all the cuts made to the DVD releases. 

...less