The Eagle Has Landed (1976)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

John Sturges

Writers:

Tom Mankiewicz (screenplay)
Jack Higgins (novel)

Release Date:

25 December 1976 (Finland)

Genre:

Adventure | War | Drama

Tagline:

In 1943 sixteen German paratroopers landed in England. In three days they nearly won the War.

Plot:

Oberst Steiner, a German parachute unit commander, is sent to England on a covert mission to kidnap...

Plot Keywords:

Parachute | Winston Churchill | Magnifying Glass | Cigarette Smoking | Heinrich Himmler

Cast

Michael Caine	...	Colonel Kurt Steiner
Donald Sutherland	...	Liam Devlin
Robert Duvall	...	Colonel Max Radl
Jenny Agutter	...	Molly Prior
Donald Pleasence	...	Heinrich Himmler
Anthony Quayle	...	Admiral Canaris
Jean Marsh	...	Joanna Grey
Sven-Bertil Taube	...	Capt. Hans von Neustadt
John Standing	...	Philip Verecker
Judy Geeson	...	Pamela Verecker
Treat Williams	...	Capt. Harry Clark
Larry Hagman	...	Col. Clarence E. Pitts
Alexei Jawdokimov	...	Corpral Kuniski
Richard Wren
Michael Byrne	...	Karl

Runtime:

135 min | Germany:125 min (25 fps) (TV version) | UK:145 min (25 fps) (extended version) | USA:123 min | USA:131 min (DVD version)

Country:

UK

Language:

English | German | Polish

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (35 mm prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | 4-Track Stereo (some 35 mm prints) (London premiere print)

Certification:

Iceland:12 | West Germany:16 (f) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:16 (1977) | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video rating) (1986) | UK:A (original rating) | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Berkshire, England, UK

Company:

Associated General Films

Trivia:

Donald Sutherland replaced Richard Harris.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Col. Steiner is speaking to Devlin when Devlin has climbed into to cockpit of a running plane, they would not be able to hear each other with the engine running.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: [WWII News Story] September 12, 1943, German paratroopers snatched Mussolini from his mountaintop prison in Italy.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Top Gear: (2004-06-13)" (2004)

A superb colorful war movie

Usually I do not like war movies, but this one is excellent seen from different point of views.

The dialogue is fantastic and helps describing the characters. Every line is as written for the actors.

And what an incredible cast: Michael Caine as Nazi officer driven by duty and honor, Donald Sutherland as an amazing Irish dog and horse whisperer (there is always those sparkling glimpses in his eyes!), Robert Duval as colonel Radl (he does not play the character - he IS in fact the colonel), Donald Pleasance as a slimy and yet funny Himmler and not to forget the energic Larry Hagman as "home made" American red neck officer. Besides that a good supporting cast.

But what is more important in this well done movie is the complexity of the war combatants - e.g. Caine trying to save a jewish women from certain death, one of his soldiers saving a little English girl from drowning at the water mill, Hagman as an incompetent, but yet war loving officer, sacrificing of an actor who takes over Churchill's part. The conclusion is that when you cut down to basics you will find honorable men among the enemies (Nazis) and less sympathetic men among the Allied.

By the way - there is a lot of humor on both sides - and that is not too bad though!