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Examine your feelings, you know it's true.

Plot: During a meeting, Adolf Hitler proposes his generals to kidnap Winston Churchill. While at first none of them takes the idea seriously, soon one of them learns there's a good posibility in the following weeks, when Churchill will be resting in a small village. Disgraced Colonel Steiner (Michael Caine) leds the mission, with IRA colaborator Devlin (Donald Sutherland) providing ground support. Based on the novel by Jack Higgins.

Comments: What to say? These had the numbers for becoming a first rate yarn, but the mix somehow fails to ignite. The film has everything going for it, starting from a great novel as basis, a terrific cast which includes Robert Duvall, Treat Williams and Donald Pleasence, an adequate budget and is directed by veteran John Sturges.

While I'm pretty sure some people here will object to Caine's British accent, I'd say the big problem is with the script. It takes way to long before the whole operation gets started, and key characters such as Devlin are underdeveloped. Even worse, the nazi plan to make the German soldiers to pose as Polish fails almost inmediately.

Yet, the film has some of that unique charm of the 60-70s war films, a time were nothing needed to be too serious. The final part of the movie is non-stop action, and very well staged action, and damn, Donald Pleasence makes a very creepy Himmler until the very end.  

This is one of those movies I WANT to like . . . but I've seen it about 3 times and it has always seemed somewhat dull.  The last time I watched it was probably 15 years ago, so maybe it's time for another viewing.

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED warranted one of my "Dumb Film" reviews:

http://www.badmovies.org/forum/index.php/topic,119507.0.html (http://www.badmovies.org/forum/index.php/topic,119507.0.html) 

I'm not surprised.  :bouncegiggle:

I seem to have liked the film more than most of you, but then, I've read the book.

For me, what makes the film is the cast: Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland, Robert Duvall, Jenny Agutter, Donald Pleasence, Anthony Quayle, Jean Marsh, Judy Geeson, Treat Williams, and Larry Hagman, among others. You can't beat a cast like that.

The film was good, but the book was better (IMHO.) Not the first thing that Jack Higgins ever wrote, but it is the first thing of his that I ever read, and it's what got me hooked on the writings of Harry Patterson. Now I put him down as one of my favorite authors, and one of the greatest action writers of all time.

He writes under the name Jack Higgins, but he was born as Harry Patterson.

I agree that the book was much better. Higgins is one of those authors who gets less credit than he often deserves, and this adaptation is easily Exhibit #1. He did manage to introduce the whole "nazis came here to kidnap Churchill" in a very effective way, through a prologue in the present day, and under his hands the character of an IRA renegade helping the nazis did almost sound credible.

The movie ditches the prologue in favour of several scenes depicting nazi meetings to plan the action, and although it is refreshing to adopt the nazi POV for a while they soon become tedious. As for the whole IRA renegade thing, the character and his subplot are underwritten to the point the should have jettisoned the whole thing. I can't blame Donald Sutherland for playing the part in such a campy fashion, it was the only way to keep his dignity intact.

Since the subject of what a great action writer Jack Higgins was, I'd thought I'd continue that topic.

These are the greatest action writers, or, at least, the greatest ones I've ever come across. And while the action scenes may vary in quality from scene to scene, they all had the ability to grind out one action, scene, which if it was not great, was veyr very good.

I'd also put out that a writer who has had some military background can write a better action scene than most civilians.

Known military background
Len Deighton
British military intelligence

Jack Higgins
British army

Alistair Maclean
Royal Navy. World War II

Dennis McKiernan
U.S. Air Force. Korean War

Douglas Niles
Questionable military background, but since he has a niece who is in the American Army, I presue he also has been in the military.

Owen Parry
American Army. A pseudonym.

Barry Sadler
Green Berets. War in Vietnam

J.R.R. Tolkien
British army. World War I.

These are the only ones I know who have no military background, but can wriite a good action scene.

Terry Brooks
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Robert E. Howard

And these are questionable. I have yet to determine whether they have a military background, but they can write a great action scene.

Dafydd Ab Hugh
Robert Cornett
Cy Endfield
REobert Greenberger
C. Walter Hodges
Damian Hunter
Chris Pearson
Kevin D. Randle
Mark Rascovich
Rosemary Sutcliffe, and who is the only woman I have found who can write a great action scene.

BoyScoutKevin:

Don't forget Ian Fleming . . . and, for more recent works, I recommend Stephen Hunter.

Thanks Burgomaster. Both authors noted. I like Ian Fleming alot, even if it is not for the action sequences in his novels, but, I don't think I've ever read Stephen Hunter, so I'll have to give him a try, as I'm always on the look out for another great action writer. Thanks again for the recommendations.

Did I point out my "dumb film" review...??  :teddyr:  :lookingup:  :bouncegiggle:  :drink:

http://www.badmovies.org/forum/index.php/topic,119507.0.html (http://www.badmovies.org/forum/index.php/topic,119507.0.html)

IMHO this is a good film if you haven't read the book and a terrible one if you have. The cast is great but a bad script ~ except for the fight between Donald Sutherland and the baddie ~ lets the film down, if you consider the source material.

Someone should remake this as a mini-series using Jack Higgins' book for the script.