The film The Eagle Had Landed stars Michael Caine, Robert Duvall and Donald Sutherland, and is a hit with movie fans who praised it as ‘not your typical boring war movie’
Michael Caine stars in the war epic
A war film hailed by movie fans as ‘powerful’ and ‘wonderful’ is available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.
The film The Eagle Had Landed stars Michael Caine, Robert Duvall, Donald Sutherland and Jean Marsh, and has become a huge hit with movie fans.
Based on the 1975 novel The Eagle Has Landed by Jack Higgins, the movie follows a German intelligence officer Max Radl in 1943 as he plots to kidnap Winston Churchill during a visit to a small English village. Colonel Kurt Steiner leads a team of disguised paratroopers, aided by Irish agent Liam Devlin. The mission, initially successful, is jeopardised when a soldier’s uniform is revealed during a rescue act, bringing in American forces.
Released in 1977, the film might not have won over critics or earned any Academy Awards but it did earn the affection of fans who have praised it. The film ratings website Rotten Tomatoes is packed with positive reviews, all contributing to the film’s 71 percent rating.
One review said: “Its a brilliant lazy afternoon war film packed with actors you recognise and a wonderful performance from Larry Hagman.”
Another wrote: “Watched the film for the first time recently. It was better than I thought. Great cast and moves quickly.”
A third posted: “This is as much a thriller as a ‘war movie’. It has great characters, a wonderful soundtrack and has an authentic vibe throughout. Suspect negative reviews are from gamers. This film requires thought and attention to fully enjoy. The book is Higgins best and is a really enjoyable read.”
“A powerful beginning, great build-up, an interesting side-story to keep us interested and great finishing action sequences make for a World War II movie that is well worth seeing,” said a fourth.
A fifth added: “A neat little WWII spy thriller. Caine and Duvall are great, and Pleasence and Sutherland ham it up in an agreeable fashion.
“It’s not attempting to reinvent the genre, but it goes about its business with confidence (the steady hand of veteran director Sturges is felt in this regard), and it’s unique in that it presents the story (fairly exclusively) from the point-of-view of the ‘enemy.'”
Another highlighted the star cast as it said: “Michael Caine and Robert Duvall are two of my favorite actors of all time and yet somehow, Donald Sutherland totally steals the show. Awesome story out of the WW2 era. Not your typical boring war movie either.”
“Well made little war film based on the novel by Jack Higgins. Last film directed by Sturges is not as good as “The Great Escape” or “Magnificant Seven” but its not bad. Duval, Sutherland, Caine and Wiliams all do well while Hagman acts like he’s in a different movie entirely,” said another.
Another simply wrote: “One of the best action war movies.”
The Eagle Has Landed is now available to stream on BBC iPlayer.