A German plot to kidnap Prime Minister Winston Churchill unfolds at the height of World War II.A German plot to kidnap Prime Minister Winston Churchill unfolds at the height of World War II.A German plot to kidnap Prime Minister Winston Churchill unfolds at the height of World War II.
Rick Parsé
- E-Boat Commander
- (as Rick Parse)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaSir Michael Caine was originally offered the role of Devlin, but did not want to play an I.R.A. member, and requested to play Steiner instead.
- GoofsWhen Col. Steiner knocks one of the guards unconscious towards the end of the film, he impersonates the call-sign "Delta 2". The NATO alphabet which used that term for D ("Delta") was not adopted until 1956. The WW2 call-sign would have been "Dog 2".
- Quotes
Captain Clark: Colonel, there's no such thing as "death with honor". Just death.
Colonel Kurt Steiner: I have no intention of dying now. But if I'm going to, allow me to choose where and how.
- Alternate versionsThe Carlton distributed DVD "Michael Caine double bill" is the full uncut version incorporating all the cut scenes, including the blood from Colonel Pitts' head and the shot in the back of the soldier. However on the description of the film it has the wrong film length info, it is about 12 minutes longer than shown.
- ConnectionsEdited into Give Me Your Answer True (1987)
Featured review
It could make The Charge Of The Light Brigade look like military genius.
A small Norfolk village in England is suddenly the focal point for a Polish regiment's training exercise. It would seem they are not all they are saying they are, so with Winston Churchill due to visit the village, there is something seriously afoot.
Written by Jack Higins, directed by John Sturges {The Great Escape} and starring Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland and Robert Duvall, The Eagle Has Landed is a different sort of war movie. Flipping the axis to a German point of view and having English and American actors playing the Germans, is a bold move that, fluctuating accents aside, makes for a totally engrossing picture. Offering a fair bit more than your standard film of men on a suicide mission for the war effort, the piece's pulp origins, and its idyllic country setting give it a quality that ensures the viewers attention stays firmly with the film's steadily paced first half. Also adding intrigue into this already interesting broth is that our main Nazi protagonist is not down with the whole killing Jews thing. It's very sly in how it pans out, its not asking the audience to feel sympathy with Steiner {Caine professionally impacting}, it's just proclaiming that not all people should be tarred with the same brush.
Mostly the cast are fine and boosted by a brilliant turn from Donald Sutherland as an IRA spy helping the Germans, Robert Duvall, Donald Pleasance, Anthony Quayle, Jenny Agutter and Jean Marsh all are solid within the picture's structure. Oddly the performance of Larry Hagman as the appropriately named Colonel Pitts sticks out like a sore thumb, buffoonery in bravado intent it's difficult to tell if it's meant to be comic relief or a statement of how the British viewed the yanks at this time? A young Treat Williams as Capt. Harry Clark ensures that not all American soldiers in the film come off as dunderheads. Playing out more as a mystery with it's various twists and turns, and seeping with tension amidst the village folk, The Eagle Has Landed is an odd sort of picture, but it certainly delivers enough to make it way above average. 6.5/10
Written by Jack Higins, directed by John Sturges {The Great Escape} and starring Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland and Robert Duvall, The Eagle Has Landed is a different sort of war movie. Flipping the axis to a German point of view and having English and American actors playing the Germans, is a bold move that, fluctuating accents aside, makes for a totally engrossing picture. Offering a fair bit more than your standard film of men on a suicide mission for the war effort, the piece's pulp origins, and its idyllic country setting give it a quality that ensures the viewers attention stays firmly with the film's steadily paced first half. Also adding intrigue into this already interesting broth is that our main Nazi protagonist is not down with the whole killing Jews thing. It's very sly in how it pans out, its not asking the audience to feel sympathy with Steiner {Caine professionally impacting}, it's just proclaiming that not all people should be tarred with the same brush.
Mostly the cast are fine and boosted by a brilliant turn from Donald Sutherland as an IRA spy helping the Germans, Robert Duvall, Donald Pleasance, Anthony Quayle, Jenny Agutter and Jean Marsh all are solid within the picture's structure. Oddly the performance of Larry Hagman as the appropriately named Colonel Pitts sticks out like a sore thumb, buffoonery in bravado intent it's difficult to tell if it's meant to be comic relief or a statement of how the British viewed the yanks at this time? A young Treat Williams as Capt. Harry Clark ensures that not all American soldiers in the film come off as dunderheads. Playing out more as a mystery with it's various twists and turns, and seeping with tension amidst the village folk, The Eagle Has Landed is an odd sort of picture, but it certainly delivers enough to make it way above average. 6.5/10
helpful•264
- hitchcockthelegend
- Oct 8, 2008
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Der Adler ist gelandet
- Filming locations
- Church of St Margaret, Mapledurham, Berkshire, England, UK(East Anglia church where the villagers are held hostage)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $6,000,000 (estimated)
- Runtime2 hours 3 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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![Jenny Agutter, Michael Caine, Robert Duvall, and Donald Sutherland in The Eagle Has Landed (1976)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BOWQzNzY0MGMtZWY1NC00ZDNkLWEyODAtZmRjNDkwNzgyODY3XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjc1NTYyMjg@._V1_QL75_UX90_CR0,1,90,133_.jpg)