The Eagle Has Landed

No, it's not the tale of the Apollo 11 moon mission, but the story of a Nazi plot to abduct Winston Churchill. It's late 1943, and most Germans seem resigned to the fact that they're going to lose World War II. That doesn't stop them from concocting a daring plan that involves disguising a force of paratroopers as Polish soldiers and dropping them near an English village where the prime minister is expected to visit. Robert Duvall and Michael Caine play Nazi officers, while Donald Sutherland is a Brit-hating IRA agitator, all of which posed a bit of a dilemma for the filmmakers: audiences need someone to root for, but how can these bad guy stars be made to appear sympathetic? Director John Sturges and screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz manage that by making them men of honor, determined to soldier on for even a lost cause. The English civilians, on the other hand, are easily duped by the charade, while the Americans (including Larry Hagman and Treat Williams) are mainly portrayed as morons. The Eagle Has Landed is old-fashioned by today's action-packed, effects-laden standards; yet while calling it “a relentless thriller” is a bit hyperbolic, this 1976 film is well done and reasonably gripping. The only notable DVD bonus feature is a long and very informative text bio on Churchill. Recommended. (S. Graham)