The Eagle Has Landed

In the waning days of World War II, a German paratrooper (Michael Caine) leads a team of soldiers and an undercover Irishman (Donald Sutherland) on a mission to kidnap Winston Churchill from the east coast of England.

The Eagle Has Landed is notable chiefly as the final film from director John Sturges, who goes out on a decent, albeit flawed note.

The film starts well, although the decision to cast American and British actors as Germans is somewhat questionable. Robert Duvall does his best as the German Colonel masterminding the operation, but it just takes any sense of realism right out of the picture. Ditto Michael Caine as a German paratrooper. Now granted, both men are exceedingly fun to watch, but it’s at the expense of authenticity.

That said, the movie continues as a descent adventurer until the German’s plan comes undone, along with the film. Any sense of believability is tossed out the window, as the film gets progressively more and more ridiculous, until the only thing left holding the film together is Michael Caine’s charisma.

According to the IMDB, Richard Harris was originally cast in Donald Sutherland’s role, but was replaced due his attending an IRA fundraiser. This is interesting, as Harris would have undoubtedly brought a heavier emotional weight to the role, which is clearly meant as the emotional axis of the film. Sutherland’s goofy demeanor, however, robs the epilogue of the poignancy and impact it was likely meant to impart, something Harris could have conveyed and something that might have, in turn, resulted in a better film.

But instead, what we have is an unremarkable adventure film that, while not an embarrassment, should have been better to serve as a bookend to director John Sturges career.