the eagle has landed

History has lumped in 1976’s The Eagle Has Landed with a more straightforward war movies like A Bridge Too Far and Midway; ambitious but rather boring all-star productions that were old-fashioned even when they were made. But in actuality it’s far closer to the alternative-history scenario of Tarantino’s Inglorious Bastards. Hitler doesn’t die in a movie theater, but Winston Churchill does come close to eating a bullet on a veranda.

With a ridiculously well-known cast (Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland, Robert Duvall, Donald Pleasance, even Larry Hagman) and just as much talent behind the camera with director John Sturges (The Great Escape) and screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz (Live and Let Die), there’s almost not enough room on the poster to fit them all in.

Based on a novel by Jack Higgins, the challenge of bouncing between so many major and minor characters – not to mention their phony accents – seems too much for the film to handle initially. But as the plot develops, The Eagle Has Landed matures into a thrilling heist movie with the German high command planning to kidnap Winston Churchill from an idyllic English village.

Sutherland is their man on the ground, posing as a marsh warden and striking up an unintended romantic relationship with one of the locals (played by the lovely Jenny Agutter). Michael Caine leads a troop of phony Polish soldiers on maneuvers. While Robert Duvall makes the plan – and take the blame – back in the Fatherland. Watching the plan fall apart is what makes these sorts of films enjoyable. In this case, watching actors of this caliber just standing in the same room together takes things to a whole ‘nother level.

Sutherland gets the meatiest role, despite the fact that he seems miscast as an IRA sympathizer with a smart-mouth, quick wit and faster fists. Richard Harris, who was originally cast, would seem a better fit. But Michael Caine nails his role as an unassailable leader of men, making even a loyal Nazi seem somehow heroic. The script manages to keep things light and humorous even when the bullets start flying.

Shot in an actual village in Oxfordshire, director John Sturges makes the most of his sweeping exteriors and action scenes. While not produced on an epic scale, The Eagle Has Landed is enjoyably cinematic, made by a bunch of old pros that knew entertainment had nothing to do with historical accuracy.

Shout Factory’s blu-ray combo-pack features a transfer that’s almost infallible. Bright, clear and beautiful, it’s a widescreen experience that will “wow” even the most jaded home theater enthusiast. Additional extras include vintage interviews and a new retrospective, The Eagle Has Landed Revisited, which returns to the quaint shooting location.