The Eagle Has Landed: A Movie Review

I'm grateful to have grown up in a home where my parents were readers. It seems like my father was always reading something, and from time to time he'd tell me about an author or book that he thought I' like. One of the books my dad suggested was Jack Higgins' The Eagle Has Landed. When I read it, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

No, it's not a book about the Apollo mission to the moon. Rather, it is a novel about an incident that could have occurred during World War II, an attempt to kidnap Winston Churchill. Intense, gripping and vivid, the author masterfully crafts a tale that can leave you sitting at the edge of your seat. I couldn't put it down.

The final payoff is the lingering question: did this really happen? Published in 1975, it became an instant bestseller. By 1976 it had already been translated to film featuring Michael Caine, Robert Duvall and Donald Sutherland in starring roles. As of 2010 the book had sold 50 million copies worldwide, no small feat. 

Having said all that, how could such a great story and star-laden film have been such a dud? 

First, the story. The film's tagline is "In 1943 sixteen German paratroopers landed in England. In three days they nearly won the War." 

With the war not going Hitler's way, a high ranking officer--Heinrich Himmler-- believes that a bold, outrageous action like kidnapping Churchill would give the Nazis a bargaining chip. Another officer is asked to do a feasibility study, which is intended to show how ridiculous the idea is. But, surprise! The Germans have someone planted on the North coast of the British Isles and it just so happens that an intercepted communique reveals that Churchill is actually going to be there for a brief period of time.

The Germans then drew up a plan to bring an elite team that can parachute in at night (it seemed to me that they were brought in by submarine in the book, though I may be mistaken) and move in to the town in British uniforms. 

The problem with the film--not the book--is that some of the acting is sappy. Donald Sutherland is a bit of a goofball, as he can sometimes be, which in this case seems more distraction from the mission rather than amplification of its seriousness. When the fighting breaks out later in the film there are some other absurd antics that also detract from the overall plausibility of the film version of this story. 

EdNote: There was nothing silly or out of character in the novel, so I'm sure Jack Higgins, the author, must have cringed when the film hit cinemas.

In reading the reviews at imdb.com I was surprised at how many people thought it was a great film. One imdb.com reviewer called it "pitch perfect novel adaptation." He must have been on crack. The film falls so far short of the novel that it can't help but disappoint anyone who has read the original source. (IMHO)

I like the review titled The Eagle hasn't landed as well as it should. I liked the title of another's review: The Eagle Has Crashed.

It's disappointing when a director takes a great story and plays it in the wrong key. Brian De Palma did that with Bonfire of the Vanities, and John Sturges does that here.

I give the book five stars, the film two.