Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
When the Nazi high command learns in late 1943 that Winston Churchill will be spending time at a country estate in Norfolk, it hatches an audacious scheme to kidnap the prime minister and spirit him to Germany for enforced negotiations with Hitler.
The Eagle Has Landed is a solidly crafted WWII thriller based on Jack Higgins' bestselling novel. The premise — a Nazi plot to kidnap Churchill — is inherently compelling and the film executes it with reasonable tension and professionalism. The ensemble cast including Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland, and Robert Duvall delivers competent to good performances, though no single turn is truly transcendent. John Sturges' direction is workmanlike and the cinematography is functional period-appropriate filmmaking without particular visual distinction. The plot is entertaining but follows fairly conventional thriller mechanics once the mission is underway. The film has a distinctive bittersweet, almost sympathetic portrayal of the German protagonists that gives it some novelty for its era, but it remains a fairly standard genre piece. The ending carries a fatalistic punch that works reasonably well without being especially memorable.