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Director John Sturges’ final feature is a handsome production that fumbles and stumbles in unexpected ways. Michael Caine and especially Donald Sutherland lead an impossible commando mission to kidnap Winston Churchill right from English soil. Tom Mankiewicz’s dialogue is witty but the tone is all over the place. We don’t know whether it’s the script, the direction or the editing that muffs so many potential bravura moments. On the other hand, every scene with Sutherland and Jenny Agutter is gold. [Imprint] gives us both a theatrical cut and a more satisfying extended cut.

The Eagle Has Landed

Region Free Blu-ray

Viavision [Imprint] 193

1976 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 135 + 151 min. / Street Date December 28, 2023 / Available from / au 69.95

Starring: Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland, Robert Duvall, Jenny Agutter, Donald Pleasence, Anthony Quayle, Jean Marsh, Sven-Bertil Taube, John Standing, Judy Geeson, Treat Williams, Larry Hagman, Joachim Hansen, David Gilliam, Siegfried Rauch, Wolf Kahler, Roy Marsden, Ferdy Mayne.

Robert Enrico's literally searing terror tale from the French occupation is not for the faint of heart. Fearing reprisals, surgeon Philippe Noiret sends his wife Romy Schneider out of harm's way of the retreating Germans -- but things go horribly wrong. What follows is an ordeal of vengeance even more brutal than Straw Dogs, fought to the finish in a medieval castle. The Old Gun MGM Limited Edition Collection DVD-r 1975 / Color / 1:78 enhanced widescreen / 102 87 min. / Le vieux fusil / Street Date September 8, 2015 / available through Screen Archives Entertainment / 19.95 Starring Philippe Noiret, Romy Schneider, Jean Bouise, Joachim Hansen, Robert Hoffmann, Karl Michael Vogler, Madeleine Ozeray, Caroline Bonhomme, Catherine Delaporte, Daniel Breton, Jean-Paul Cisife, Antoine Saint-John. Cinematography Étienne Becker Film Editor Ava Zora Original Music François de Roubaix Written by Robert Enrico, Pascal Jardin, Claude Veillot Produced by Pierre Caro Directed by Robert Enrico

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Some of us can remember...