The Eiger Sanction [Blu-ray]

Not as entertaining as I remembered…

"The Eiger Sanction" (1975) starring Clint Eastwood is a spectacular "mountain movie" of the sort big in 1920's German classic cinema.The famous 1929 German movie titled "The White Hell Of Pitz Palou" (1929 Germany) starring young Leni Riefenshahl directed by Joseph Pabst is an example of German "mountain movies" which always included spectacular camera work recording breathtaking icy mountain scenes, most often in the European Alps.World audiences were very enthusiastic about "mountain movies" but few were made after sound movies replaced silent movies."The Eiger Sanction" (1975) is an exception, and a spectacular one.About 50 percent of the movie is taken up with incredible and spectacular camera work of breathtaking and hair raising mountain scenery both in the USA's famous Monument Valley terrain, and also in the Swiss Alps.The Richard Shickel authored biography of Clint Eastwood titled "Clint" reports that a stunt man doubling for the actor-climbers in the Swiss Alps part of the movie was accidentally killed during the shoot, and the entire production was almost shut down as a result."The Eiger Sanction" (1975) shows both the beauty and the danger of monster mountains, and must be counted as among the best outdoor photography ever provided for a Hollywood feature movie.The movie is historically interesting because it mirrored its times (the middle 1970's), which were still part of the counter-cultural revolution and sympathies usually called collectively "the 60's," but actually a period comprising the last half of the 1960's and first half of the 1970's (the 1970's was also "counter-cultural," but doesn't get credit for it when the while era is referred to as "the '60's").Heterosexual interplay and enthusiasms between Clint Eastwood and various attractive actresses part of the movie are part of the show, and are of a sort which later disappeared from movies after the "Sexual Revolution" of the those "counter-cultural times" faded away.The anti-CIA, anti-government sympathies and mentality of counter-cultural times are also seen in "The Eiger Sanction" (1975), which proposes cynically that CIA ordered and staged assassinations were not always necessary or justified."The Eiger Sanction" (1975) is a CIA agent movie which, unlike most others of its type, does not have a final scene where the good guy and the bad guy duke it out at the end, and the bad guy "gets his." The main interest of the movie is the wonderful photography....the movie is sort of an ultimate travelogue of spectacular mountains seen in vivid color and from astonishing angles, with camera work done from helicopters and small airplanes which "get in close" in almost a surgical way."The Eiger Sanction" (1975) did not go on to become a famous or honored movie listed among the "classics" of its time, but it deserves to be."Jaws" (1975) was made the same year (1975) as "The Eiger Sanction" (1975), and was also produced by Richard Zanuck and David Brown (Helen Gurley Brown's husband!), and also included music composed by composer John Williams."The Eiger Sanction" (1975) included heavyweight support talent, and the result was and still is a true winner.-----------------Written by Tex Allen, SAG Actor.

The plot is very poor in this movie. It's very formulaic, with stereotyped characters and an outcome you can guess maybe halfway through the movie. The reason for the five stars is due to being an Eastwood fan. He plays the role exactly as you might expect, punching the bad guys, getting laid regularly, tricked once or twice, and still ultimately wins.You can't always tell the good guys from the bad guys in this movie. Eastwood's boss is a bizarre albino who uses manipulation and threats to force Eastwood into something he does not want to do. You can nail the time period by the use of an African female co-star. She's beautiful, but has poor lines and is distinctly a two dimensional character.Worth watching for the mountain scenes. Eastwood did almost all of his own stunts. This is impressive when you watch him 'chimney' up a pinnacle in Monument Valley.

Clint Eastwood both directs and stars in this high-altitude action-thriller.'Jonathan Hemlock' (Clint Eastwood) a retired professional-killer is now a professor and is a University Lecturer, his hobbyis collecting rare artworks.Agency-Head ' Dragon' (Thayer David) persuades 'Jonathan' to accept a sanction to kill someone responsible for the deathof an agent, reluctantly, though at a price 'Jonathan' accepts the task, though 'Dragon' does have his former-agent in mindfor a further sanction when completing this one.Job done, 'Jonathan' because of his climbing-skills of the past is asked to take on a far more dangerous mission, the agentthat had been assassinated was a personal friend of 'Jonathan's' so accepting the second part of the sanction was inevitable,the reward enough to set-up his retirement.The second assassin is not known, however what is known is that during the next climbing season he will be part of a teamattempting to climb the north-face of 'The Eiger' in the Swiss-Alps, a climb 'Jonathan' had attempted and failed to conquertwice before.Trouble is these days 'Jonathan' is out of shape and will need to take part in an intense fitness programme to be up to the task,former pal 'Ben Bowman' (George Kennedy) who will be a part of the Eiger-Team has been assigned to put 'Jonathan' throughhis paces though the actual trainer is 'George' (Brenda Venus) a shapely part-native American.Once ready 'Jonathan' will join up with a Mountain-Climbing team to make the attempt to scale the Eiger, a dangerous task atthe best of times, trouble is, one of the team is the assassin, 'Jonathan' needs to identify his target before the assassin realizesthat 'Jonathan' is there to kill him.There are many superb and well staged climbing sequences throughout the film along with some stunning scenery, in additionto some good action moments.This is typical Clint Eastwood material accommodating his usual one-line humour moments and of course on-screen femalecompanionship.Must admit i'm a sucker for 'Clint Eastwood' movies and have a tendency to replace my Eastwood DVD's with Blu-ray when theybecome available.The picture quality is far superior to that of it's DVD version though a little grainy at times especially during the Eiger sequenceThough not Clint's best movie, certainly worth a visit or indeed a revisit if your a fan.

Eastwood plays art loving assassin Dr. Hemlock in a yarn from Trevanion where mountaineering is used as an excuse to expose a traitor. Some of the special effects seem a bit dated in these days of CGI but even more modern FX can seem contrived and the basic yarn is still good especially if one has read the Trevanion originals where belief in some characters does need suspension. Not a bad film but one of its time (1975) and genre, however, the physical stunts are as good as today, perhaps with less health and safety applied in pursuit of impact.

This film is a personal favourite. The cinematography is fantastic. The story is entertaining. The best part is the political incorrectness which permeates much of the film. Of its time and all the better for it. And yes the picture quality is stunning.

Eastwood directs and stars in this unsubtle but still interesting mid 70's thriller. He is a retired assassin for a government agency, who is persuaded out of his art loving retirement for one last job. He, apparently, is also a retired rock climber, and therefore the only man for the job since his mark is one of a group of climbers about to climb the Eiger... but which climber is it..? We don't know. Well, in truth the whodunit is fairly easy to see early on, and the first hour is pretty mediocre 70's fayre.. It's once the climbing starts the tension starts racking up, thanks to Clint's insistence on both acting and directing on location and doing the stunts for real. Sadly, this was to lead to the death of one of the stuntmen climbers, who ironically had previously successfully climbed the Eiger.Nobody really seems to be taking this seriously, least of all Clint as either actor or director, as the `plot' develops with many a 70's cliché.. girls with afros jumping into bed at the drop of a hat, random nudity, horribly stereotyped camp gay bad guy (who actually names his dog `faggot' in case you don't get the `subtle' clues) and George Kennedy, just to name a few. Eastwood forgets the slack first half once we get to the Eiger in the final section of the movie, and it's the tense climbing scenes rather than any intrigue or 70's styling you will probably remember after the lights come up. Also worth a note is a John Williams score which more than passes muster in setting the scene for that real 70's thriller feel...Truthfully, Eastwood's indefatigable screen charisma makes this a 4 star movie, despite trying to convincingly play a `womanising-art-lecturer-retired-assassin-rock-climber `, which isn't a part one imagines one is asked to do very often.. However the very poor transfer - which is so bad in places you could be forgiven for thinking you were watching a pirated copy - knocks a star off. It's in widescreen at least, but non anamorphic (meaning it's not designed for modern widescreen TV's and will appear as a letterbox in the middle of the screen, requiring some zooming in to fill out your screen), frequently washed out colours despite the gorgeous locales, and full of other imperfections. Watch the movie, the end is worth it - just try and find the remastered version which is out there somewhere..

Famous for its true-to-life climbing sequences and mountain action (minus all trace of CGI!), this is a slightly strange combination of Cold War espionage thriller married to boys' own action adventure film but, in my opinion, it works really well - providing you buy into the Clint Eastwood role of Jonathan Hemlock being ruthless, cold-blooded assassin, art college professor, knowledgeable art treasure addict and (for some convenient reason!) talented former mountaineer all rolled into one.If you can do that, then chances are you'll really enjoy this ride. It's quite a long film but it has several varied and spectacularly-scenic locations and a strong thread of continuity to the story so it's a great journey of a film. You don't have to think too much - just sit back and enjoy being carried along. There's sufficient gravitas to the assassin aspect, there are several elements of humour here and there and it's a great 'widescreen' picture that takes in, as already mentioned, locations in Europe and the USA which are all beautifully filmed in their natural colour with no studio 'tinting' afterwards.Eastwood was obviously very enthusiastic about making this film and I think his enthusiasm really shines through in the finished result.

Yes, OK. You could read some of the previous reviews and be put off. If you're under 25 years old then fair enough, you might not like the 70's pastiche of music and clumsy dialog but if you're over 25 then buy this, put it in the DVD and reminisce about the good old days. Yes, it's a bit cheesy, yes, it's a bit clumsy at times but this was griping stuff in our time. It's not a brilliant film but it takes me on a trip down memory lane which is always worth, what, four pounds? Great stuff. Sometimes I buy a film not to draw comparisons to more contemporary films which are always going to be superior (although not always - compare the current TV series "The Deep" with "The Edge of Darkness". Magnitudes of difference in every respect) but rather to remember how good it was in it's time and this doesn't disappoint. The last 45 minutes or so are gripping climbing action. Blows "Cliffhanger" out of the water - especially when you consider Clint does his own stunts including a rope cutting shot over a thousand feet of Alpine fresh air.