The Eiger Sanction [DVD]

Great movie 🎥 Amazing locations and a fun easy watch.

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..

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.

Clint Eastwood has produced another classic, sexist thriller. Back in the day this somewhat flew under the radar, not so today.

A claais that inspired me to become a climber and mountaineer By I never did Eiger North Face

`Does your physical disability preclude you from coming to the point?'Just one of many classic one-liners delivered by a stone-faced Dr Hemlock. This movie has all the wit and sarcasm of a Dirty Harry classic, and all the adventure and stunning landscape of his westerns. An Art teacher by day, but retired government assassin by night, Dr Hemlock is brought out of retirement to sanction the two men involved in killing his friend. The first job was easy, but the second proves the real challenge. His employer knows only that the man is one of a group who plans to climb the Eiger Mountain in Switzerland, a mountain that nearly killed Hemlock the first time he tried to climb it. But the mountain is not his only adversary. One of his fellow climbers, who could well be someone he'll need to rely on when in trouble, is the one he must sanction. But which one is it?The photography in this movie is stunning; emotive images of death-defying climbs from monument valley to the Swiss Alps. Some complain the movie is long and slow, but I watched the short version and then bought the full length DVD, which contained more excellent scenes that actually clarified some parts of the movie. So I would recommend you buy the full length version. You won't be bored, not for a minute.

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.