"The Eagle Has Landed" on Blu Ray only confirms what most film fans fear the most - film companies are only too willing to screw us again. While the print isn't exactly the direst I've ever seen - it isn't exactly clean or clear either - which is what you want on this new format. The print in my opinion is awful throughout - blurry, washed out and undefined.
Sure it looks ok from a distance, but that's about it! And the outer box cleverly avoids any mention of a remaster or a clean up. There are no extras on it either. When you look at the pristine transfers given to "Zulu", "2001: A Space Odyssey", the "Bond" movies or even the beautiful print on "The Shawshank Redemption" - all 'old' movies that have been cleaned up properly - then you know what a dog this presentation is.
You wouldn't mind if the movie was any good either - it isn't. First we're treated to Robert Duvall and Anthony Quail playing Germans officers to almost laughable effect, then Michael Caine appears as the 'good' German paratrooper who tries to save a Jew (as if they'd even bother), and the icing on this particularly twisted cake finally comes with Donald Sutherland playing the 'top of the morning' Irishman, an IRA conspirator with a whiskey in his hand and a smile on his face. His hammy performance is an embarrassment - all of them involved in a last-ditch plot to capture Churchill.
Time hasn't been kind to "The Eagle Has Landed" I'm afraid. Instead of being a great yarn - it now comes across as a God-awful film. But this review is for those who do like the movie. What I'd say is this - save your hard earned if you're hoping for a picture upgrade on the new format of Blu Ray. Try to hire it first if you can, so you can see for yourself just how washed out it looks. A big disappointment.
Unless you absolutely adore this film - avoid like the plague.
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