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List Price: $14.98 | | Label: Universal Studios
Salesrank: 7049
Released: December 15, 1998 |
| Our Price: $7.93 |
| Used Price: $4.99 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
A retired assassin-turned-art-collector is hired to kill the men who murdered an American agent; one of a team of mountain climbers on Eiger is the murderer.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: R
Release Date: 4-MAR-2003
Media Type: DVD
Description of The Eiger Sanction:
Clint Eastwood held the dual role of director and star of this 1975 spy thriller, which makes up for sluggish pacing with a breathtaking climax on a treacherous peak in the Swiss Alps. The plot kicks into gear when Eastwood, playing a retired assassin, is recruited back into a secret organization to avenge the murder of an old friend. He's then blackmailed into making a second "hit"; this time his target is one of three men who will be attempting to conquer the Eiger, a dangerous peak in Switzerland. Himself an accomplished climber, Eastwood's character joins the expedition with George Kennedy as leader of the ground crew. Shifting loyalties, apparent betrayals, and paranoid suspicion factor into the suspenseful climax on the sheer face of the mountain. This memorable sequence--for which Eastwood performed his own mountain-climbing stunts--is effectively intense, built on a standard plot of double-cross and intrigue that was intended to combine Eastwood's screen persona with the global adventure of the James Bond films. For the most part it works--it's not one of Eastwood's better films, but it's got some first-class thrills (and a sly performance by Jack Cassidy) to grab and hold your interest. --Jeff Shannon
The Eiger Sanction Reviews:
Good movie 
2009-11-27 - I enjoyed this movie in the theater years ago and really enjoyed watching it in the comfort of my family room.
Dirty Indiana Bond 
2009-10-20 - If this is not one of the silliest, over the top, unintentionally (or maybe intentionally) hilarious movies ever - with or without Clint Eastwood in front and behind the camera, then I don't know which one is. So, Clint does Indiana Bond, teaches Art in the college, collects priceless paintings of the Artists no less than El Greco, Pissarro, and such, is an accomplished mountain climber, and on the side moonlights as an assassin for C2, an international spy organization led by an ex-Nazi albino villain known as Mr. Dragon. By the time, the movie starts, Dr. Jonathan Hemlock (Eastwood) is retired from C2 but like so many retired secret agents, just when he thought he was out, they pulled him back in. His former employer, terrifying Mr. Dragon who has to stay all the time in almost complete darkness due to his condition, orders him to perform a "sanction" meaning to kill a man who had killed a friend and a former colleague of Hemlock with C2. To complete the mission, Dr. Hemlock has to participate in the attempt to climb one of the most dangerous mountains in Swiss Alps, the North face of Eiger - thus the title of the film, The Eiger Sanction. While preparing for the mission, Hemlock would go to train in Arizona at a mountain resort run by a close friend, Ben Bowman. The Arizona sequence allowed Eastwood the director to make some truly magnificent and stunning shots of Monument Valley. The shoot of Eastwood and George Kennedy on top of the "Totem Pole" is a real spectacle and a symbol of masculinity that Eastwood has been the embodiment of. Besides being breathtakingly beautiful, it has historic significance - it was the last time anyone was allowed to climb to "Totem Pole".
The second half of the film takes place in Alps and covers the preparations of the international group of four famous climbers from France, Germany, Austria, and USA (Dr. Hemlock) for the ascent to Eiger and the dramatic climb. To make the matter even more difficult for Hemlock, one of three mountaineers is the target of The Eiger Sanction, and that's all he knows. The name of his future victim was not revealed to him by his bosses at C2.
Even with the laughable dialogs, one-liners, and way over the top villains, The Eiger Sanction is an entertaining movie which has a lot to enjoy. First of all, during his long career, Clint Eastwood has always been a strong presence at the screen. Back in 1975, at the age of 45, he looked great, and the lustful interest in him from the beautiful exotic girls in the best traditions of the Bond's movies is fully justified. Eastwood did all his stunts in the film. All climbing was real, and if anything, the film will be remembered for truly astounding scenes of the ascent to the North Face of treacherous Eiger and dramatic descent. I also should admit that the twist in the end was if not unpredictable but satisfying in the way it put the pieces of puzzle together.
The music that was written for the film by John Williams, and plays in the opening and closing sequences, deserves special mention.
3-3.5/5
Poor quality DVD 
2009-08-17 - This is one of my all time favorite movies but the picture quality on this particular DVD from Amazon is horrible - dark and grainy. I wish I had returned it when I had a chance. What a terrible thing to do to such a good movie!
Dated but still exciting in places
2009-07-19 - 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..
DVD- The Eiger Sanction 
2009-04-20 - If you like Clint, you'll like this movie. The dvd itself I received smelled a bit smokey (like it was in a warehouse fire) but looked and played fine.
