The Eiger Sanction (1975)

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

(Originally reviewed: 18/03/2017) This is a picture that is most entertaining and very funny, it doesn't need to retort to crude antics, and it's simply well made, and features some of the most realistic cliff climbing sequences ever put on film. Eastwood fans will lap this up, and as a definite fan myself, I was satisfied, despite this not exceeding his best work, but then again it's hard to out-do your own work, when you have such classics like Dirty Harry and The Good the Bad and the Ugly on your filmography. The story here is fairly simplistic and it probably isn't as smart as it could be, but as a comedy it soars, and for something that has a running time of approximately two hours, it really kept me interested throughout.The humour is consistent and not everything land's, but most does and some real good lines include "Don't forget your trench coat, how will anybody recognise you without your disguise", and "but she's a girl" to which Eastwood's buddy replies "a lot of people notice that, and a rather funny sequence where one man says "You think I can't handle it, to which Eastwood replies "Not even in a locked closet with a grenade". Which are simply a few really funny lines, in a picture that should have been deemed a comedy, because that's how I personally viewed it, and found it extremely enjoyable. Clint is of course excellent as Jonathan Hemlock and the supporting cast are adequate, though I didn't like this two faced, homosexual, I felt his character was rather unnecessary but actor's like George Kennedy who play's Eastwood's friend Ben Bowman, and Vonetta McGee who plays a sort of love interest to Eastwood's character are rather good and have some really solid chemistry on screen with Eastwood himself.The picture looks good, is well shot, competently directed by Eastwood, and has some great cinematography, including scenery of the mountains; it never takes itself too seriously, and it's a lot of fun and has a solid amount of strong comedic value. Overall: The Eiger Sanction is a very good addition to the great Clint Eastwood's body of work.

An classical art professor and collector (Clint Eastwood), who doubles as a professional assassin, is coerced out of retirement to avenge the murder of an old friend.Early on, we get an excellent cameo from exploitation queen Candice Rialson, posing as a young art student. Throughout the film (especially the first half), we get plenty of great humor and one-liners. Yet, it seems to be a largely forgotten piece of cinema.Joy Gould Boyum of the Wall Street Journal remarked, "The film situates villainy in homosexuals and physically disabled men." That is a gross injustice to the film, even if there is a flamboyant man, a limping fellow and an albino. Moreover, it overlooks the interracial relationship that could be considered progressive.Roger Ebert wrote that the film "has a plot so unlikely and confused that we can't believe it for much more than 15 seconds at a time, but its action sequences are so absorbing and its mountaintop photography so compelling that we don't care." This is quite true. The scenes are beautiful and the plot is a bit bizarre in more than a few places.I think this is one that needs to be re-examined. Eastwood really threw himself into the picture, both directing and starring (and doing his own stunts). The humor and deadpan delivery is excellent, and just the great shots that were achieved deserve some recognition.While as of now (January 2014) the film exists as a widescreen DVD, it would look great on Blu-ray and perhaps it is not too late to get a commentary from Eastwood or others involved in the picture. George Kennedy (now 88) probably has few good years left in him.

The complete lack of political correctness seems to have endeared this film to some and made them overlook its obvious flaws. The characterisation is weak, the plot rambling and the action sequences largely confined to the last and most interesting portion of the film, the only part which actually takes place on the Eiger. It is a pity that the film takes so long to get here and with so many unnecessary digressions (and much silliness), for the mountain sequences (although not as compelling as they could have been) are easily the most convincing part of this so-so thriller.Clint Eastwood plays Hemlock a lecturer with a secret sideline in adventure. In this respect he is like a prototype for Indiana Jones only he's much darker. While Jones merely tries to redeem lost artifacts for the benefits of mankind (and therefore is an unreservedly good character), Hemlock murders people in cold blood to enlarge his own private hoard of expensive artworks. It is therefore difficult to really care whether he succeeds or fails.It actually becomes more difficult to relate to him as the movie progresses. After he leaves his former friend (a camp homosexual wonderfully played by the much missed Jack Cassidy) to die an agonising death in the desert, any sympathy I had for him disappeared. And of course there is the question left 'hanging' (sorry for the pun) at the end as to whether Hemlock has intentionally 'sanctioned' (ie murdered) several innocent people on the Eiger.Apart from such nastiness there is also a great deal of silliness of a formulaic kind. 'Dragon' is Hemlock's boss- he's an albino with an aversion to light who for some inexplicable reason is the head of the American spy network (how did that happen exactly?) He seems to belong to the world of Austin Powers. His sidekick is Pope another crudely drawn caricature. As indeed is Jemima Brown the sort of over-sexed black chick who were frequent in the early 70s blaxplotation cinema. The scenes where she beds Hemlock only to steal his money is one of the many unnecessary detours.

First I am a big fan of Eastwood...his later directing isn't that bad even Breezy is tolerable but this is amateur bad stuff.I saw this movie when it came out and read the book. Watching the movie again I was surprised at what flat period formulas stuff it is--the book surely was better? The movie seems to highlight every cliché used to flesh out the plot. I was just young and stupid I guess. I was also a rock/mountain climbing instructor at the time and interested in the topic/still....Clint Eastwood does not make a convincing art history teacher...none of the humor comes off as that funny in 2013. As one other reviewer stated it seems like some 12 year old adolescent boys were given the task of writing and filling in the plot. The slapstick stupid CIA man Pope the black agent named Jemima Brown etc...Didn't they have 2 way radios in 1976 to warn the climbers of the approaching storms? A major plot flaw.I was amazed at the gay bashing that occurs in the form Eastwood's enemy (played by Jack Cassidy)...it is really brazen. I guess that was the standard forty years ago; it is offensive. I would love to have seen the body guard smash in Eastwood's face. And I am one of Eastwoods greatest fans! The only decent part of the movie is the last 15 minutes or so on the mountain for the cinematography. I was into these things at one time.I must have matured a lot since 1976 this thing is so formula unfunny clichéd and badly written and not well acted (especially Kennedy)---does that about cover a bad movie?If only the producers had gotten Don Seigel instead of Eastwood to direct it at least there would have been beautiful cinematography and less wooden acting. There was absolutely nothing unique inventive or fun about the cinematography it was barely competent. Let actors remain actors.DO NOT RECOMMEND