Great action movie though flawed

Rating: 5/10 (25 May 2009)

This was really a vehicle for Messrs Eastwood and Burton, nobody else got a look in and there was nothing in the way of character development for any of the rest of the cast. Although based on the MacLean novel, the historical points relating to German military procedure and behaviour were way off mark. You hardly saw the Nazi salute or a Heil Hitler at all, where historical footage from the Nazi era shows clearly that it was common, indeed required. There were loads of inexplicable things like when Eastwood crept up on a radio operator from behind with the idea of knifing him, then when discovered shot him anyway. The Germans, especially the guards, come over as just fodder for Burton and Eastwood's machine gun fire, somewhat unrealistic. Watching this for the first time you could well get thrilled with the action and suspense, but its weaknesses become all too apparent if you think about it and on a second viewing. Alistair MacLean is undoubtedly a master of suspense action dramas but the lack of attention to detail in Eagles left reality behind for a gun-toting rampage through reality and belief was a bit too much in this case.