Customer Reviews

The Eiger Sanction

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

All right.

With tongue firmly in cheek, let me say that the other reviewers of this movie have got it all wrong. "The Eiger Sanction" has got to be one of the all-time great "guy" films (I refer you to the "Big Damn Book of Sheer Manliness" here on Amazon.com for more information on those two). Yes, for Saturday-night-with-the-boys viewing, this is one of the classics. Here are ten reasons why:

1. Clint the Glint...need I say more?

2. Incredibly realistic mountain-climbing footage, from Southern Utah to the Swiss Alps, all shot on location, with none of the ridiculous fakery found in farces such as "Cliffhanger".

3. A plot that makes James Bond seem believable, starting with a combination art expert/mountain climber/CIA assassin and going forward from there.

4. Fantastic scenery shots, including George Kennedy and Clint on top of a sandstone pinnacle (I'm sure George really climbed it...yeah, right).

5. A cool resort compound (actually filmed at the lodge in Zion National Park, Utah).

6. Well-timed 70s nudity (in other words, totally unnecessary).

7. An albino (!) "establishment" guy, (CIA leader) and his wonderfully despicable sidekick, just waiting for Clint to kick around.

8. Astounding political incorrectness, including a character named "Jemimah Brown", another one known simply as "Buns", and much, much more.

9. Fantastically quotable manly lines, for example "Assassins get assassinated, and that ain't in my game plan", or "There's a twenty on the dresser by the bed", etc., etc., etc.

10. Clint even glints at a little dog...really!

I could go on and on.

All kidding aside, I love this movie! Just don't plan on taking it too seriously.

This review refers to the Universal DVD edition of "The Eiger Sanction".....

Dr.John Hemlock(when Clint gets a name in a movie it's really a doozey!)...Professor of Art,Collector of Fine Paintings,handsome,has a weakness for beautiful women...and oh yeah...Assassin! But don't worry he works for the government. His superiors may be dangerous,they may be insane, but hey, they're on our side! Well.. maybe!

When our agents are being killed by the other side, Hemlock is coerced out of his retirement to "sanction" these killings. Or in a word..REVENGE! He is reluctant but when he learns one of the killings was of his friend, he dons his assassin outfit and goes back to work. The outfit is mountain climbing gear. The killer he is after is one of a party of climbers who will tackle "The Eiger" a dangerous peak in the Alps. Which one is the killer? That's for our guy Clint to figure out.

Although an intiguing mystery with some wonderful cinemagraphic scenes of the desert and the Alps,this one is not the usual above average to excellent film we are usually treated to by Eastwood. It's a good story, but at times slow(for an Eastwood flick) and somewhat predictable.

Eastwood directed as well as stars and by the way did all of his own climbing and stunts(gotta give him credit for that).
It also stars George Kennedy,Vonetta McGee, and Jack Cassidy.
The music by John Williams is one of the best parts of this film. It adds just the right flavor to this Europeon adventure.

It may not be one of Clint's best, but it's still an Eastwood film,an intriguing story, and worth the view. And being that it is and Eastwood film, I felt the DVD transfer deserved better.
First of all the sound...Dolby Dig 2.0 MONO! What's up with that? The picture, presented in widescreen(2.35:1)looked good in most of the outdoor scenes(although a bit grainy), but some of the indoor scenes were dark and undistinguishable.The colors looked almost artificial(I can hardley bring myself to talk about it) The special features are in the form of production notes, telling about how Clint did his own stunts, etc. There is captioning for hearing impaired viewers, which is nice and clear and is in the black bar area, and there are subtitles in Spanish and French.(it may only be viewed in English).

If you are are collector of all things Clint(like me), at this price you may want to add this one to your collection until a better edition comes along, if not and you just want to check it out, maybe renting it first may be better.

Universal.....please update this for Clint fans!..Thank you...
enjoy....Laurie

more great action from Clint:The Gauntlet/True Crime

As a thriller, the 'Eiger Sanction' is just ok. It is a pretty faithful adaptation of Trevanian's bestseller from 1972. It stars Clint Eastwood as Dr. Johnathan Hemlock -- an ex-climber now art professor who does occasional asassinations for a secret US agency to pay for his art collection. He takes on one last job to pay for a Pissaro he desperately wants; but it requires that he get out his old climbing boots. He'll have to do the job while climbing the north face of the Eiger -- certainly one of the most dangerous climbs in the world.

I'm not completely sure of this, but I believe that this movie was also Clint Eastwood's directorial debut. He not only stars in it, but he produced and directed it as well!

Ah, the glorious 70's! The clothing, the hairstyles, the attitudes towards women, etc. It is quite fun to watch and chuckle at now. Hemlock is a kind of James Bond-ian super hero. Remarkably gifted not only at killing bad guys but also at bedding beautiful women, enjoying fine wine and food, and being an art expert. The story ofen requires you to suspend your sense of reality and to have a bit of a sense of humor. If you enjoy these kinds of thrillers, you'll definitely enjoy this one.

What sets this movie apart for me is the many climbing sequences! I am an avid climber and I know of no other 'Hollywood' movie that does as good a job as this one at showing real mountain climbing. The climbing scenes in the 'Eiger Sanction' are breathtaking and quite realistic. The scenes on the Eiger were actually filmed on location on the Eiger Nordwand itself! Remarkable! Apparently Clint is/was a bit of a climber himself, and took great pains to portray the climbing in as realistic a light as possible. Three cheers for Clint! On a sad note, one of the stuntmen/riggers was killed while filming the scenes on the Eiger.

Most other mass-market climbing films completely ruin the climbing scenes to make them more dramatic or exciting (Vertical Limit, Cliffhanger, K2, etc.); or are documentaries trying to cash in on the current Everest fever (and are more interested in the 'death zone' aspect of high altitude climbing than actually showing real climbing).

Bottom line for me: I bought this VHS for its depiction of the climbing more than the story line. However, it's also a pretty decent thriller as well as a fun trip back to the early 70's.

This movie has some of the best vintage climbing footage ever. Clint's "training" climb in Utah is really fun to watch. It is a peek back in time at a sport that has evolved rapidly over the past 20 years. Hob nail boots, "bongers", manky pitons, and hemp rope make for some real nail biting footage. Clint leads a fantastic stemmed chimney (while on top rope?) were the camera man uses some ground breaking rope work.

The footage of the Eiger is passable. It is interesting seeing what was considered cutting edge climbing back then. The pitches they were climbing would be considered novice routes today, provided the weather held.

Plot? Who cares! It is classic Eastwood, full of meaningless one-liners. He's always retired from something, isn't he? One of my favorites. Got to love those bathing beauties at his buddy's "swinger's ranch"!

If you're a climber or an Eastwood fan, you MUST check this one out! If you're not either, then odds are you won't appreciate it.

If you're a Clint Eastwood fan, it is another must have, but with the video's mono 2 channel sound track, the DVD "experience" is a little diminished.

In a stunning and abrupt departure from both his very successful "Dirty Harry" and "Any Which Way But Loose" franchises, Clint Eastwood extended his range of genres to include the spy thriller with this deft adaptation of the best-selling Trevanian novel of the same name. In fact, quite little is changed in this taut and thrilling tale of a once famous mountaineer and retired government assassin turned college art history professor who is forced back into the "sanction" business both by personal greed and crude manipulation by the spymaster of the clandestine government agency that requires his services.

An American courier has been killed in Copenhagen, and he happened to an old friend of professor Jonathan Hemlock (Eastwood), who is seduced back into harms way by "Control", an albino ex-Nazi who now heads one of our most clandestine federal agencies. Before long Hemlock is on his way to sanction one of the two assailants, and the chase is on. By dint of coincidence, Control discovers that the other assailant is included in an international mountaineering party, which will assault Switzerland's "Eiger" the coming summer. Naturally, Hemlock is manipulated into preparing for the climb as a replacement climber.

Once we finally make it to the mountain, the action is literally non-stop, quite accurate technically, and absolutely riveting to behold. As with previous sequences shot in the American southwest, the cinematography is superior, and the plot unfolds in a quite plausible and inevitably tragic fashion with no one necessarily spared as the frenzy reaches its natural conclusion. This is a terrific action film, with a great supporting cast that includes George Kennedy, Jack Cassidy, and bodybuilder Dan Howard in a bit role.
This is great entertainment, and illustrates why Eastwood has been such a consistent box office draw for over forty years. Enjoy!

I think this is a great film. Many critics and a few reviewers always complain about it's running time (128 minutes), insisting it's too slow. Almost ALL of Clint's films (the ones he's directed) run long. The running times range from just over 2 hours to just under 3 hours (the longest being Bird, at 2 hours, 40 minutes). Sure, the film isn't PC, but it was made in 1975, when you didn't have to be PC. But there is one thing that almost everyone agrees on...the mountain climbing scenes at the end of the film. These are nervewracking and incredibly authentic. Clint did all his own stunts in these sequences, and many professional rock climbers and mountaineers have praised these sequences. And they are very intense to watch, because you know the actors are really up there. No CGI in those days. This is one of the reasons they work so well. CGI looks fake anyway. It makes movies seem like cartoons. People know it isn't real. CGI reliance should be reduced in Hollywood, as it takes the tension out of action scenes.

Check this film out. It's worth all of its 128 minutes.

I don't like to give too much of the story away when I tell people about films I've seen or that I really like, and this review won't be an exception. Eastwood is blackmailed into an assasination on a mountain called the Eiger, that's as much of the plot as I think you need know, unless you've seen it of course, in which case you know what will happen. If you haven't seen it then you are missing out. The mountain climbing sequences are fantastic, and I think this story suits Eastwoods direcing style perfectly. It is kind of slow and plods along at times, but I like it that way. The story is textured and the conclusion is pleasing. This is classic Clint Eastwood, that's as much as anyone needs to know really. The special features are pretty poor, no documentary of any value, and it would be nice to hear Clint talk us through his film, you get standard early Universal DVD features instead. The transfer isn't great and the picture is grainy at times, but this is an older film, and I would have liked a remastered soundtrack in 5.1 Dolby digital, but nevermind. I'm contented enough just to have this film on disc. So should you be!

I guess I ought to be ashamed of how much I enjoy this movie. But, I am not ashamed, and a really do enjoy this movie.

A relatively young, and satiny-smooth Eastwood is the killer for hire, who avenges the murder of U.S. government agents. He also happens to be a world class mountain climber and an art expert. Conned into coming out of retirement, he takes one last job for $100,000 (and the chance to avenge a friend). Being Clint, he kills the bad guys, survives himself when none others could, and of course gets several girls.

Great cinematography. The scene where Eastwood and George Kennedy scale the unconquerable pinnacle is stunning. One cannot always tell in that scene what was "real" and what was actually a set up. The final shot of that portion of the movie, when a camera obviously set in a helicopter moves away from the height and showing them sitting (and obviously heavily strapped to the top) is stunning. Watching the final quarter, shot on a mountainside, makes one actually feel cold.

The movie is also incredibly sexist. Having said that, I must acknowledge that it also has two positively gorgeous women: Vonnetta McKee (for some reason given the moniker "Jemimah Brown" - spare me!) and an otherwise unknown Brenda Venus (only named "George").

Not thought provoking, not "deep". Just a good show.

`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.

Reviewed by Ian Middleton: Travel Writer & Photographer
Ian is the author and photographer of four books, his latest being a travel guide to Ireland's ancient myths and legends, Mysterious World: Ireland.