Eagles Over London

source: Eagles Over London

It's May 1940. France has surrendered to Nazi Germany and the battle scarred British are retreating from Dunkirk. However, in the midst of this chaos a crack Nazi spy unit made up of English speaking Germans wearing British uniforms is worming its way into the ranks of the British army. These imposters make their way to England with the rest of the evacuation fleet. They have one objective, destroy all radar installations along the English coast prior to a planned invasion by Germany. As the battle of Britain commences, it is up to Captain Stevens to root out and stop the saboteurs before Britain is crippled at the mercy of the Luftwaffe! I thoroughly enjoyed this Macaroni combat flick from one of Italy's finest, Enzo G. Castellari. Those of you who are familiar with the spaghetti western and Eurocrime genres will know that Castellari is a master of the action movie and it is evident that much of today's action filmmakers have learnt a lot from him. Eagles Over London gets off to an enthralling start with the explosive ambush of a German tank column, the murder of British troops and the strafing of the Dunkirk beaches by German planes. After this there is a lull in the action and the middle of the movie is very hollow to say the least before we get an exciting firefight as one of the radar stations is partly destroyed. Towards the climax there are a couple of suspenseful dogfights and another exciting attack on a radar base in which the bogus troops are thwarted. As per usual I was thrilled by the special effects and stunts throughout the film and there is a sturdy number of kills. The stuntmen flail, flip and hit the ground in a way that is rarely seen outside of Italian cinema. Then we have the typical European cinematography(the quick zooms and dizzying pans)which always add a special touch to these movies. Castellari uses the split screen technique to fantastic effect during the air battles. This provides the film with a kind of novelty value. I was taken aback by how professionally Castellari utilised the split screen method and I also thought that the inclusion of stock footage from the real battle of Britain was a fine touch. On one side of the screen we have stock footage and on the other you see the Spitfires and Messerschmitts firing at each other, it's pretty impressive. There is also a scene which is a blatant rip-off of the kissing sequence between Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway in The Thomas Crown Affair. A male and female character embrace as the camera performs a repeated 360 degree pan around them. The film is given a rousing score by Francesco Di Masi and the acting was also satisfactory. Frederick Stafford made a great hero in Captain Stevens and an excellently villainous Luigi Pistilli was a robust adversary. Hollywood star Van Johnson, complete with American accent, seemed happy to collect a paycheck as an RAF commander. Look out for a cameo from spaghetti western bad guy Eduardo Fajardo as a German officer and a decent turn by Jacques Berthier as Colonel Smith. Eagles Over London is a cracking yarn directed with skill by Enzo G. Castellari. The middle section is rather dull but the film is bookended by a series of riveting and well executed action scenes. 8/10.

A really great WWII spy action flick from the Italian spaghetti master Enzo Castellari. Its about German saboteurs trying to infiltrate British radar systems before massive air strike. The movie starts with an instant action and keeps it up until the very end. A bunch of varied battles between infantry, tanks, aircrafts, commandos etc are done with a quite large scale and without artistic stupidity like it is in Battle of the Bulge. Its also great they've used scale model technique to portray air battles instead of awkward animated background — it looks much more real especially with bombings. Yep, actors are plastic. But come on, its a spaghetti genre and its great because of cool comic book characters not stunning actor performances! And leading characters are really cool (BTW it seems Mike Myers character in Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" is inspired by Sgt. Mulligan). What is really stunning here is production designer's work — a lot of well- crafted scenes and interiors. I've liked command center the most — all its equipment is pretty awesome and looks very real. A great variety of cars, tanks, planes, ships and other vehicles is also can be seen here. Its pretty refreshing after the same three cars, two trucks and one tank that is used in most 60s war films. Although I've liked Castellari's own "Inglorious Bastards" more, this movie is pretty awesome. Just don't try to find great acting here and watch it for non- stop action.

Everything in this Italian mangling of English history is the opposite of reality. There were no German secret agents at loose in this country. After one attack on the chainholm stations the Germans ignored British radar stations. Dogfights did not,as a rule take place at night Then there are the incidental anachronisms. The Dunkirk area is clearly played by Spain or Italian locations. A British soldier eating the unobtainable banana. The women's hairstyles which resembled sixties rather than forties fashions. The radar stations with the revolving towers where's the Chainholm stations were static towers. Whilst the action is well staged how you seriously consider a film where Van Johnson is in the RAF!

The story starts off at the Battle of Dunkerque as a German Unit infiltrates British lines and joins the evacuation to England for the purpose of conducting covert operations. As the Battle of Britain commences the Germans focus on disabling the new British Radar stations. As an old Italian movie it was filmed without sound and voice-overs were added later just like a Spaghetti Western. Filmed as a wide-screen movie the pan and scan job to fit a TV screen is poorly done. But that is not the worst of it. There are several split screen periods in the movie with up to four different pictures at once and to refit for a 4:3 aspect ratio the editors just cut out the edges of the film, essentially cutting some of the multiple views in half. Very sloppy. The acting and directing is dull if serviceable but the script and editing (not just the editing for TV) is weak. The casting deserves special mention as laughable. I like Van Johnson, but a British Air Marshall? And the very Mediterranean looking Germans are a hoot! For World War Two history buffs you may enjoy the scenes of the beaches of Dunkerque as I can't recall ever seeing it represented in a movie before. Unfortunately, the scenes of the air battles later in the movie will make you cringe. This movie may have some curiosity value for those of us who love war movies but others will probably be disappointed. I gave it 4 out of 10. Bob

Using the chaos of the Dunkirk evacuation as a cover, several German agents take on the identities of English soldiers in order to gain access to England and take out the radar installations. One Captain aware of the ruse has to track the men down and stop them before the Germans can bomb England into surrendering. Good, if a bit long, spy story set in London. there are several action set pieces that are quite good, though they suffer a great deal in pan and scan because of the use of multiple images. (Oh how this film cries out for a good letterbox edition.) This is the sort of film that grabs you from the first couple of moments and then drags you along at its conclusion. I really liked this and probably should have rated it higher than 6 but I think the viewing experience was really hindered by a lack of widescreen. Worth searching out, especially if you can find a wide screen copy.

If you are looking for an accurate and gripping war film then this probably wont be the film for you.But if your looking for a drama filled,exiting film then this is the film for you. it is about a couple of undercover Germans who get to England from Dunkirk disguised as British solders.Their mission is to infiltrate and sabotage British radars which are detecting German aircraft and stopping them from attacking England. the German agents get found out and stopped by an English commander who befriended one of the German agents. The plot is not the reason why this film is so weird it is the combat and the way it is all displayed making it so bad. it begins with some British soldiers defending a position which is attacked by German tanks which are quite clearly not from world war 2 later on in the film there are dog fights between messerschmitt and spitfires (fighters) but the actual planes that are used were messerschmitts as spitfires and spitfires as messerschmitts making it very confusing and not very accurate. the fighting and the special effects are not that good either. i found this film very disappointing i am very fond of war films but i wont recommend this war film

Here's an oddity - an Italian made war film that is actually quite good. Okay the dubbing is bad, and the locations are a bit "mediterranean" particularly Dover and Dunkirk, but all in all a well made war film. Its the story of a group of German commandos who intermix with returning British troops from Dunkirk, and wearing British uniforms attempt to destroy the radar installations around the coast and therefore aid the imminant German invasion. A British Captain played by Frederick Stafford attempts to track down the Germans aided by Van Johnson as a British Air Marshal - an odd bit of casting, but I'm sure the aging Van welcomed the money. This comes up for sale on video every now and then, and I recommend it to war film buffs.

WWII Italian/Spanish epic , this time about British airmen who prevented threatened Nazi invasion. Action,suspense and entertainment with an unit of Nazis (Francisco Rabal , Luigi Pistilli , among others) infiltrated on England . It commences at Dunkirk when a German band infiltrates British lines and unites the evacuation to Great Britain for the aim of conducting covert missions . As the Battle of Britain starts the Germans focus on attempting the sabotage new Allied Radar installations .A British Captain (Frederick Stafford ) tries to track down the Germans aided by a sergeant (Renzo Palmer) and under direct orders of a British Air Marshal (Van Johnson). It is 1940, and the diabolical mind of Adolf Hitler is planning to bomb England into submission to his warped dreams of a 'Fortress Europe'. Standing between Britain's freedom and Hitler's terrifying plans is the R.A.F - dedicated pilots who took to the skies in the face of overwhelming odds. The German Luftwaffe's planes outnumber the R.A.F's by more than 2 to 1 - 650 planes of the R.A.F. vs. 2,500 of the Luftwaffe! These odds , however, do not deplete the determination of the R.A.F. to stop Hitler, and as the Luftwaffe launches wave after wave of Heinkel 111 bombers against British cities, the R.A.F. responds, under the political leadership of Winton Churchill . Squadron Leaders lead the newest pilots of the R.A.F. into dogfighting with the Luftwaffe's experienced veterans, with the aim of driving Hitler's forces away from Dover's white cliffs for good . This European co-production between Italy/Spain/France contains noisy action , wartime intrigue, explosions, shootouts, bombing and is quite amusing . But it's also a historical reenactment of the air war in the early days of WWII for control of the skies over Britain as a subject matter that deals with a vital period of world history as the new Luftwaffe and the Royal Air Force determine whether or not an invasion can take place . Well-made war-action/thriller/adventure/ Eurotrash film , is a standout in its genre : The Spaghetti-Italian warlike. This exciting movie gets lots of action, spectacular scenes , displays several extras and tanks, in fact, the production wishes thanks the British Ministry of defense and the Army general staff for their collaboration in making this film. Relentless plot twists ,in spite of some flaws ,the warlike action keep you breathless , thanks to suspense and acceptable widescreen aerial sequences , which will suffer on small television. Great aerial photography with nice special effects aerial unit by Emilio Ruiz Del Rio. Fine cinematography by Alejandro Ulloa of ¨Horror Express¨ and atmospheric score by Francesco De Massi. Rough,elegant Francisco Rabal is good as the group leader of the motley pack ,he along with Luigi Pistilli leads the misfit group of Nazis from behind enemy lines . Remainder casting has such a terrific plethora formed by several European actors , as French : Frederick Stafford ,Jacques Berthier ; Spanish : Teresa Gimpera , Luis Davila ,Eduardo Fajardo ; Italian : Luigi Pistilli , Ida Galli and Renzo Palmer , furthermore special appearance by Van Johnson as Air Marshall Taylor. The film takes part from American classic movies referred to Commandos genre ,just like :¨ Dirty dozen¨, ¨Kelly's heroes¨ and ¨Where the eagles dare¨ but especially of ¨ Battle of England¨ by Guy Hamilton . The picture is professionally directed by Enzo Girolami Castellari who made another good war film: ¨Inglorious bastards¨. He had a lot of hit-smash in the action cinema and Spaghetti as ¨Keoma¨ and ¨Go kill and come back¨, in fact the film is an Italian Western developed on the WWII. The pic will appeal to Eurocult fans and Italian-Spaniard production enthusiasts.

This is a surprisingly elaborate war film which tackles the same events as the big-budgeted BATTLE OF Britain (1969), but from an entirely different perspective - the infiltration of German spies into London prior to the Luftwaffe's aerial attack in order to destroy the RAF's infallible radar system, and British Captain Frederick Stafford's efforts to root them out in time. While the generally slick presentation belies the modest funds that were obviously available, the overall achievement is still hurt by too much concession to elements particular to lowbrow film-making and especially some grating comic relief (culminating in a brawl between British and French soldiers) provided by Renzo Palmer - but there's also a baffling over-emphasis on the heroics of a French air ace (who's not even a major character!), as well as obviously choreographed stuntwork...not to mention the fact that every revelation in unmasking the Nazi plot is left to the ingenuity of one man, which makes one wonder just what would have become of Great Britain if Stafford hadn't been there!! Besides, even if I was watching the film in Italian, the fact that none of the cast is British or German is inescapable - which certainly doesn't award it any marks for authenticity! Castellari's often flashy direction doesn't work either: shooting from odd angles (through a bullet hole in a helmet, through a pair of clasped hands or through a loudspeaker!) and utilizing distracting editorial techniques, such as his playful use of the split-screen - which is partially lost anyway, given that the aspect ratio on the print I watched has been changed from the original 2.35:1 to 1.85:1! The action-packed film (with a couple of romances thrown in for good measure) is enjoyable in itself but, even if flawed, BATTLE OF Britain is clearly superior (the familiar Euro-Cult faces here are no match for the roster of Britsh stars which populate that film!) - though they did engage the services of Bunuel regular Francisco Rabal (as a conscientious German) and American Van Johnson(!) as the British RAF officer in charge of the country's defense (who, in the final decisive action, takes to the skies himself to repel the invading Nazi forces).