Eye of the Needle
starring: Donald Sutherland, Stephen MacKenna, Philip Martin Brown, Kate Nelligan, Christopher Cazenove
directed by: Richard Marquand
directed by: Richard Marquand
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
EAN: 9780792843337
Format: Color, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 0792843339
Label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
Number Of Items: 1
Picture Format: Letterbox
Publisher: MGM (Video & DVD)
Region Code: 1
Release Date: January 18, 2000
Running Time: 111 minutes
Sales Rank: 9412
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Theatrical Release Date: July 24, 1981
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Editorial Review:
Description:
Donald Sutherland (Outbreak) and Kate Nelligan (Up Close & Personal) ignite the screen as ill-fated lovers in this 'exciting, emotionally involving thriller' (New York Magazine).Based on the best-selling novel by Ken Follett, this searing mystery is a roller coaster ride of suspense, centering on the relationship between a master spy and a brave womanwith the fate of the world hanging in the balance.Englishmen know him as Faber, but to the Fatherland, he's the lethal spy known as 'The Needle.' On his way back to Germany, Faber is shipwrecked on an island outpost where he befriends Lucy, a beautiful Englishwoman who lives there with her family. Lonely and scorned by her bitter, crippled husband, Lucy falls for the enigmatic stranger, not knowing that he's atraitor determined to prevent the D-Day invasion. But as their passion erupts, Lucy discovers the brutal truthas love and war melt into an electrifying climax of eroticism, adrenaline and terror!
Amazon.com essential video:
Eye of the Needle is a superbly effective World War II spy thriller from the Ken Follett bestseller of the same name. Donald Sutherland is 'the Needle,' a German spy in England bearing critical information on Allied invasion plans that he must deliver personally to the Führer. He's so named because of his preferred method of assassination, the stiletto. As played by Sutherland, he's a coldly calculating psychopath, emotionlessly focused on the task at hand, whether the task is to signal a U-boat or to gut a witness to avoid exposure. On his way back to Germany, a fierce storm strands him on an island, occupied only by a woman (Kate Nelligan), her disabled husband, and the lighthouse keeper. A romance of sorts develops between the woman and the spy, due to an estrangement of affections between the woman and her husband, whose accident has rendered him emotionally crippled as well. Much of the suspense of the latter half of the movie has to do with this romance, and the way it begins to reveal the Needle's motivations and whether there's a sympathetic personality buried somewhere inside him, though he remains by-and-large tantalizingly enigmatic. Early on, we discover that he may not enjoy the hand life has dealt him. When a courier asks him about the way he lives, and 'What else can one do?' the Needle answers, 'One can just stop.' But as the film makes amply clear in its final third, one doesn't stop, does one? The direction by Richard Marquand (known primarily for thrillers such as this one and Jagged Edge, although he also did Return of the Jedi) is crisply done, boasting numerous suspenseful episodes, including a deadly encounter between Sutherland and the disabled husband, which is jaw-droppingly surprising. --Jim Gay
Average Rating: 
Rating:
- A Stab at GeniusThe Film: Ken Follett's WWII espionage thriller brought to the screen in 1981 by director Richard ... Read More
Rating:
- Diagnosing Sutherland's character, the NeedleI watched this movie for the first time recently on cable and found it so engrossing that I watched ... Read More
Rating:
- Donald Sutherland does it again...For some strange reason, Donald Sutherland has presided over the end of several of cinema's previously ... Read More
Rating:
- Good Version of BookThis is based on a great novel by Ken Follett and one of the best WWII spy novels I have enjoyed..Follett ... Read More
Rating:
- Forgotten Spy ThrillerThis 1981 WW2 Spy thriller with Donald Sutherland is simply amazing. Sutherland is at the top of his game ... Read More
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Copyright ©2003, Mark Carey.