Runtime: 129 minutes
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Eastwood, George Kennedy, Vonetta McGee, Jack Cassidy, Heidi Bruhl
From: Universal
Those that are mad at Eastwood's latest movie... do NOT watch The Eiger Sanction.
Despite what some may think, this was not chosen on the spot because of the controversy surrounding Richard Jewell; rather, this was brought up in a messageboard thread a month ago, I rented it and I waited until the last minute to finally view the movie. What fortuitous timing then that my viewing of Eiger came up right as outrage began over how in Richard Jewell, real life Atlanta reporter Kathy Scruggs was portrayed as a floozy who offered to sleep with an FBI agent in order to get a scoop. That is not a great trope of women in the news industry and Scruggs has been dead for 18 years now... without having seen the movie, it doesn't sound great. Then again, I am not surprised that with Eastwood's political beliefs, that he would choose a project where-as the trailer made patently obvious-it is an attack on the media & its practices. All this controversy is a shame as I've always felt bad for Richard Jewell the person as he found a bomb during the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and likely saved many lives... only to be accused of planting it himself and have his personality & physical appearance lambasted by the media and federal government before later being exonerated.
I say all that here as those who are upset at Eastwood for having a negative portrayal of a woman in his latest picture, you really do not want to watch The Eiger Sanction. I was warned about it beforehand but Sanction-based on a novel by Trevanian... more on him later-has several qualities that are “questionable” by 2019 standards; this includes the obvious detail that all the women characters in the movie were portrayed as either sex objects or evil conniving b******. There's also shocking “jokes” made about offensive topics, a “total albino” who “needs a complete blood transfusion a few times a year” (I will presume that this detail is total poppycock), and oh yes... there is a homosexual character who was flamboyant and besides being one of the side villains, he has a dog named... well, it's the most common slur used against gay people. If that is not bad enough, Vonetta McGee is in this, as a woman named JEMIMA; the characters do acknowledge this, but yikes. Many people today would have problems if they saw this for the first time, in other words.
To discuss the actual plot, star Eastwood (who also directed) portrayed Jonathan Hemlock, your typical art professor/mountaineer/retired assassin. He is asked by an albino named Dragon to eliminate a pair of targets; as one of them killed an old friend of Hemlock and “a germ warfare formula” is stolen, this is how our hero accepts the job... oh and cash-plenty of cash. This requires him to climb a treacherous mountain that he almost died twice on before. I have never read the novel but I understand it was meant to be satirical, which not everyone got. I presume Trevanian made that clearer as its follow-up was called The Loo Sanction. The movie, it was not played as satire yet there is more humor than you'd expect and those odd elements-such as the albino or the flamboyantly gay character-made me not treat this all that seriously.
Even with the dated ideas and beliefs present in the movie, I can still say that overall it was fine. No matter what you think of Eastwood the person, Eastwood the director and Eastwood the actor is a hell of a talent. The plot is nonsense but still provided enough entertainment for my tastes; furthermore, John Williams provided a nice score and George Kennedy is also here, playing the sort of character you'd probably expect him to play. Yet naturally, the highlight was all the scenery (either of the American Southwest, which is seen in the first half as Hemlock prepares for the climb, or the second half in Switzerland, where the Eiger is climbed... yes, it is a real mountain and it is actually a dangerous climb. All the mountain climbing footage is still impressive today, as they actually did it, and a few times Old Clint did dangerous stunts himself, all in the sake of being authentic. Unfortunately, one climber did pass away during filming due to an accident. That material did help make this pulp nonsense-which is rather peculiar-fun, at least for me.
For years I've known of the novel, movie and author; hopefully I am not the only one who back in the day read the Secrets books from William Poundstone (Big, Bigger and Biggest). In Biggest, it was revealed that Trevanian-who wrote in a variety of genres over the years and his true identity was made a secret-was actually a random film professor named Rodney Whitaker. This was true, although not confirmed until years after the fact. Then again, considering that “Rod Whitaker” is in the credits as one of the people who wrote the screenplay... perhaps this should not have been such a mystery.
Despite what some may think, this was not chosen on the spot because of the controversy surrounding Richard Jewell; rather, this was brought up in a messageboard thread a month ago, I rented it and I waited until the last minute to finally view the movie. What fortuitous timing then that my viewing of Eiger came up right as outrage began over how in Richard Jewell, real life Atlanta reporter Kathy Scruggs was portrayed as a floozy who offered to sleep with an FBI agent in order to get a scoop. That is not a great trope of women in the news industry and Scruggs has been dead for 18 years now... without having seen the movie, it doesn't sound great. Then again, I am not surprised that with Eastwood's political beliefs, that he would choose a project where-as the trailer made patently obvious-it is an attack on the media & its practices. All this controversy is a shame as I've always felt bad for Richard Jewell the person as he found a bomb during the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and likely saved many lives... only to be accused of planting it himself and have his personality & physical appearance lambasted by the media and federal government before later being exonerated.
I say all that here as those who are upset at Eastwood for having a negative portrayal of a woman in his latest picture, you really do not want to watch The Eiger Sanction. I was warned about it beforehand but Sanction-based on a novel by Trevanian... more on him later-has several qualities that are “questionable” by 2019 standards; this includes the obvious detail that all the women characters in the movie were portrayed as either sex objects or evil conniving b******. There's also shocking “jokes” made about offensive topics, a “total albino” who “needs a complete blood transfusion a few times a year” (I will presume that this detail is total poppycock), and oh yes... there is a homosexual character who was flamboyant and besides being one of the side villains, he has a dog named... well, it's the most common slur used against gay people. If that is not bad enough, Vonetta McGee is in this, as a woman named JEMIMA; the characters do acknowledge this, but yikes. Many people today would have problems if they saw this for the first time, in other words.
To discuss the actual plot, star Eastwood (who also directed) portrayed Jonathan Hemlock, your typical art professor/mountaineer/retired assassin. He is asked by an albino named Dragon to eliminate a pair of targets; as one of them killed an old friend of Hemlock and “a germ warfare formula” is stolen, this is how our hero accepts the job... oh and cash-plenty of cash. This requires him to climb a treacherous mountain that he almost died twice on before. I have never read the novel but I understand it was meant to be satirical, which not everyone got. I presume Trevanian made that clearer as its follow-up was called The Loo Sanction. The movie, it was not played as satire yet there is more humor than you'd expect and those odd elements-such as the albino or the flamboyantly gay character-made me not treat this all that seriously.
Even with the dated ideas and beliefs present in the movie, I can still say that overall it was fine. No matter what you think of Eastwood the person, Eastwood the director and Eastwood the actor is a hell of a talent. The plot is nonsense but still provided enough entertainment for my tastes; furthermore, John Williams provided a nice score and George Kennedy is also here, playing the sort of character you'd probably expect him to play. Yet naturally, the highlight was all the scenery (either of the American Southwest, which is seen in the first half as Hemlock prepares for the climb, or the second half in Switzerland, where the Eiger is climbed... yes, it is a real mountain and it is actually a dangerous climb. All the mountain climbing footage is still impressive today, as they actually did it, and a few times Old Clint did dangerous stunts himself, all in the sake of being authentic. Unfortunately, one climber did pass away during filming due to an accident. That material did help make this pulp nonsense-which is rather peculiar-fun, at least for me.
For years I've known of the novel, movie and author; hopefully I am not the only one who back in the day read the Secrets books from William Poundstone (Big, Bigger and Biggest). In Biggest, it was revealed that Trevanian-who wrote in a variety of genres over the years and his true identity was made a secret-was actually a random film professor named Rodney Whitaker. This was true, although not confirmed until years after the fact. Then again, considering that “Rod Whitaker” is in the credits as one of the people who wrote the screenplay... perhaps this should not have been such a mystery.
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