Eye of the Needle
by Richard Marquand
List Price:
Our Price: $3.80
You Save: $11.18 (75%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.77 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Christopher Cazenove, Donald Sutherland, Kate Nelligan, Philip Martin Brown, Stephen MacKennaDirector: Richard Marquand
Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Color, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: Letterbox, 1.85:1
Running Time: 111 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-01-18
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Movie Reviews of Eye of the Needle
Movie Review: A Stab at Genius
Summary: 4 Stars
The Film: Ken Follett's WWII espionage thriller brought to the screen in 1981 by director Richard Marquand.
The basic plot: 'The Needle' is a Nazi spy in Britain, ruthlessly stabbing his enemies as he races to stay a half-step ahead of quite-competent MI5 C.I. agents. In 1944, he must get information and get back to Germany to expose the Patton-Calais deception. Weather and circumstances strand him on remote Storm Island, where he must meet a U-boat.
Acting: Sutherland's icy, reptilian qualities (think Backdraft and Casanova) are perfectly suited to the spy character--he's brilliant. Kate Nelligan delivers a sturdy performance as a plucky resident of Storm Island.
Nice editing; compact, well-paced plot with some interesting twists. Interesting role reversals, sexual metaphors, and atmospherics.
Production values were high; the film has no cheap effects or CG; it stands up well and looks good on the DVD.
Personal enjoyment: The Brits are portrayed as ever-polite but in their own way, even the old gaffers and other common folk are as ruthless as the spy, and all are passionate about helping 'do their bit.'
If you like WWII movies, spy thrillers, Sutherland, or ken Follett novels, by all means buy this little gem.
Summary of Eye of the Needle
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 F?hrer. 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 GayDonald 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 woman - with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. Englishmen know him as Faber but to the Fatherland he s the loyal and 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 a traitor determined to prevent the D-Day invasion. But as their passion erupts Lucy discovers the brutal truth - as love and war melt into an electryfing climax of eroticism adrenaline and terror!System Requirements:Starring: Donald Sutherland Kate Nelligan Ian Bannen and Christopher Cazenove. Directed By: Richard Marquand. Running Time: 1 Hour 51 Min. Color. This film is presented in "Widescreen" format. Copyright 2000 MGM Home Entertainment Inc.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: R UPC: 027616799128
Action & Adventure DVD Video
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Movies most talked about in Top Films of 1981...
ArthurRelease date: 1997-07-30; DVD
Best price: $6.20
Price in other shops:
The Road WarriorRelease date: 1997-03-26; DVD
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops:
OutlandRelease date: 2007-11-27; DVD
Best price: $8.94
Price in other shops:
For Your Eyes OnlyRelease date: 1999-10-19; DVD
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops:
ThiefRelease date: 1998-07-01; DVD
Best price: $7.04
Price in other shops:
Eye of the NeedleTWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2000-01-18; DVD
Best price: $3.42
Price in other shops:
Body Heat (Deluxe Edition)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2006-10-24; DVD
Best price: $12.97
Price in other shops:
Atlantic CityRelease date: 2002-05-14; DVD
Best price: $8.41
Price in other shops:
On Golden Pond (Special Edition)LION'S GATE ENTERTAINMENT; Release date: 2003-12-16; DVD
Best price: $5.67
Price in other shops:
ExcaliburWILLIAMSON,NICOL; Release date: 1999-09-21; DVD
Best price: $2.99
Price in other shops:
Similar DVD Movies
Operation AmsterdamTWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2003-05-20; DVD
Best price: $3.80
Price in other shops:
Marathon ManRelease date: 2001-08-28; DVD
Best price: $4.75
Price in other shops:
The Spy Who Came in from the ColdRelease date: 2004-07-13; DVD
Best price: $4.39
Price in other shops:
The Boys From BrazilLION'S GATE ENTERTAINMENT; Release date: 1999-12-14; DVD
Best price: $4.79
Price in other shops:
The Man Who Never WasRelease date: 2005-06-07; DVD
Best price: $6.47
Price in other shops:
The Odessa FileSony; Release date: 2000-01-11; DVD
Best price: $8.12
Price in other shops:
The Counterfeit TraitorHOLDEN,WILLIAM; Release date: 2004-07-13; DVD
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops:
The Eagle Has LandedLION'S GATE ENTERTAINMENT; Release date: 2001-08-14; DVD
Best price: $4.84
Price in other shops:
Three Days of the CondorRelease date: 1999-08-17; DVD
Best price: $4.75
Price in other shops:
The Day of the JackalRelease date: 1998-04-29; DVD
Best price: $4.16
Price in other shops: