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Eye of the Needle

R Released Jul 24, 1981 1h 51m Mystery & Thriller List
85% Tomatometer 20 Reviews 75% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
A ruthless German spy who goes by the name of Henry Faber (Donald Sutherland) is on his way back home from England after gathering information about the D-Day invasion for Hitler. Henry, who is actually the "Needle," a name that refers to his favorite method of killing, becomes stranded on Storm Island with Lucy (Kate Nelligan) and her husband, David (Christopher Cazenove). Lucy's strained relationship with her disabled husband leaves her vulnerable to Henry's charms.
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Eye of the Needle

Critics Reviews

View All (20) Critics Reviews
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Some people will find the movie slow going. I preferred to think of it as deliberate. It is effective, I think, to develop a plot like this at a deliberate pace, instead of rushing headlong through it. Rated: 3/4 Oct 23, 2004 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Tense war drama. Rated: B Feb 18, 2024 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy An appropriately low-key film that works as a thriller and functions even better as a tragic love story. Rated: 3/4 Feb 10, 2024 Full Review Kenneth Turan New West/California It is a swift, streamlined piece of entertainment, an expert thriller that serves to remind us how rare the simple competence and craft it has to offer have lately become. Nov 3, 2021 Full Review Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com Wonderfully understated with strong performances, solid script, and phenomenal score, Eye of the Needle rivals earlier industry era espionage thrillers often featuring more labyrinthine plots and clandestine characters. Rated: 4/5 Sep 30, 2020 Full Review Diego Galán El Pais (Spain) The story takes too long to acquire any dramatic sense. This long wait is not compensated by sufficient action or imagination. [Full Review in Spanish] Aug 21, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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stacey a After hearing the news of Donald Sutherland’s passing, I thought I’d revisit some earlier work. I liked the slow pace of this film and it held my interest both as a thriller and a romantic drama. The music, however, was so over the top and in your face that it took some pleasure away. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 06/23/24 Full Review Ted B 3.5 stars. An excellent adaptation of the novel by Ken Follett. This falls into the genre of 'a German Nazi spy hiding in Great Britain during World War II'. Following in the footsteps of the film "The Eagle Has Landed", released 5 years earlier, it centers around a UK Operation intended to fool the German military into thinking the massive D-Day landing was not going to occur in Normandy by building fake equipment pointing to a different landing site. I watched this film, appropriately, during D-Day week Donald Sutherland does a good job portraying a ruthless Nazi spy who discovers this English deception operation and attempts to return to Berlin with this information. He becomes marooned on a small, desolate island and becomes involved in the daily life of the couple living there, as well as the lighthouse keeper. He is supposed to wait there on the island until a German submarine can pick him up and take him to Germany. There is plenty of action to satisfy the most ardent 'action thriller' film fan. But there's also an attempt at tenderness from a ruthless, immoral spy who falls for the innocent wife, played by Kate Nelligan, of the single couple on the rock island. The island scenery/weather was well-selected to imply the rough lifestyle of the island's inhabitants. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 06/17/24 Full Review Jelisije J Donald Sutherland plays a spy working for the germans hiding out in united kingdom and is killing his way trying to return to german command. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 04/04/24 Full Review Deke P 1981. DONALD SUTHERLAND, in England, spying & killing & trying to tell Nazi's in Germany when and where D-Day. I read some reviews saying it was slow 1st half, and tho it had it's moments, not enuf to keep me paying attention. Others describe it as a FILM NOIR, & one of the reasons I wasn't paying close attention was that, even for 1981, much of the movie seemed filmed in darkness. But, as the reviewers also said, it became a SOLID THRILLER the last 45minutes, or so. One thing I didn't like, was the Nazi spy (on a boat trying to cross the Channel to Europe in a storm, washes up on a UK island, and finds refuge in a hospitable family farmhouse. But then, first night, the crippled husband goes to bed alone, and the Nazi and the wife have sex in the home, to the BACKGROUND MUSIC of ROMANCE! What? Such promiscuous betrayal seems the music should have been the theme music to the Jerry Springer or the Maury Show. Never heardo, til saw on PBS TV, channel 28, 12.29.23, without commercials, so PBS esteemed this a very special movie. Despite its flaws, i'm giving it 3.5 RT stars = good, i rec. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 12/30/23 Full Review Jack O I haven't watched Eye of the Needle in ages. Just by saying that is that I find it to be quite thrilling and I did. But watching it right now sure made me go back to the wonderous thrills of my time. This is actually set in the WWII back in the 40's. Donald Sutherland plays a German spy who is an Nazi in England who is known as "The Needle". He who discovers information about the upcoming D-Day invasion. Eye of the Needle is an entertaining British spy thriller with good climax that put the thrills to it's own. Sure it sometimes has some romance in this. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 06/22/23 Full Review delysid d a great lost film with donald sutherland Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/15/22 Full Review Read all reviews
Eye of the Needle

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Movie Info

Synopsis A ruthless German spy who goes by the name of Henry Faber (Donald Sutherland) is on his way back home from England after gathering information about the D-Day invasion for Hitler. Henry, who is actually the "Needle," a name that refers to his favorite method of killing, becomes stranded on Storm Island with Lucy (Kate Nelligan) and her husband, David (Christopher Cazenove). Lucy's strained relationship with her disabled husband leaves her vulnerable to Henry's charms.
Director
Richard Marquand
Producer
Stephen Friedman
Screenwriter
Stanley Mann
Distributor
United Artists
Production Co
Kings Road Entertainment
Rating
R
Genre
Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 24, 1981, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 16, 2008
Runtime
1h 51m
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