Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

The Eiger Sanction

Play trailer Poster for The Eiger Sanction R 1975 2h 9m Adventure Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
67% Tomatometer 21 Reviews 54% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Former government assassin Jonathan Hemlock (Clint Eastwood) now devotes his time to teaching and collecting paintings, but his quiet life is interrupted when he is persuaded by his former employers work for them again. Hemlock has to join a crew of explorers (George Kennedy, Jack Cassidy) on a trip up the Eiger, a treacherous Swiss mountain. Hemlock must simultaneously determine which of his fellow climbers is a Soviet spy, kill his target and scale the deadly peak.
Watch on Fandango at Home Buy Now

Where to Watch

The Eiger Sanction

Critics Reviews

View All (21) Critics Reviews
Joe Clay Times (UK) The scenery is magnificent and the white-knuckle action well handled... Aug 8, 2022 Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times It has a plot so unlikely and confused that we can't believe it for much more than 15 seconds at a time, but its action sequences are so absorbing and its mountaintop photography so compelling that we don't care. Rated: 3/4 Oct 23, 2004 Full Review BBC.com Rated: 2/5 Apr 17, 2001 Full Review Steve Warren The Barb (Atlanta) A poorly contrived spy story with enough cliches to fill 90 minutes, but not enough to fill the holes in the plot. May 9, 2023 Full Review Dennis Harvey 48 Hills There is indeed some great climactic Swiss Alps footage in this espionage tale, but the film runs an awkward gamut from supervillain cartoonishness to straight thriller. Its loutish humor also indulged its maker's (and audience's) worst tendencies... Dec 4, 2020 Full Review James Clay Fresh Fiction It's a wild ride, and for all the flack Eastwood gets for being a bland filmmaker these days, he sure had no problems taking risks earlier in his directing career. Rated: B- Nov 19, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (288) audience reviews
Blu B It's like a hybrid of a survival/disaster thriller and a 007 movie with all the bad cliches. The mountain ending is the good and the best part with gorgous shots and real suspense. The problem is getting to that point is a bit of a chore. The editing is alright enough. The whole thing with him training kind of feels pointless because we already see he's able to execute his missions just fine so it doesn't really make sense. It starts out fine but it just really sttarts to become a 007 movie with the hot woman, dumb humor, and spylike plot. The real killers here are the BORING plot expose moment where Eastwood literally just stands there for 5 minutes while the other dude explains stuff emotionless. Again it all makes sense but it just isn't told in the sharpest most consistent way. Everything else is half decent. Eastwoods direction isn't bad either here save for the boring plot expose scenes and clear 007 copycat like influence. This really doesn't have any action in it to speak of but still manages to be interesting enough overall thanks to the ending. The twist revealed also is kind of cool but there isn't really any clear way it could be deciphered looking back either. Also the 3 dudes on the hike that are targets are all a bit forgettable too. The love interest seems a bit pointless also. If your a die hard Clint Eastwood fan this may be worth checking out. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/27/25 Full Review James F What a clunker of a movie. It takes an hour before they get to the mountain climbing, and there some of the visuals are really cool. But this has almost nothing to recommend it otherwise. It has a half-cooked/low-rent James Bond vibe, you do not care about any of these characters and the plot is silly and uncompelling. It is a bad movie from the 1970s, that would be better forgotten than watched. If you are expecting a 70's version of "Cliffhanger" but with Clint Eastwood, you will be disappointed. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 05/15/24 Full Review Tibor F Talk, talk, talk endlessly. 34 minutes passed, nothing happened, so I skipped this film. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 04/21/24 Full Review Alec B One of Eastwood's sillier efforts. It has impressive stunt work but the plot seems needlessly convoluted. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/21/24 Full Review Cathy J I enjoyed seeing the climbing and landscapes and the thought of Eastwood doing all his stunts. But the dialog and acting sometimes fell flat. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 11/27/23 Full Review Mike W The movie is full of poor acting and poor script. It was difficult to make it past the first half. The only saving grace was the scenery. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 11/24/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Eiger Sanction

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW
Play Misty for Me 85% 72% Play Misty for Me Watchlist The Enforcer 69% 59% The Enforcer Watchlist Blood Work 51% 40% Blood Work Watchlist Black Sea 81% 58% Black Sea Watchlist Beast 69% 77% Beast Watchlist TRAILER for Beast Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Former government assassin Jonathan Hemlock (Clint Eastwood) now devotes his time to teaching and collecting paintings, but his quiet life is interrupted when he is persuaded by his former employers work for them again. Hemlock has to join a crew of explorers (George Kennedy, Jack Cassidy) on a trip up the Eiger, a treacherous Swiss mountain. Hemlock must simultaneously determine which of his fellow climbers is a Soviet spy, kill his target and scale the deadly peak.
Director
Clint Eastwood
Producer
Robert Daley
Screenwriter
Hal Dresner, Rod Whitaker
Production Co
Malpaso Company
Rating
R
Genre
Adventure, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
May 18, 2016
Runtime
2h 9m
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
Most Popular at Home Now