a.k.a. Battle Squadron / La Battaglia D’inghilterra
company: Fida Cinematografica
year: 1969
runtime: 112′
country: Italy
director: Enzo G. Castellari
cast: Frederick Stafford, Van Johnson,
Francisco Rabal, Ida Galli, Luigi Pistilli
disc company: Severin Films
retail price: $34.95
release date: October 13, 2009
disc details: Region A / Single Layer BD25
video: 1080p HD
audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 English
subtitles: none
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reviewed from a screener provided
by Severin Films LLC
In 1940, the Nazi army attempts an insidious plot [is there anything other than an insidious Nazi plot?]. A command of German soldiers, dressed as Englishmen and with papers stolen from the recently dead, are to infiltrate England and sabotage the new radar system that has been put into operation there. It’s up to the suspicious Captain Stevens [Stafford] and his unwilling allie Air Marshall Thompson [Johnson], with whose mistress Stevens is having an affair, to foil the plot before it’s too late – and before the full force of the Luftwaffe can be amassed against them.
From the moment the leader of the German saboteurs [Luigi Pistilli, Tucco's brother in THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY] angrily demands that his comrades speak English, and not German, I knew EAGLES OVER LONDON was going to be a ridiculous good time. It seems that Pistilli’s order made it all the way to Nazi high command, as the generals there speak English as well! THE LONGEST DAY this certainly isn’t, but Enzo G. Castellari’s [THE INGLORIOUS BASTARDS] war-epic-cum-pulp-espionage-thriller is no less fun for its utter brainlessness.
The narrative for EAGLES is a mish-mash of epic war scenes, traditional spy nonsense, and imaginatively conceived mid-air showdowns set around the Battle of Britain during World War II. While the majority of the film’s 112 minutes are taken up by that middle thing, Castellari does manage to mount a few genuinely impressive combat sequences – namely the massive evacuation of Dunkirk seen early on. There’s nothing so big as this to be seen in his later and better known THE INGLORIOUS BASTARDS, and its obvious that there was at least some heft to the budget. In traditional Castellari style, action is staged for minimal repetition and maximum coverage then effectively edited into much larger scenes, this time with the added benefit of the sparse use of split-screen.
The aerial battles that crop up from time to time are less believable, accomplished with forced-perspective studio shooting, some minor miniature work, and the split-screen addition of tinted period library footage – if I’m not mistaken there are also a few miniature shots from the Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan war picture DESPERATE JOURNEY thrown into the mix. It all works better than one might expect, but pales in comparison to the earlier Dunkirk sequence. There are other neat effects moments to be had, like the mining of a bridge and the explosive sabatoge of a radar tower.
Dramatically speaking EAGLES is rather inert, though the pace is swift enough that the two-dimensionality of the [many] characters is rarely much of an issue. Faring best among them is Francisco Rabal as Martin, who is about as sympathetic as I imagine a murderous Nazi spy ever should be. Renzo Palmer [Father Lucion in Fulci's THE EROTICIST] is likeable enough in the thankless role of Sgt. Mulligan, the film’s dubious comic relief. His claim to fame is an immensely entertaining sequence in which he initiates a fist-fight between French and English forces.
Castellari’s direction is solid, if hilariously camp at times. When it is revealed the the double agent Martin is in love with must be sacrificed for the good of the Nazi cause, we see her through a succession of three zooms accompanied by a perfectly timed “dun dun dun!” music cue. It also features one of the most audacious moments I’ve seen in the director’s work to date – an extended love scene set to an explosive blitz attack. The entire effort is played in good fun with a minimum of stage blood expended, and should make for an amusing time-waster for fans of the genre.
Severin Films has pulled out all the stops in releasing this lesser known Castellari picture to both DVD and Blu-Ray, and while the results aren’t quite as satisfying as on their loaded THE INGLORIOUS BASTARDS disc it’s still quite strong. It’s important to note that the back of the box lists the running time for the feature as 104 minutes – the actual runtime for the feature on-disc is just a few seconds shy of 112 minutes.
The 1080p HD transfer is in excellent shape, presenting the film in its original 2.35:1 Techniscope aspect ratio for the first time on domestic home video. Image quality is fine but shows the limitations of the shooting format – detail is moderate and grain heavy, while colors fluctuate between vibrant and somewhat dull. Damage is minimal, limited to a few speckles here and there. I have no real complaints about the image and suspect it’s a fair representation of how the film would have looked theatrically. Audio is presented in a serviceable Dolby Digital 2.0 English option – as with THE INGLORIOUS BASTARDS, no uncompressed options have been made available. Supplements are limited but fun, and include a conversation with directors Enzo G. Castellari and Quentin Tarantino [14'], footage of a recent presentation of the film in Los Angeles [16'], and a brief deleted scene [32 seconds]. Trailers for both EAGLES OVER LONDON and THE INGLORIOUS BASTARDS are included – all supplements are in HD.
I found the film to be quite amusing, though I suspect many will want to go the rent-first route with it. There’s nothing at all wrong with Severin’s Blu-ray treatment, and fans of EAGLES OVER LONDON will certainly want to indulge. This one gets a strong recommendation for fans of Castellari and spaghetti cinema in general.
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