The Eiger Sanction

Not the most descriptive picture from the film, but I do love that Bronco.

I have been told by A-Bomb for many moons now about the film, Eiger Sanction. I had high expectations, because it's Clint. I was really eiger (eager) to see this 1975 film and all it had to offer. Clint plays Dr. Johnathan Hemlock, a college professor who has a bit of a side gig when not teaching his art class. Sounds familiar. He is not an archeologist, he is actually an assassin for hire. He is retired from that, but he gets pulled back in with a little trick called guilt. He takes the first of two new jobs, completes it, then Eiger gets involved. Eiger is the name of a mountain he failed to climb twice. Oh yeah, he is a really good mountain climber. The second job is to kill a man who is going to be climbing this mountain for a competition. He is not given much info on the future target, so he takes the job blind. This is where the training portion of the film begins. It's hard to pull off training segments in the middle of movies. You have to really be pulling for the person or it's just like watching someone work out. I think Eiger was having trouble making this segment extremely gripping, but they remedied that well. His trainer is a hot Indian lady who works him to the bone, the add in some bare breasts for no reason and this training just got interesting. He must climb a brutal mountain to kill a man he never met, for reasons he doesn't understand. He doesn't even know which of the 3 climbers he's with is his target, but he pushes on trying to figure out. It's intense at times, but no scenes come to mind that were absolutely like, AAAAWWWEEE. This is a bit of a different role for Eastwood, but I loved it. He is quick, witty, and extremely sarcastic and unapologetic. He is unhappy about being brought back, but the blackmail laid upon him doesn't give him much of a choice. I love the political incorrectness of this film. They say things that would never go into a film script these days, but no one even cares. I was surprised at how much I laughed during the movie. It was, at times, hysterical. I do think that this is one of those movies that if you grew up with it you would have a different fondness for it than someone seeing it for the first time as a mature adult. It did seem like the writers had a great plot, great ending, but ran short on time. This is why the training session was such a chunk in the middle. I didn't mind it, that's just my opinion.

NBM rates The Eiger Sanction - Awesome

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