Eagles Over London

DVD Release Date:	October 13, 2009
Approximate Run Time:	104 Minutes
Aspect Ratio:	Anamorphic 2.35.1
Rating:	Unrated
Sound:	Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Region Code/Format:	Region A
DVD Released by:	Severin Films
Retail Price:	$34.95

Reviewed By:	Ian Jane on October 24, 2009

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3.5/5The Film

Also known as Battle Squadron and Battle Command, Enzo G. Castellari's Eagles Over London was, by the Italian standards of the day at least, a pretty big deal when it was first released. Noted by Castellari as the film he remains best known for in his homeland, it's a fast paced picture with some great action, interesting miniature work, and a wild split-screen technique that makes the otherwise fairly standard World War II story stand out from the pack. It would also help to kick start the Italian war film boom of the 1970s, egged on by the likes of Antonio Margheriti, Umberto Lenzi, and Castellari himself with his popular follow up film, The Inglorious Bastards.

Set in the Second World War just before the Battle Of Britain was to unfold, we meet up with Allied forces fleeing France just as the Nazis have rolled in and taken control of the area. A group of sneaky SS super soldiers steal some Allied uniforms and follow the fleeing soldiers back to England where they act as spies in hopes of getting valuable information back to their goose-stepping commander types. A British officer named Captain Paul Stevens (Frederick Stafford) unwittingly befriends one of the spies, Martin (Francisco Rabal) which results in the eventual Nazi plan to take out Britain's radar system, ultimately leaving the entire country open for a massive air raid. While the German spies do their thing and start taking down various radar stations, Stevens starts to figure out what's going on and decides to take it upon himself to stop the spies before it's too late...

Starting off with a literal bang as British forces dramatically blow up a bridge to aid in their escape, Eagles Over London is a pretty exciting film even if the story doesn't stand out so much from the countless other war films that were being churned out around the world at the time. What makes the picture stand out is Castellari's direction. Originally brought on just to handle the effects sequences, Castellari uses some interesting (if not always entirely convincing) miniature work mixed in with stock footage and split-screen techniques to create some pretty impressive set pieces. This really helps the film and ensures that if nothing else the battle scenes are always exciting and intense.

While it may not care much for historical accuracy, Eagles Over London does at least play with some interesting role reversal ideas by following German spies infiltrating Allied troops rather than the more common other way around. While you can't say that the film sympathizes with the German side of the war effort, it does, surprisingly enough, portray their spies are far more intelligent and able than their Allied counterparts. It seems unlikely there's a political motive to any of this, but it is an uncommon trait in a genre where the Nazis are often portrayed with such prominent stereotyping.

Story quirks and hokey miniature work aside, the film succeeds in creating an exciting atmosphere, delivering some tense action set pieces and in wrapping it all up with some great camerawork and a solid instrumental score from Francesco De Masi (who also scored The Inglorious Bastards). Throw in some great use of color and symbolic editing (check out the love scene that plays out while the bombs are being dropped for example), plenty of explosions, and a solid cast made up of some interesting Euro-cult regulars and it's easy to see why this one has held up over the years.

3.5/5Video

Severin's 1080p AVC encoded 2.35.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer presents the film in its original aspect ratio and is a noticeable improvement over the standard definition release in terms of detail and clarity. While there are some scenes that don't look quite as razor sharp as the best HD transfers of more modern material can look, overall this is a pretty strong effort from Severin when you consider the film's age and the inherent softness in certain scenes based on Castellari's shooting style. Color reproduction is nice and natural looking though it never quite pops. Black levels are good though never as super inky dark as you might want them to be, though skin tones look lifelike and natural, never pink or over processed. There doesn't appear to be much in the way of mpeg compression or edge enhancement to note nor is there any DNR applied here that is made obvious by the presence of some natural looking film grain. Some mild print damage shows up in certain scenes and some scratches show up here and there, but overall Severin has done a decent job here.

3/5Audio

Severin has provided Eagles Over London with a Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track for this release, but unfortunately, it's nothing to write home about though it's perfectly sufficient. There aren't any problems to report with the mix, everything sounds pretty decent here, but sometimes it's a little bit on the flat side. Dialogue stays clean and clear from start to finish, the score is nice and punchy, and most of the time the levels are all properly balanced (though attentive viewers may notice periodic fluctuations here and there). It would have been nice to see a lossless track included here, but that didn't happen - here's hoping that Severin will keep it in mind for future Blu-ray releases.

2.5/5Extras

The most substantial extra is A Conversation with Enzo Castellari and Quentin Tarantino, Part Two (14:15) which is a follow up to the conversation between the two directors that appeared on the Inglorious Bastards release. Tarantino has obviously got great admiration for Castellari and his work and here he's able to pick his brain about certain choices he made while working on this film and on a few of his other pictures. Eagles Over Los Angeles (16:34) is a nice companion piece to the interview as it gives us a chance to take in an introduction and Q&A session held at a theater in Los Angeles where Tarantino and Castellari attended a screening of the film in front of a packed house.

Rounding out the extras are a single thirty-two second deleted scene, the North American theatrical trailer for Eagles Over London (which is encoded wrong and plays only in the top half of the screen for some reason) and a trailer for The Inglorious Bastards. Menus and chapter stops are also included. For some reason the pop-up menu will sometimes stay on the screen after you've started the movie. You can get it to go away by hitting the menu button a second time, so it's not a deal breaker, but it is rather odd to see this happen. All of the extras on this release are presented in 1080p HD.

3/5Overall

While not a perfect release, Castellari's fans or anyone who just digs on good war movies should enjoy Eagles Over London even if there's room for improvement with the audio and the video. That said, the picture definitely does trump the SD release, making this the best option out there right now.

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Film Rating		DVD Rating
Director:	Enzo G. Castellari	Film:
Writer:	Tito Capri, Vincenzo Flamini, Enzo G. Ca	Video:
Released:	1969	Audio:
Cast:	Frederick Stafford, Van Johnson, Francisco Rabal, Ida Galli, Luigi Pistilli	Extras:
Cast:		Overall: