Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

elcoat This is one of the greatest and most passionate World War 2 and/or spy movies ever made, and it is so British! :-) German spy Faber (superbly played by the ever-errant Canadian actor Donald Sutherland) was a nonconforming discipline problem as a naval cadet and so became an intelligence officer for (anti-Hitler) Admiral Canaris's Abwehr agency. Planted in England and working in transportation ... and not young enough to be conscripted ... he is in perfect position to monitor British troop and equipment strengths and movements.However, his cover is blown when his not unattractive landlady discovers him tapping out a message to home base, and he bloodily dispatches her with his stiletto "needle," evidencing a cold, calculated ruthlessness which then puts every viewer on the edge of his/her seat every time Faber is in desperate circumstances and around any potential victim. He later even kills a fellow German spy - a young courier - to prevent the latter from being captured and identifying him and his mission, directly ordered by Hitler.Only Faber is trusted by Hitler to find out if the famous and feared U.S. General Patton's First Army Group is real or a mere diversion, to threaten a D-Day landing directly across the English Channel at Pas de Calais. Hitler intuits that Normandy will be the real landing site instead, and he needs proof to goad his generals into re-focusing German forces down there.Once Faber discovers the truth about FAG, he must get the information radioed or in person back to Hitler, but MI6 - led by veteran actor Ian Bannen's Godliman - is closing in on him, and he flees north, eventually shipwrecked on a beautifully filmed island and given shelter by the bitterly hateful, unfulfilled former Royal Air Force fighter pilot and legless amputee David (grimly played by Christopher Cazenove) and his little family.But totally complicating everything is David's voluptuous, sweet, spurned, and thus emotionally and sexually repressed and desperate young wife, Lucy. Then too, there is their little boy who loves and respects his daddy as well as his mommy, even if his parents are in such unhappy turmoil.Moved out of his own emotional shell - cell - by the girl's unhappiness, Faber suddenly opens up as a human being and gives Lucy the sympathy and affection ... and sexual relief ... she craves. And so just as suddenly and irresistibly they fall deeply in love with each other.(Kate Nelligan's remarkably perfect beauties were fully displayed in a later BBC TV series, the title of which I forget. Sorry.)Sensing what has happened intensifies David's suspicions about their guest, and David finally discovers Faber's true identity and intentions. They get into a life-and-death struggle on the edge of a cliff - David wanting revenge for Faber's betrayal of his hospitality and to stop Faber's intelligence mission and Faber wanting to liberate Lucy from her domestic hell ... and for himself.This battle between a ruthless spy and a determined, patriotic amputee revives Faber's ruthlessness, and Lucy soon finds out what has happened. But to save herself and her child she must fake love and sexual ardor with him - submit and essentially prostitute herself to this unmasked monster who has murdered her husband - for fear of him killing her and her little boy. This is a scene of unsurpassed horror ... and a disturbing kind of eroticism.The climax of the film is the struggle by Lucy to save herself, her little boy - and (in loyalty to David as well) save D-Day and the Allies by somehow stopping Faber from escaping to a waiting U-boat to complete his mission. And Faber MUST get to that U-boat, regardless of any love or sympathy he has felt for Lucy.The film's climax is right down to the sea and absolutely rending.

SnoopyStyle Henry Faber (Donald Sutherland) is actually a German spy nicknamed "the Needle" for his stabbing stiletto. He's been broadcasting since early in the war. He discovers the phantom Patton army as a fake leading up to D-Day. He is pursued by the British authorities. He tries to carry the valuable information back to Germany but his boat sinks off of Storm Island. He is cared for by Lucy (Kate Nelligan) and her crippled husband David with their son. A romance ensues as the drama escalates.It's a good spy thriller with a wartime romance to top it off. Sutherland is terrific as cold hearted killer. I don't think we need David and Lucy until they encounter Henry Faber. It adds very little to the movie. They cut up the dramatic tension of the spy thriller in the first half of the movie. There is good thrills and good tension.

starrywisdom I don't know what it is about Donald Sutherland's acting style, or vocal style, but he always seems to be acting from behind a massive wad of soggy Kleenex. He's just...I don't know, THICK? Somnambulistic? On meds? Weird.That said, I just saw the flick again for the first time since its original release, and frankly, I don't remember it ending anything LIKE that. A bad ending, too, because nothing gets tied off. What about the dead husband? The annoying child (and was the kid dubbed?)? The Scotland Yard and military pursuers? I would have liked something wrapping things up and giving some dramatic closure to it all, not just the big panoramic pull-away.And what woman sleeps with the man she knows just killed her husband? Even if she was trying to allay Needle's suspicions to protect her kid, she could always have had a headache. That last encounter made me feel way too itchy and uncomfortable...

gcd70 Richard Marquand's 1981 WW2 thriller makes for intriguing conjecture as it considers the possibility that a lethal and cunning Nazi spy may have known of the Allies' intention to invade Normandy. Screenwriter Stanley Mann weaves a good old fashioned espionage yarn from the original novel by Ken Follett (a 1978 best seller), and an impressive cast and crew help bring it all to life.Our director (Marquand) knows how to tell a story, and though he's working with a more simple plot than he did in 1985's "Jagged Edge", still manages to involve the audience and create real tension. Donald Sutherland certainly helps in this regard too, as the German spy "Faber", who has successfully infiltrated English society in the guise of a war veteran, and who'll stop at nothing to achieve his objective. As the reluctant heroine, Kate Nelligan successfully portrays vulnerability, frustration, desperation and terror as we share in her plight. Worthy support also comes from Christopher Cazenove, Ian Bannen and Philip Martin Brown.Also a major factor in "The Eye of the Needle's" effectiveness is the artful cinematography (Alan Hume) that captures "Storm Island" so exquisitely, the efficient editing from Sean Barton and the authentic Set design and costumes that recreate the 40's most convincingly. Music is from Miklos Rozsa.Strongest attributes are always the impressive, dramatic performances from leads Sutherland and Nelligan.Sunday, January 8, 1995 - Video