What's new

Matt Hough

Reviewer
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2006
Messages
26,131
Location
Charlotte, NC
Real Name
Matt Hough
matt-hough

Eye of the Needle Blu-ray Review

eyeoneedletop.jpg


Richard Marquand’s Eye of the Needle is such a masterfully layered thriller, slow in its exposition and rising ever more gradually to its pulse-pounding conclusion that it deserves to be far more well known than it is.

[review]
Click here to read the original article.
 

atfree

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2012
Messages
3,606
Location
Boiling Springs, South Carolina
Real Name
Alex
Matt, did you notice something weird with the transfer during the night scene when the Needle was meeting with his contact? My copy was extremely grainy during this scene with almost a blown out look. Lasted about a minute then all was well
 

Matt Hough

Reviewer
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2006
Messages
26,131
Location
Charlotte, NC
Real Name
Matt Hough
Matt, did you notice something weird with the transfer during the night scene when the Needle was meeting with his contact? My copy was extremely grainy during this scene with almost a blown out look. Lasted about a minute then all was well
Yes, that was what I referring to in my comment about inconsistent grain levels.
 

Bernard McNair

Supporting Actor
Joined
Sep 30, 2007
Messages
542
Real Name
Bernard McNair
Thank you for the as always excellent review Matt. I am looking forward to my copy arriving soon. I have seen this film a number of times over the years and always find it enthralling. Donald Sutherland is consistently excellent in his work and my limited exposure to the work of Kate Nelligan has been enjoyable (particularly this and Eleni).
It is a great pity when films as strong as this aren't seen more widely; especially in light of some of the dross which calls itself cinema at the current time.
 

Robin9

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2006
Messages
7,637
Real Name
Robin
I watched the new Twilight Time disc this weekend. I haven't yet had time to sample the commentary track, but the presentation of the film itself makes buying this disc worthwhile. My memory is not infallible but to me this disc recaptures the look of the film when It was new.

As the DVD is non-anamorphic, I hadn't watched it for years, so I had forgotten many of the details of the narrative. I found the film superb and it reminded me of two other films I haven't thought about for a very long time, The Juror (the closing sequence) and The Spy In Black (the relationship between the woman and the spy). I'll have to watch those two films in the near future.

The film also reminded me of why I don't much like James Bond films. I much prefer stories where a struggle to the death is gritty, dirty and unglamorous; where people get soaked in the rain and feel pain when they are shot; where people run out of energy and make mistakes. Anyone who shares my reservations about James Bond films should make a point of watching Eye Of The Needle.
 

benbess

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2009
Messages
5,644
Real Name
Ben
As Matt H. writes in his perceptive review: "Richard Marquand’s Eye of the Needle is such a masterfully layered thriller, slow in its exposition and rising ever more gradually to its pulse-pounding conclusion that it deserves to be far more well known than it is. Based on a best-selling novel and featuring two wonderfully astute actors in galvanizing performances, Eye of the Needle is a great World War II-set film with none of its action coming anywhere near the battlefield."

I rate the movie itself a solid "B." The picture quality is probably an "A-."

But there are two highlights that go all the way to "A" for me—the witty and insightful commentary by Julie Kirgo, Nick Redman, and music expert Jon Burlingame, and the wonderfully old-fashioned music score by the great Miklos Rozsa.

Anyway, The Eye of the Needle is well worth buying. And for Donald Sutherland fans (like me) it's definitely recommended.
 

RMajidi

Premium
Joined
Feb 8, 2015
Messages
1,549
Location
Australia
Real Name
Ramin
As Matt H. writes in his perceptive review: "Richard Marquand’s Eye of the Needle is such a masterfully layered thriller, slow in its exposition and rising ever more gradually to its pulse-pounding conclusion that it deserves to be far more well known than it is. Based on a best-selling novel and featuring two wonderfully astute actors in galvanizing performances, Eye of the Needle is a great World War II-set film with none of its action coming anywhere near the battlefield."

I rate the movie itself a solid "B." The picture quality is probably an "A-."

But there are two highlights that go all the way to "A" for me—the witty and insightful commentary by Julie Kirgo, Nick Redman, and music expert Jon Burlingame, and the wonderfully old-fashioned music score by the great Miklos Rozsa.

Anyway, The Eye of the Needle is well worth buying. And for Donald Sutherland fans (like me) it's definitely recommended.

I also like Eye of the Needle very much and agree that the Twilight Time Blu-ray is excellent.

Interesting to read both your comments and those in Matt’s review, highlighting the score by Miklos Rózsa. I felt that this particular score was one of the film’s few weaknesses.

It sounds overly melodramatic to me - almost soap opera - at certain critical points in proceedings, detracting from the finely escalating tension of the screenplay. I say this despite Mr Rózsa being among my favourite film composers.

That aside, a riveting film with powerful central performances, and for me the TT Blu-ray was worth every penny.
 

Douglas R

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2000
Messages
2,941
Location
London, United Kingdom
Real Name
Doug
I also like Eye of the Needle very much and agree that the Twilight Time Blu-ray is excellent.

Interesting to read both your comments and those in Matt’s review, highlighting the score by Miklos Rózsa. I felt that this particular score was one of the film’s few weaknesses.

It sounds overly melodramatic to me - almost soap opera - at certain critical points in proceedings, detracting from the finely escalating tension of the screenplay. I say this despite Mr Rózsa being among my favourite film composers.

That aside, a riveting film with powerful central performances, and for me the TT Blu-ray was worth every penny.

I've always thought EYE OF THE NEEDLE fairy mediocre in plot, conception, dialogue and direction. What elevates the film above the average is Miklos Rozsa's splendid music! :)
 

RMajidi

Premium
Joined
Feb 8, 2015
Messages
1,549
Location
Australia
Real Name
Ramin
I've always thought EYE OF THE NEEDLE fairy mediocre in plot, conception, dialogue and direction. What elevates the film above the average is Miklos Rozsa's splendid music! :)

Haha - well I think you stink!

No, but seriously, it’s not the quality of the music that I’m questioning, but how the score’s dramatic ‘tada’ tendency gives away various key points without subtlety or understatement.

This film is more thriller than war movie, and for me, the hair-raising moments in a thriller ought not to be sign-posted so clearly by the music. Too big a musical nudge-nudge, wink-wink in the lead-up and resolution to those moments.
 
Last edited:

benbess

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2009
Messages
5,644
Real Name
Ben
This may sound weird, but IMHO both RM and DR are right—"from a certain point of view" (as Ben Kenobi once said).

I love composer Miklos Rozsa's music for the movies, but it is sometimes strong in its emphasis. That's one of the things I like about it, actually, but way back in 1945 with Spellbound—as wonderful as that score is—sometimes it's maybe a little over-the-top.

The music for Eye of the Needle is in some ways sparingly used, in that sometimes there's no music at all for some long stretches of the movie. But when it comes in, it's sometimes strong—which, as mentioned, was something Rozsa was known for going back to the start of his amazing career. And the music here could almost have been from a 1940s movie (which as the audio commentary mentions may be the reason he was selected the score in the first place), but in a movie from 1981 it seems maybe a little bit jarring because it doesn't sound like most scores from the early 80s.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest Articles

Forum statistics

Threads
356,710
Messages
5,121,107
Members
144,146
Latest member
SaladinNagasawa
Recent bookmarks
1
Top