Das Auge des Adlers

I saw this film under the title The Terrorists, dubbed into English, panned and scanned, and in a dark print. Needless to say, these are not the ideal conditions to watch any film.

I wanted to see The Terrorists because Barry Prima was supposed to be in it. However, Prima does not show up until the final half-hour. He is certainly not the lead character. Come to think of it, I am not sure who was supposed to be the lead character.

The film begins with security officials discussing the rise of terrorism and identifying two people who might know more about the terrorists. One of these suspects is recruiting for a criminal enterprise. A businessman, hurting for money, wants the thugs to blow up his buildings so that he can collect on the insurance. However, the job does not go smoothly, and the criminals find themselves on the run, ending up crashing into a hospital. The film's second half has the criminals grabbing patients and doctors and holding them in exchange for money and a helicopter. Meanwhile, the bombs that the criminals had failed to plant are still ticking away.

I was surprised by the hospital setting, since The Terrorists is five years before John Woo's Hardboiled. In fact, the film has an eighties Hong Kong feel (the film was a co-production). However, the action scenes and special effects are not as good as in a typical Hong Kong action film of that period.

The Terrorists meanders for much of the first half, and the whole film feels a bit lacking. The Terrorists is not essential viewing. However, on a cold, dull, lazy afternoon (like today was) it will do as a time waster.