Fantastic!

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Dear Kate Nelligan, your presence and performance made this above average spy thriller set during the second world war, worth a watch. Your were nice to look at what with your buxom presence and winning manner. You were perfectly cast as a frustrated British wife whose husband is a paraplegic. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the male lead - Donald Sutherland as the sinister German spy who wins you over. I wish they had cast someone more charming. It is not that Sutherland is a bad actor. But he could not pull off the leading role and carry the film. I can only wonder what the film would have been in the hands of a better director and editor. It is obviously a film of place. We do get a good look around the island. The scenes when Sutherland's character is on the run were quite entertaining and shot in some very beautiful places. But so much could have been done with this material. The film deserves a remake. Best Regards, Pimpin. (6/10)

This is a WWII espionage thriller. The story in the movie moves very fast until it gets to Storm Island where things slow down a bit. The focus is on Donald Sutherland's character, then on Storm Island, when it should have been followed more, particularly how he got to Storm Island. The ending of the book was eliminated. I thought adding the ending of the book and how the ending came to, would have added a more of a personal love for what was going to happen to all of the characters. I was wanting for the demise of Faber more because I knew what Lucy was going through and who she would meet in the end of the story. The A story moved fast and didn't fit with the B story at first. The B story wasn't strong at first. When it came together it seemed thrown together. In the book it came together better.

Wonderful World War 11 thriller with Donald Sutherland and Kate Nelligan providing fine chemistry and two people brought together by fate, he is a German spy trying to get back to Germany with information about D-Day and she is trapped in a bad marriage with a husband who lost his legs on their wedding day.There is a wonderful score by Miklos Rosza in this film. It provides crescendo similar to that of Rosza's Oscar-winning scoring of "Ben-Hur" in 1959. With this theme, you can immediately identify it as a work of Miklos Rosza. His distinct style of musical scoring has yet to be topped.Sutherland is terrific as the spy who was supposedly revered by Hitler himself. A loner who is vicious to the core, his soft-spoken facade masks a killer beyond belief. Nelligan, looking for love, thinks that she has found it until she realizes that Sutherland has killed her husband.The tension builds to a climatic ending where the Nelligan character has done the allies a tremendous service.

Though the story stretches the limits of credibility, "Eye of the Needle" is so well played, it's easy to go along with this joy ride. There's lots of suspense, especially in the second half when it all comes down to a classic stormy night with a mad killer on the loose. The contrivance to get to that point is thoughtfully conceived, well executed and quite convincing. In the role of "The Needle," Donald Sutherland is in his element as a menacing psychopath, who turns out to have a tiny soft spot. Kate Nelligan shows lots of range as the lonely, frustrated and ultimately heroic keeper of the kingdom. Nicely directed by Richard Marquand ("Jagged Edge"," another taut thriller) with enough jolts throughout to keep us on the edge of our seats. Beautiful scenery of the Scottish coast helps set the mood. Also notable is one of the final scores by the great Miklos Rozsa – nothing groundbreaking, but Rozsa sure knew how to add impact with music. This is a fine film that can be enjoyed by those who don't even like war movies.