Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2026 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-03-16
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 113 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Eagle Eye reteams Shia LaBeouf with his Disturbia director D J Caruso, and the two of them prove once more that they know how to knock out a decent thriller. Kicking off with lots of serious faces, military advisors and a decision to make about whether to bomb a target or not, this quick, brutal introduction not only kick starts the plot developments, but it also brings in the advanced technology that underpins much of what Eagle Eye does. Not that it’s all that plausible, but it’s the kind of film that very much rewards turning your brain down a notch, and being willing to sit back to be entertained.

Should you do that, then Eagle Eye is a very enjoyable tech-thriller, that papers over its cracks by racing out of the traps at speed, and never really looking back. Fortunately, it remembers to keep you entertained as it does so, and Shia LaBeouf already eats roles like this up in his sleep. The plot of Eagle Eye finds LaBeouf’s character receiving a mobile phone call with strict instructions to do exactly what he’s told, else things are going to go very wrong, very quickly. Michelle Monaghan is in a similar position, and the pair of them find themselves caught up in a sinister plot that we won’t be spoiling for you here.

Now granted, you can drive trucks through some of the plot holes here, and likewise, there’s ground covered here that Cellular did perfectly well. Yet Eagle Eye is what it is: solid blockbuster entertainment, starring a man whose star is very much on the rise. It might be a hard film to love, but it’s equally hard not to enjoy it. --Jon Foster

Synopsis
After the success of Disturbia, director D.J. Caruso and star Shia LaBeouf reunite for this thriller costarring Michelle Monaghan, Rosario Dawson, Anthony Mackie, and Billy Bob Thornton. In Eagle Eye, an elaborate murder plot and its evil conspirator ensnare a pair of innocent people.

Customer Reviews

The Tail that wags the Dog . .
The film opens in I presume the Middle East, but we're never told for sure. A spy plane locates a high priority terrorist target and the data is relayed to the Pentagon. The super-computer (ARIIA) is only 51% sure it is the wanted man. The President is called and gives the kill command, preferring to go with the local intel, over-riding ARIIA and his Secretary of Defence in the process. The target is duly terminated.

Back to Manhattan where copy clerk Jerry Shaw (La Beouf) returns home from his brother's funeral to find $750 000 in his bank account but worse, his room full of explosives and military hardware. A mysterious lady caller tells him he has 30 seconds to exit before the Feds arrive and the frame is complete. Paralegal Rachel Holloman is called by the same lady and told to look across the street to the TV screens in MacDonald's. They show her young son innocently sitting on the train and she is thus forced against her will to join Jerry to aid his escape and await further instructions.

Thus begins a cat and mouse chase as the two are sent across the US to the Pentagon, aided by green traffic lights, robotic cranes, neon street signs, you name it. Somebody is controlling them all and the FBI, led by Agent Morgan (the excellent Billy Bob Thornton) are always playing catch-up, with the "cyber-terrorist" literally opening the right doors to keep his charges one step ahead. But why Jerry Shaw and Rachel Holloman? You are kept guessing as to who would need these two innocent civilians and more importantly why. It is not immediately obvious but the answer is mind-blowing even though the path that leads us there does stretch credibility massively. However, do not forget this is a M O V I E !

Eagle Eye is very "Enemy of the State", a real techno-thriller updated for the popcorn generation but I do not say that in a derogatory way. Sit back and enjoy it as I did, it's an action packed, CGI roller coaster of a ride with a provocative, if far-fetched plot. Good performances all round, LaBeouf shines again although Monaghan doesn't bring a great deal to the party and like most blokes, I would have been happy to have seen him teamed up with Transformers totty Megan Fox again :o)

After watching this, you may start thinking "Do I REALLY need to have my mobile phone with me EVERY second of EVERY day?"

Preposterous but fun
Shia LaBeouf isn't your typical action hero, but he seems to be carving out a bit of a niche for himself of late. Eagle Eye isn't remotely intelligent or realistic, but it's jolly good fun.

To be honest, it's a cut and paste job of several films - but all of those films are good, so perhaps that's not a bad thing. Take a pinch of Enemy of the State, add a dash of I, Robot, garnish it with a sprig or several of Transformers and you've got yourself a high-falutin' example of mindless cinematic crashbangwallop.

LaBoeuf and Monaghan's characters are both contacted, independently, by an anonymous voice on the phone who, for various reasons, isn't someone they can escape from. Naturally they (both recently single, incidentally) come together and, on her orders, proceed to run around, drive very fast and shout a lot for an hour or 2.

Initially, you get the feeling they're trying to make a valuable socio-politicial statement about how surveilled we are and how easy it is for the government to invade our privacy and alter the paths of our lives on an arbitrary whim. They're not. They rapidly eschew the commentary silliness in favour of some good old fashioned super-computer shenanigans. Unfortunately, I think it does itself a great disservice in this regard, as it veers slightly drunkenly into A Space Odyssey territory, and finds itself lying prostrate at the feet of its superior.

But it's still jolly likeable; an afternoon snack that temporarily staves off the cravings for the next Transformers installment.

An action packed mixture of "Enemy of the State" meets "War Games".
Shia Labeouf teams up once again with director D.J. Caruso ("Disturbia") for this explosive roller coaster ride of action and tension that from the start has you watching in anticipation to see how the story plays out.

The story is focussed on two strangers who are forced into a tense and violent situation when they become pawns in a major game of cat and mouse (they being the mice, and the government being the cats). They don't know what's happening, but do know that if they don't comply their loved ones are at risk. Shia Labeouf plays "Jerry", a confident, quick thinking fast talker (as like all his other films) who is unwillingly thrown into a terrorist plot. Jerry is stalked with the emotional strain of his family relationships, and in particular his relationship with his brother Ethan. Michelle Monaghan plays a Para-legal single mum who's blackmailed in helping Jerry to what ends...no-one knows?

And so it begins, one trail of quick escapes, adrenaline rush chases and the committed Billy Bob Thorton playing FBI agent Morgan tracking down the escaped duo and trying to make sense of this bizarre string of events. With a strict political presence, terrorist threats imminent and 101 other things in the mix, the sophisticated defence computer is a major player in resolving all the loose ends.

I found the style and resemblance to this movie similar to Enemy of the State, with the surveillance style of gadgetry utilised in tracking down movements and locations. The filming is fast, as is the action, and this movie totally is a non-stop race with twists and turns at every corner.

It's a clever technological driven movie, that drives forward with such pace that it's worth watching and definitely an edge of your seat watch.