Region 4 Winners and Losers

    The Eagle Has Landed was originally released in theatres with a running time of 135 minutes which was cut to 123 mins (NTSC) for its US release. It was this version which was released in the UK on DVD (118 mins PAL). There is also an Artisan Region 1 bare bones release at 131 minutes (NTSC).

     A Region 2 ITV Special Edition 2 Disc DVD set was released in 2004. It contains both the full Theatrical version and the Extended version running 145 minutes (PAL). There is also a single disc Region 2 special edition that contains the 135 minute cut plus interviews with Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland, John Sturges, location reports and deleted scenes.

     There is no Blu-ray version available in Region A and the UK Region B Blu-ray (which I own) is identical to this Australian release, down to the incorrect packaging that states the film is 118 minutes and has a mono audio. This is wrong - it too is 135 minutes and has Dolby Digital 2.0. Neither Blu-ray includes any of the extras available in the ITV DVD Special Edition. For extras and the extended version Region 2 DVD wins. However, if Blu-ray is what you want it is a draw.