Its set-up establishes a pulpy, espionage-based plot similar to something out of a Moore-era Bond flick (except with a slightly colder protagonist and a much more cynical view of the government), but the rest of 'The Eiger Sanction (1975)' doesn't really live up to this premise. It initially seems like typical 'assassin brought out of retirement' sort of stuff, with Eastwood's hitman having to take on one final mission to appease his cartoonishly albino former boss, but it the transitions almost totally into a mountain climbing movie. Its second act sees its hero train for the climb that takes up its entire third and, though both are occasionally interrupted by more conventional action elements, they sort of overtake the initially established narrative. Don't get me wrong, some of these sequences are rather arresting in themselves and the fact that Eastwood did most of his own climbing helps with that. The mountaineering and assassination elements come together in a somewhat unconventional final movement that pulls an age-old bait-and-switch but does it with poise. The overall experience is entertaining, if uneven and often somewhat slow. 6/10
Review of The Eiger Sanction
