When Eagles Strike

Plot

A group of American commandos go on a mission to save American politicians who were kidnapped and held on a forgotten Malaysian island. Tough-guy lieutenant Andrew Peers commands the group. During the mission it's revealed there's a traitor in the ranks of the team. Consequently, American soldiers are betrayed and captured by the opponents, who then interrogate and brutally torture team's lead Andrew.

Production and release

The film was shot on the Philippines (including Manila and Subic Bay) early in 2003, with shoots starting in February. American as well as Filipino actors were cast in the film, with ex-bodybuilder Christian Boeving taking the lead. Boeving makes his own stunts during the filming. The actor based his image in film (muscular commando) on Arnold Schwarzenegger's image from the late 80's. There was alternative edition of the interrogation-torture scene, which includes Boeving being tortured shirtlessly, longer, and with more violent manner, in tribute to cult classic action film Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) infamous Sylvester Stallone's torture sequence. The scene was cut out of the film's final version.

When Eagles Strike was released on June 11, 2003 in the Philippines. Then the project was released directly-to-DVD in such countries as Russia (under the title Когда орел атакует), Brasil (as O Ataque dos Águias; the film was tagged as based on true story right there), and Japan (as Codename Eagle). In April 2004 the film was released on DVD in the United States. The movie was released as Black Hawk Down sequel in Taiwan.

Reception

The film received mixed to generally negative critical reception, currently holding 40% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Scott Weinberg from eFilmCritic.com concluded: "One might be tempted to classify this movie as 'ripped from the headlines' when in fact 'ripped from the trash heap' would be an infinitely more accurate assessment. (...) If (...) you're looking for a solid war movie, just keep on walkin'." Weinberg called his review of When Eagles Strike "Where's John Rambo when we need him", and awarded the film one star out of four.

Sequel

A sequel, When Eagles Strike 2 − Mission: Survive, was written and supposed to filmed in 2004 as a television film, but the project was canceled. Lieutenant Andrew Peers was the main character once again.