Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Yash Wade Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Kimball Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

bkoganbing The Eagle casts screen legend Rudolph Valentino as a young member of the Imperial Guard of Catherine the Great in the 18th century. The first third of the film has Rudy dodging the Empress who wants to make him her latest boy toy. But the prospect of bedding the old girl doesn't please him although that guaranteed advancement in her court. Catherine is played in appropriate regal style by Louise Dresser.Word from home is that a usurper has taken over the estate that Valentino's family had for generations so he takes leave of Catherine's court to investigate the matter. Another member of the minor nobility James Marcus is now living in Valentino's family digs and living it up in fine style. He even keeps a bear on a big chain in the wine cellar to amuse himself by sending guests down there and watch them perform involuntary body functions. Gives you an idea of his sense of humor.Valentino takes on the guise of The Black Eagle, a Zorro like Cossack with mask who wreaks havoc on the new estate master. But when Valentino catches sight of Marcus's daughter Vilma Banky his sense of mission is compromised. He then takes on the guise of a French tutor hired by Marcus for his daughter. Back in those days French was the official court language in most of Europe and it was considered the height of education to speak it.Banky and Valentino certainly do create a nice chemistry. They would do so again in Son Of The Sheik, Valentino's last film which was a year later.If you can spot him one of Valentino's masked Cossack band is Gary Cooper still doing extra and bit parts in films. His discovery was a year away. This was a fine example of Rudolph Valentino's great sex appeal on screen and one of his best films. A great introduction to him.

Claudio Carvalho When the horses of a coach with two ladies speed after a shot, the Czarina Catherine II (Louise Dresser) sees the young Lieutenant Vladimir Dubrovsky (Rudolph Valentino) rescuing the ladies. She invites Dubrovsky to have dinner with her, but he is sexually harassed by the czarina and flees from the palace. He receives a letter from his father telling that he had been evicted from his lands by the corrupt Kyrilla Troekouroff (James Marcus). Meanwhile the czarina issues an arrest warrant authorizing the arrest of Dubrovsky dead or alive. Dubrovsky heads to his home town, but his father dies and he promises revenge against Kyrilla. He wears a mask and is called "The Black Eagle", and leads a group of unsatisfied men to fight against Kyrilla, stealing from the riches to deliver to the poor. However, when he meets Kyrilla's daughter Miss Mascha Troekouroff (Vilma Banky), Dubrovsky falls in love with her. Dubrovsky needs to rethink and choose between "eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth" and his love for Mascha."The Eagle" is a melodramatic and romantic silent movie with a hero that is a combination of Zorro and Robin Hood. The plot is entertaining and well constructed but it is funny to see, for example, Dubrovsky forgetting his friends and his promise to kill the man that stole the lands of his father that died after just because he is in love with Kyrilla's daughter. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "A Águia" ("The Eagle")

MartinHafer During the last six months or so, I have seen at least a dozen of Valentino's films--probably more. And apart from THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALPSE, this is probably his best film among them. Unlike THE SHEIK and SON OF THE SHEIK, this film seemed to have aged pretty well and I enjoyed the film immensely. In so many ways, the film made Valentino seem less like a prissy male lead, but a more Errol Flynn or Douglas Fairbanks-like character--handsome but rugged and manly. He played a character much like Robin Hood, but instead of stealing from the rich, he and his band of kin attacked the forces of an evil Russian family that has stripped them of their land and fortune and he nicknames himself "The Eagle". And, while Valentino had every reason to want to kill the patriarch of this clan, not unexpectedly for a Valentino film, the evil man has a sweet and beautiful daughter--who is destined to fall the Eagle. All-in-all, a nice blending of romance, adventure and sentiment into a timeless movie that is still very watchable today. Good stuff.

Jim Tritten Enjoyable adaptation of Russian novel for American screen with well-polished Rudolf Valentino as the former Czarist officer who extracts revenge as the "Black Eagle" against the landowner who cheated his father. Valentino performs macho acts and is not cast only as a ladies man. Excellent directing by Clarence Brown, good re-writing to fit an American audience, some tricky camera shots, and wonderful sets add to the enjoyment of this very good film. Vilma Banky sizzles as the beautiful romantic interest that makes the erstwhile thief select love over vengeance. This is the next to the last time that we see Valentino. Gary Cooper (uncredited) appears as one of the masked cossacks -- you will never find him. Recommended.