"The Eiger Sanction" received mixed reviews upon its theatrical release. The general reaction among many reviewers offered criticism for the story and screenplay, and praise for the climbing footage and action sequences. "Variety" concluded, "Eastwood ... manages fine suspense both in the Swiss and Monument Valley climbs, as well as delineation of character. His direction displays a knowledge that permits rugged action." "The New York Times" reviewer described the film as "a long, foolish but never boring suspense melodrama" that compensates for its plot shortcomings with "stunning" climbing sequences that look "difficult and very beautiful". In his review in the "Chicago Sun-Times", Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars, writing, "It has a plot so unlikely and confused that we can't believe it for much more than 15 seconds at a time, but its action sequences are so absorbing and its mountaintop photography so compelling that we don't care ... and so we get wrapped up in the situations, and we're seduced by the photography, and we enjoy the several pretty girls who happen along in the hero's path, and if the plot doesn't make any sense well, no movie's perfect." "Playboy" magazine described the film as "a James Bond reject." Some critics were less forgiving, such as Joy Gould Boyum of "The Wall Street Journal", who complained that the film "situates villainy in homosexuals and physically disabled men", and Pauline Kael of "New York" magazine, who described the film as "a total travesty".