Damn the Defiant!
|
List Price: Our Price: $8.85 You Save: $6.10 (41%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $8.78 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Damn the Defiant!
Movie Review: "Rule Britannia Rule the Waves"!
Summary: 5 Stars
"HMS Defiant" (Aka "Damn the Defiant" 1962) is an extraordinary, yet underrated, "wooden ships" film!
As good as "Captain Horatio Hornblower" (1951) or more recent "Master & Commander" (2003)
This film has everything to constitute a very good film: experienced director and crew, great actors and excellent special effects (done without all more recent paraphernalia).
First we'll take a look to film's crew, director Lewis Gilbert, cinematography director Christopher Callis, special effects supervisor Howard Lydecker and music score composer Clifton Parker. All of them had teamed before to produce "Sink the Bismarck" (1960) a "war at sea" movie.
Londoner Lewis Gilbert has delivered, before and after, this movie some other great films as "Alfie" (1966), "Educating Rita" (1983) and "Shirley Valentine" (1989).
Actor's performances are just outstanding. Alec Guinness characterization of Capt. Crawford is in line with his best dramatic feats as his Col. Nicholson in "The Bridge on the River Kwai" (1957) or the Cardinal in "The Prisoner" (1955).
Dirk Bogarde as wicked and sadistic 1st Lt. Scott-Padget instills his character with a subtle dose of evilness that will make you to desire fervently to see him punished.
Anthony Quayle as sailor's rebel leader delivers a forceful piece.
The rest of the cast offers a good supporting level.
The story is situated during the Napoleonic War aboard an English war ship. Capt. Crawford is an aging unassuming veteran that will clash with ruthless and cruel 1st Lt. Scott Padget in a will contest of how to lead a vessel and his crew.
At the same time "Defiant"'s crew is enrolled in the historical fleet mutiny against violence and abuse.
The first part of the film shows different personal conflicts among the characters and will end with three spectacular sea battles full of action and realism.
Wooden ship lovers should not miss this movie!
Reviewed by Max Yofre.
Movie Review: Discipline against synergy!
Summary: 5 Stars
This towering film deals with the role and the meaning of the authority. Two opposites sides of the coin: one of them bets for the option B according Taylor's theory : the human being must be led and punished due they are lazy, unproductive and disinterested in the work,in this sense Dirk Bogarde is the officer absolutely convinced about this; and his methods are extremely cruel and merciless. The discipline in excess is to my view an evident symptom of mental insanity; and I agree with Freud when he affirms the violence in the human being is an exteriorization of a self destructive instinct: And the distance between violence and the excessive discipline is so close that overlap one each other behind mesmerizing words.
Alec Guiness represents the humanitarian side of the leadership. He knows that the best results can be obtained with discipline and a bit of left hand: a light and permissive relationship in which the joy can be part of the command chain.
Both visions will face in multiple areas; Bogarde disobeys elemental orders, assumes personal considerations about the navigation speed, the final goal of the assigned mission, inflames the ego of the men under his command arguing possible promotions in case certain norms be lightly readapted, he exerts a psychological pressure over Guiness exaggerating the punishment on his own child Mr. Crawford.
And finally we have a third disturbance element: the workers leader: Anthony Quayle who plans to generate a mutiny on board.
As you see, we have a circle script, in the purest tradition of the British state of mind: Remember Ronald Neame's Tunes of Glory of 1959 , the famous Kubrick ' s Paths of Glory or Billy Budd.
An unforgettable movie; supported by a great scrip, superb cast , magnificent action sequences and edition work, a permanent lesson about the Management role in the life of the organizations and far beyond a life lesson.
Movie Review: In the tradition of Hornblower
Summary: 5 Stars
Damn the Defiant is built around a true incident, the "Spithead Mutiny" of the British Channel Fleet during the war with France in 1797. British sailors rose up in a mostly peaceful rebellion against the abominable conditions in which they were forced to serve. The movie, based on the novel "Mutiny" by Frank Tilsley, tells the story of the frigate Defiant, on a solitary mission deep into the French held Mediterrean Sea. The crew, already involved in the planning for the fleet-wide mutiny, suffer under the lash of the ship's sadistic First Lieutenant (Dirk Bogarde), while the Captain (Alec Guinness) is incapacitated, first by the torture of his son and then by the loss of his arm in a battle with a French frigate. But the good triumph in the end, as is right. It is a surprisingly complex story with well developed characters, but it delivers plenty of action as well. The battle scenes are well done, though the final action with a fire ship is too clearly model work. The DVD provides a fine viewing experience. The video is generally very good. The picture is soft occasionally and the rich colors become over-saturated in a few brief instances, but I did not find any of these flaws too distracting, and it is far better than my old VHS recording. The sound is very full and the dialogue was always clear and never overwhelmed. Obviously, a movie this old is not going to provide the same kind of audio as a contemporary film, but I found no serious fault with it. I highly recommend Damn the Defiant to any fan of naval adventure in the age of sail, as typified by Horatio Hornblower.Movie Review: Even better in the DVD version!
Summary: 5 Stars
First I'll repeat what I wrote in my review of the VHS version of "Damn the Defiant!": "There aren't a lot of movies about the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, despite the popularity of novels such as those written by Patrick O'Brian and C.S. Forester, but "Damn the Defiant" is an action film far above average. Not only does it boast fine acting by Alec Guiness and Dirk Bogard, it presents an unusually realistic look at life aboard a warship in the Age of Fighting Sail. If you like Jack Aubrey and Horatio Hornblower, then this is a movie you shouldn't miss.""
And I will now state that the DVD version is even better. It presents both the "widescreen" as well as the clipped "full screen" versions (the VHS has only the "full screen") and visually the "widescreen" is much more impressive, giving an even better impression of life aboard a sailing man of war. If you are at all interested in this era of history, this DVD is a real keeper!
Movie Review: In the Tradition of O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series
Summary: 5 Stars
Alex Guinness stars as the newly appointed captain of the Defiant, a ship in distress because of the oh-so-evil first mate played by Dirk Borgarde. At first unwilling to believe the rumors of his first officer's nefarious ways, the captain attempts to give the First Officer the benefit of the doubt. Unfortunately, it soon becomes apparent that Defiant is NOT a happy ship, and his new first officer is entirely to blame.
Flogging, abuse, and a impending mutiny threaten to destabilize the Defiant. Can the captain appease the mutineers or will he (and his son), pay the ultimate price.
I thoroughly enjoyed Damn the Defiant! This was an entertaining movie with a cast of great characters. My only peeve? By the end of the film I really, really hated the first officer. I really wanted him to SUFFER for what he did to the crew. In my opinion, he got off a bit too easily.
Overall, an excellent film, which will appeal to those who like Horatio Hornblower or Master and Commander.