Movie Reviews for Damn the Defiant!

Damn the Defiant!

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Movie Reviews of Damn the Defiant!

Movie Review: Excellent story of the age of wooden ships and iron men!
Summary: 4 Stars

This is a fine story of life aboard a British naval vessel during the Napoleonic wars. Alec Guiness stars as the enlightened and thoughtful captain, Dirk Bogarde is the cruel and hard first lieutenant (executive officer). The two are locked in a battle of wills and leadership concerning the means by which the ship will be commanded. The captain believes that a happy ship is an efficient ship, and seeks to lead by inspiration. The first lieutenant believes in merciless discipline, reinforced with his sadistic love of inflicting punishment. This conflict is complicated by the fact that the men of the British fleet are plotting the famous Spithead mutinies, and the first lieutenant has influential friends in London. This is a very interesting story of leadership and conflict.

The storyline moves along smartly most of the time, and the acting is quite good. The special effects are very good--no "bathtub ships" or battles. Guiness does his customary excellent job in his role as captain, although I personally thought he might have exerted more personal force than he did; his leadership style as portrayed in the film is somewhat understated. Bogarde is excellent as the villainous first lieutenant--you'll hate him by the end of the movie.

This is a fine movie worth watching more than once.

Movie Review: Fantastic War Flick!!
Summary: 4 Stars

This is a great war movie. Alec Guinness as a beleaguered sea captain dealing with an upstart first officer and a potential mutiny is a great mix for drama and adventure. While this film is may not be quite on par with some more notable war films, no one who likes the genre will be disappointed. Dirk Bogarde is excellent as the upstart first officer and he plays the character so well that he fills you with loathing towards the end. A fine job of acting by a fine British actor. The film also has a great supporting cast that includes Anthony Quayle. I really enjoyed this film and hope readers are not put off by the somewhat steep price and are curious enough to shell out the extra cash and see it.

Four stars plus.

Movie Review: Damn the Defiant!
Summary: 4 Stars

This movie is good, if dated. It's easy to get spoiled by the more current "Horatio HOrnblower" series, but this would be a good precursor. The service from the provider was excellent.

Mike

Movie Review: Down with the Defiant; Up with Morale....?
Summary: 3 Stars

As a bookseller, there are always customers that are on the hunt for the newest (or oldest) nautical adventures. In a world dominated by Jack Aubrey and Horatio Hornblower, it is easy to forget the others that forge the same path. Luckily, there is a little film out there entitled "H.M.S. Defiant" (or "Damn the Defiant" for those non-Brits out there) which dismally explores the world of pre-union sea faring days. With horrid living standards, spoiled food, and tensions leading to rebellious shipmates, "H.M.S. Defiant" is not only a film that de-sugars the myth of living on a naval ship, but also keeps the audience in such close quarters that the claustrophobia oozes right from the screen into your living room. It is a powerful film that takes you below deck and plants you deep within the world, giving you the details of a mutiny, the engaging warfare that takes place, and the destructive nature of both a good captain and a violent one. This isn't a film for everyone, the underdeveloped pre-story forces you to try to understand why these men were being rounded up and why this mutiny would need to happen - but it doesn't take long. Outside of Alec Guinness and Dirk Bogarde (who both are fabulous respectively), the rest of our cast is rather thin and at times, too cliche. Yet, "H.M.S. Defiant" stands proud, it isn't the most remarkable sea-faring film out there - but it keeps pace well, giving us a equal helping of action and emotion.

To this viewer, "H.M.S. Defiant" worked because of Guinness and Bogarde's repertoire towards each other as well as to the other crew. The counter nature of both of these men, one the reliant, steadfast, determined iconic Captain, the other a violent-ridden, order defiant, angry Lieutenant keeps you glued to the screen, pending whatever their next move may be. Director Lewis Gilbert realizes the power of these actors and chooses to use everything on the ship as his cache of weapons between them; from Guinness' child, to French ships, to the constant unknown threat of a mutiny, nothing is spared as either Guinness or Bogarde debate nautical semantics. Every action pushes these two characters apart, from disagreeing on destination to how to discipline the crew. Which further demonstrates Gilbert's ability behind the camera, not only do you have these two strong actors creating their own tension above and below the ship, but then he builds sympathy for the crew. He does this by providing us with little information, by making us impartial to the actions - but away of the consequences. Take for example that first scene where the shipmate holds his fists up to the Lieutenant, an action that would typically require six-dozen lashes. In that one scene alone, we are witness to the evil of Bogarde, the strong yet sympathetic Guinness, and the mere chaos of the crew. Within this scene, the taste of this ship is experienced, and yet we are only slightly prepared for what is going to occur in the upcoming scenes.

While I applaud Gilbert's use of all of these elements to give us a stronger, more human element to this craft - the "H.M.S. Defiant" isn't a perfect film. There are trouble spots. One happens to be the lack of development between these smaller shipmate characters. Yes, the Bogarde's violence does allow us to build sympathy towards them - but that is all. The random aside about the doctor being a drunk is evidence that not much thought went into creating whole characters. The anger towards Bogarde by a singular shipmate, blinded by anything else, was not only thick foreshadowing (who didn't see that coming), but again, was this man's only characteristic. The faux-gentleman lawyer, who suddenly had a plethora of knowledge about the law, was another stunning example. Characters, instead of given names, were handed abilities to carry the story. It was as if Gilbert was determined to have Guinness and Bogarde as our only defined characters, yet still have emotion behind this inevitable mutiny. There was no need to pull the story into more than two hours, but definitions were needed to solidify the "Defiant". Also, while the battle scenes were intense, the editing of each battle was sloppy. During the battles, one couldn't help but rewind to see who was where and fighting whom. Was Gilbert testing the nature of chaos battles on the sea, or just haphazard with his direction. Gilbert could manage some moments admirably, others - seemed to falter to the wayside.

FILM: This was a great movie to watch late at night and to demonstrate the power of both Guinness and Bogarde. This wasn't a big movie, but they both put so much emotion into their roles, that it became this classic tale of good versus evil. Gilbert told his story well, despite some major flaws.

VISUAL: The battle scenes were blurry, but I think that was due to budgetary restraints. The transfer to this DVD was surprisingly well. The colors (in short supply) did come through and those long shots of the ships were impressive to see. The built claustrophobia was an added benefit to this film.

SOUND: Decent. Nothing to write home about. The cannons were loud, but not quite surround. The battle scenes were lacking in the swashbuckling.

EXTRAS: Again, nothing much - but for a DVD of this era, what could you do? Some nostalgic previews (retro one could say) with some actor bios in the page format, and rounding it out the ever popular trailer. Again, nothing much - but better than most.

Overall, I enjoyed the experience of "H.M.S. Defiant" though I doubt I would watch again. If I had anyone ask me what film (outside of "Star Wars") they could watch Guinness perform, I would say either "Great Expectations" or this. He, coupled with Bogarde was intensely satisfying. While I hated the missed opportunity to develop the minor characters, these two primed actors carried this film. The action was strong, the emotion was high, and those darn whippings were tough - but it just wasn't enough to make this anything but a standard film. I liked what I saw, but I don't think I could enjoy it again.

Grade: *** out of *****