Defense of the Realm
List Price:
Our Price: $4.94
You Save: $10.04 (67%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.87 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Denholm Elliott, Fulton Mackay, Gabriel Byrne, Greta Scacchi, Ian BannenBrand: Sony
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 96 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-06-03
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Movie Reviews of Defense of the Realm
Movie Review: When National Security is at risk, no-one stands in the way
Summary: 5 Stars
This could have been a plot for MI-5 (and probably was) but has an eery air of reality about it. Although the beginning of the film harks back to a 1960's scandal (no pun intended but see the movie Scandal), it has links with another recent movie, Bank Job.
There are similarities too, with the events of 1986, when US planes from a base in Britain bombed Libya.
This film is made with an all star cast and some compelling plots and sub-plots. The political links between newspaper proprietors and politicians and the British establishment are sketched out alluding to the covert meetings in gentleman's clubs. More sinister are the covert operations and the fine lines of distinction between the regular police and Britain's Security forces. It is hard not to think of the allegations of skullduggery surrounding the Princess Diana affair when the bombblast destroys the reporter's flat.
This thriller evokes a very suspense atmosphere which can almost be felt, particularly when the journalist is released from the clutches of the security forces after their interrogation into the chilly London dawn.
I could go on but would rather encourage others to watch this exceelent film.
Summary of Defense of the Realm
"Taut, extremely entertaining" (Leonard Maltin) and laden with suspense, this fast-moving chiller stars Gabriel Byrne as a Cold War reporter who discovers that free speech comes at a deadly price. Co-starring Greta Scacchi and Denholm Elliott, Defense of the Realm is "electrifying, terrifying" and will leave you "limp from controlled tension" (Los Angeles Times)! When a tawdry sex scandal links a high-ranking British politician to a Russian KGB agent, ambitious newsman Nick Mullen (Byrne) swiftly gets the story on Page One. But when his scoop-of-the-decade begins to unravel the cover-up-of-the-century Â? involving military secrets, nuclear weapons and government murders Â? Mullen and the politician's beautiful secretary (Scacchi) finds themselves ensnared in a web of deadly intrigueÂ...where every move could be their last!In the politically charged atmosphere of Margaret Thatcher's Britain, newspaper reporters are hungry for the big story that will make them stars and their newspapers famous. Nick Mullen (Gabriel Byrne in his first starring role) is one such reporter for the London Daily Dispatch. A top member of Parliament (Ian Bannen) is the focus of the latest political scandal: he has been photographed with a prostitute who is known to have Russian contacts. Nick barrels into the scandal full-bore, despite warnings from his mentor (a deft Denholm Elliott). Nick receives a tip that makes his story a front-page item and he quickly becomes a celebrity himself. But as he soon discovers, there is much more to the story than he imagined. Director David Drury (Prime Suspect 3) keeps this highly complex, John le Carré-esque story moving swiftly. The clues are hard to find at times, but it is not because the story is told unclearly; rather, the filmmakers have decided that audiences can think for themselves and piece together the information along with Nick. An overlooked and truly entertaining thinking person's film. --Doug Thomas
Similar DVD Movies
Case HistoriesAcorn; Release date: 2011-11-08; DVD
Best price: $25.34
Price in other shops:
Edge of Darkness: The Complete BBC SeriesWarner Brothers; Release date: 2009-11-03; DVD
Best price: $24.34
Price in other shops:
Masterpiece Classic: Downton Abbey Season 2 (Original U.K. Unedited Edition)PBS; Release date: 2012-02-07; DVD
Best price: $19.99
Price in other shops:
The Odessa FileIMG; Release date: 2010-12-07; DVD
Best price: $4.73
Price in other shops:
The Ghost WriterSUM; Release date: 2010-08-03; DVD
Best price: $3.84
Price in other shops:
State of PlayWHV; Release date: 2008-02-26; DVD
Best price: $17.98
Price in other shops:
Masterpiece Contemporary: Page EightRelease date: 2011-11-08; DVD
Best price: $13.09
Price in other shops:
Autumn Hearts: A New BeginningIMAGE ENT.; Release date: 2008-07-22; DVD
Best price: $2.98
Price in other shops:
The Whistle BlowerRelease date: 2002-12-03; DVD
Best price: $7.81
Price in other shops: