Alec Guinness must battle a mutinous crew and Napoleon's fleet in the rousing, historical adventure H.M.S Defiant. As commander of the British warship H.M.S. Defiant, the humane Crawford (Guinness) strives to maintain order throughout the ship against the ceaseless brutality of sadistic first mate Scott-Padget (Dirk Bogarde). .. Read more
| Starring | Alec Guinness, Dirk Bogarde, Anthony Quayle, Walter Fitzgerald |
|---|---|
| Director | Lewis Gilbert |
| Genres | Drama |
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Alec Guinness must battle a mutinous crew and Napoleon's fleet in the rousing, historical adventure H.M.S Defiant. As commander of the British warship H.M.S. Defiant, the humane Crawford (Guinness) strives to maintain order throughout the ship against the ceaseless brutality of sadistic first mate Scott-Padget (Dirk Bogarde). After Crawford is injured in a fiery battle with a French treasure ship, angry seaman Vizard (Anthony Quayle) leads the crew to mutiny when Scott-Padget takes over.
| Starring | Alec Guinness, Dirk Bogarde, Anthony Quayle, Walter Fitzgerald, Tom Bell, Maurice Denham, Murray Melvin |
|---|---|
| Director | Lewis Gilbert |
| Studio | COLUMBIA TRI-STAR HOME VIDEO |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 38 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama |
| Language | English |
| Subtitles | Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish |
| Released | DVD: 18 Mar 2002 Production year: 1962 |
| Format | DVD |
Director Lewis Gilbert told virtually the same tale (albeit set in a different war) in Sink the Bismarck! as he does here in this entertaining seafaring adventure. The richly coloured romp benefits immensely from the experienced playing of Dirk Bogarde, Alec Guinness and an underused Anthony Quayle, all of whom are clearly enjoying themselves as they swash buckles in the Napoleonic wars. Coronation Street fans should keep an eye out for a young Johnny Briggs cavorting in the galleys, but it's hard to keep your eyes off the young Bogarde, who's absolutely splendid as a demented martinet. The maggots-in-the-meat scene owes something to Battleship Potemkin.
Rather unpleasant and unenterprising sea fare reminiscent of the goings-on aboard the Bounty. Well enough staged and acted but not very remarkable or memorable.
For those who have seen and enjoyed ?Master and Commander? or ?Mutiny on the Bounty? here?s another movie on the same theme that?s right up your street. This is a really engrossing story rooted in history with bold characters and lots of naval action; just a rip-snorting good adventure story of a very high calibre. Guinness is up to his usual high standard, abetted by fine work from Bogarde and Quayle. The tension of the dramatic line never lets up until the heroic conclusion. Nigel Stock, Peter Gill and Maurice Denham turned in other notable performances.
If you like nautical stories with a mix of duty, manners, discipline and antagonistic characters...well here you go. Guinness is great as the understated English naval officer - commanding power rather than weilding it and Bogarde the nastier villainous officer who gets his comuppence. A good way to while away a sunday afternoon.