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H.M.S. Defiant [DVD] [1962]

DVD ~ Alec Guinness

3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

RRP:	�19.99
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	91% buy the item featured on this page: H.M.S. Defiant [DVD] [1962] 3.8 out of 5 stars (5) �6.58
	4% buy Hornblower - The Complete Collection [DVD] 4.6 out of 5 stars (37)
	2% buy Mutiny On The Bounty [DVD] [1962] 4.2 out of 5 stars (4) �2.98

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Product details

Actors: Alec Guinness, Dirk Bogarde, Maurice Denham, Nigel Stock, Richard Carpenter
Directors: Lewis Gilbert
Writers: Edmund H. North, Frank Tilsley, Nigel Kneale
Producers: John Brabourne
Format: PAL, Widescreen
Language English
Subtitles: Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number of discs: 1
Classification: PG
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
DVD Release Date: 18 Mar 2002
Run Time: 98 minutes

Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

ASIN: B00005U0JV
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 20,883 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

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Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review

Set in 1797 at the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars, HMS Defiant is an enthralling British naval drama made to capitalise upon MGM's epic remake of Mutiny on the Bounty, also released in 1962. Based on the novel Mutiny by Frank Tilsey and starring Alex Guinness as a fair-minded captain locked in psychological conflict with Dirk Bogarde, his manipulative, coldly malicious first officer, the parallels with the famous true story are clear. However there were many naval mutinies at this period and this large-scale saga, which includes some spectacularly staged widescreen naval battles, offers a realistic depiction of life in the British navy at the time--from the press gangs and floggings, to the appalling food and living conditions.

Director Lewis Gilbert--who previously helmed Sink the Bismarck! (1960)--strikes a good balance between the personal drama and sweeping maritime adventure. Guinness successfully varies his firm-but-fair officer from The Bridge on the River Kwai, Bogarde is chillingly hateful and Anthony Quayle gives strong support. ITV's recent Hornblower cumulatively offers a more detailed portrait of the British navy during the Napoleonic Wars, though the TV series cannot match the visual scale of this big-screen production.

On the DVD: HMS Defiant is presented anamorphically enhanced at 2.35:1, though a little of the original CinemaScope frame is still cropped at the sides. The image is generally very good, though a handful of scenes near the end show considerable print damage and there is an inconstancy of colour grading between some shots. Grain is variable, but not generally a problem, though some unattractive "ringing" from edge enhancement is noticeable, particularly around Alex Guinness when he stands against a bright sky. The sound is in very clear mono with just occasional distortion on the music score. The disc offers the option of watching with dubbed French, German, Italian or Spanish soundtracks. The original trailer is included--under the American title of Damn the Defiant!--as are trailers for three other classic war films. The only other extra features are a small gallery of original publicity materials and three very basic filmographies. --Gary S Dalkin

DVD Description

DVD Special Features:

Vintage Advertising
Filmographies
Theatrical Trailer
Dolby Digital
Languages in Mono: English, French, Italian, Spanish
Languages in LCR: German
Subtitles: Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
2.35:1 Aspect Ratio Enhanced for 16:9 Widescreen TVs

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Customer Reviews

5 Reviews

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
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Average Customer Review

3.8 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A minor gem and classic seafaring war film, 18 Dec 2005

By	streetyson "streetyson" - See all my reviews

I rented this from Amazon and was glad I did. This film (also known as "Damn the Defiant" in the US) makes for a good winter's Sunday afternoon war film, suitable for boys aged 10 to 110. The storyline centres around the friction between the captain (played by Alec Guiness) and 1st Lieutenant (Dirk Bogarde) and a troubled, mutinous crew. So yes, in that one aspect it tries to emulate the success of MGM's "Mutiny on the Bounty" film. But plot similarites end there, for the Defiant's story, though fictitous, is intelligently placed during the very real fleet-wide mutiny of the British navy (against intollerable working conditions) of 1797, and further, puts the Defiant in the middle of the real and difficult Mediterranean/Corsica campaign fought against French imperial expansionism faced by the British Navy that year.

Against this realistic back-drop, on-board historical accuracy and attention to detail are also well portrayed, and the battle scenes have that 1960s "epic" quality that modern films and TV programmes try to get around with not-quite-convincing computer graphics.

The plot is intelligent and acting is solid throughout, as one might expect from such a good cast, and Gilbert's quality film-making is clearly in evidence as one who also made "Sink the Bismark", several of the Bond movies, "Alfie", and many others. If you enjoyed those films, or for example the recent Hornblower TV adaptation, you'll enjoy this also.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars British naval warfare, with cruelty, mutiny and patriotism In 1797, 15 Jul 2007

By	C. O. DeRiemer (San Antonio, Texas, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Damn the Defiant! [DVD] [1962] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] (DVD)

Anyone who likes iron men fighting in wooden ships against the French, with the roar of cannon and splinters flying everywhere, will enjoy the last half of Damn the Defiant!. Whether you enjoy the first half depends on how well you appreciate the almost psychopathic cruelty and condescension of First Lieutenant Scott-Padget (Dirk Bogarde).

It's 1797, Napoleon threatens Britain, and only the Royal Navy ensures Britain's freedom. Captain Crawford (Alec Guinness) takes command of H.M.S. Defiant, a single-gun-deck frigate. Also joining the ship is Scott-Padget, an officer with friends in high places, a talent for seamanship, and a taste for flogging. While Crawford is determined to keep an open mind about his first lieutenant, it becomes quickly apparent that Scott-Padget is an arrogant sadist who is fully capable of undermining Crawford's authority if that's what it takes to get his way. He doesn't hesitate to brutalize the captain's 12-year-old son, brought on board as a midshipman, in subtle ways that keep Crawford from intervening. Added to this seething mix is the crew itself, brutalized not just by Scott-Padget but by the terrible living conditions sailors of the Royal Navy had to endure. One crewman, Vizard (Anthony Quayle), is the leader in putting together what he thinks will be a non-violent petition for redress. Every officer, however, will consider it a mutiny.

The first half of the movie is two stories. There is the struggle between Crawford and Scott-Padget, with Scott-Padget eventually getting the upper-hand. And there is the story of the men on a wooden ship of war and what their lives are like as they're beaten and trained to be seamen, subsist on a diet of rotten meat and weevily hardtack, and can receive 50 lashes at the whim of a first lieutenant.

The second half, however, is a rouser of the old school. A vital message must be delivered to the fleet, Captain Crawford finally is able to assert himself and the French break out of a blockade determined to attack an unaware British squadron in the fog. Ship-to-ship battles are fought where the victor will be determined by which ship can get alongside the other and throw iron faster at near point-blank range. And the seamen of Defiant must decide if their loyalty to Britain will override their knowledge that, if they are accused of being mutineers, each man will most likely be hanged.

The movie's strong points, for me, are the production values, the recreation of how brutal ship-to-ship fighting was, the look at the lives of men at sea in a fighting ship, and the appeal to patriotism over self interest, which was handled effectively because it was treated matter-of-factly. The weak points, for me, centered on the two leads. Guinness as Captain Crawford seemed too sluggish in coming to grips with his first lieutenant. He needed in my view more fire. Guinness was an actor who excelled in ambiguous and thoughtful roles, but he had it in him to play men with iron and passion; just look at him as Major Jock Sinclair in Tunes of Glory. Dirk Bogarde, however, plays Scott-Padget without an ounce of any quality than condescending sadism. Scott-Padget may be a talented sea officer and a brave man, but every time he's on screen you know exactly how he will behave. For those who like the smaller roles, keep an eye out for Tom Bell, who plays a resentful, violent seaman. Nearly thirty years later he was DS Bill Otley...a man Jane Tennison quickly learned not to trust in Prime Suspect 1 but who surprised her in Prime Suspect 3.

The DVD picture looks just fine, with anamorphic wide-screen on one side and full screen on the other. There are three or four extras which aren't significant.

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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars H.M.S. Defiant - or - Damn the Defiant! , 5 Jul 2007

By	Queiroz (Brazil) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Damn the Defiant! [DVD] [1962] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] (DVD)

This is a film worth seeing; it is a very interesting story about leadership, good men, and bad men.

The story is set during the Napoleonic Wars, that time when the French ruled Europe, and the British ruled the waves. However, the main conflict in the film is not between the French and the English; it is between the Captain and the first mate aboard an English frigate, the Defiant. The Captain is a good sea-officer and commander; not a soft man, but a just and merciful one. His first mate is a talented young officer, who is however not only too hard and unrelenting, but unmerciful and truly cruel to the hands. A conflict naturally arises between them, but as the first mate has powerful friends in the government, the Captain has to be careful about procuring his enmity. Things are made more complex by a fact of which both of them are unaware: in all vessels of the British fleet a bloodless revolt is being planned, as a demand for better conditions of life for the hands aboard the ships. But it is extremely important that there is no officer killed in any of the ships; and the heads of the revolt aboard the Defiant start to have trouble to restrain some men who hate the first mate. These three conflicts provide a highly interesting story.

Of course, an interesting story is not all that matters; but in other respects the film is good too. Firstly, the main character is a good and noble man; and that is something one does not find in all stories. Then, it is not a violent film: it does have some violence, but not in an "unrealistically realistic" degree; it is not one of those films in which we see blood spurting from a man's wound as if out of a garden hose. And last, but very important: the leading roles are played by very good actors.

A few years ago a film was made similar to this one: it was also set during the Napoleonic Wars, aboard an English vessel sent on a mission against the French. The plot was fairly good, though the movie was unnecessarily violent. However, the main point against it is that the leading role was played very poorly. The actor who played the captain was not at all convincing, although the character should have been that of an outstanding commander. In "Damn the Defiant!" we have a good character played by a very good actor, and the result is that the Captain stands out, as an aristocratic and stately man we truly admire. In the other movie, "Master and Commander", we see no nobility and no dignity in the main character; we cannot admire him, and this spoils the whole film. In one case, a good story was spoiled by the choice of the wrong man; and in the other, one character well acted turned an interesting -- but in no way exceptional -- story, into a very good film.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Worth Watching
A good solid watchable film with good acting from the main characters.
Possibly dated for today's audience as it can not compete with the computer graphics for... Read more

Published 17 days ago by E. Brooker

3.0 out of 5 stars Good swashbuckler
This movie seems to be surprisingly little known given the perennial appeal of fiction and non-fiction from British naval history in the Napoleonic Wars. Read more

Published 6 months ago by Humpty Dumpty

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