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The Whistle Blower [DVD] [1987]
 
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The Whistle Blower [DVD] [1987]

DVD ~ Michael Caine
3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Actors: Michael Caine, James Fox, Nigel Havers, John Gielgud, Felicity Dean
  • Directors: Simon Langton
  • Writers: John Hale, Julian Bond
  • Producers: Geoffrey Reeve, Jim Reeve, John Kelleher, Peter Dolman, Philip Nugus
  • Format: PAL
  • Language English
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: PG
  • Studio: Prism Leisure
  • DVD Release Date: 1 Sep 2001
  • Run Time: 100 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B000050YI3
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 21,902 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

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Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
A 1987 espionage thriller, The Whistle Blower stars Michael Caine as Frank Jones, a businessman and regular patriotic war veteran whose son Bob (Nigel Havers) is a Russian linguist who works at GCHQ. Bob begins to express doubts to his father about aspects of his work; days later, police report to Frank that his son has died in a fall. A verdict of accidental death is recorded. However, in the midst of his grief, Frank is puzzled by aspects of the death and decides to conduct his own investigation. In so doing he finds himself pitted against an utterly unscrupulous Secret Service prepared to stop at nothing, including murder, to cover up their operations.

Set at the time when concerns about GCHQ were at their height and the Cold War had yet to thaw, many of the film's concerns seem, years subsequently, to be thankfully dated. Moreover, it's hard to believe that the bumbling British Secret Services would actually be capable of organising a convivial soiree in a brewery, let alone orchestrate the sort of skulduggery they perpetrate here. Still, with a cast that features all the usual British suspects (Sir John Gielgud, James Fox, Gordon Jackson) there's no doubting the pedigree of The Whistle Blower, which, despite its ostensibly uncomfortable message, actually makes for very agreeable comfort viewing. Michael Caine is especially fine as Michael Caine. --David Stubbs

Special Features
DVD 5
English
Region 2
Scene Selection
Photo Gallery


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Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars who is the enemy ?, 29 Nov 2002
By Alejandra Vernon "artist & illustrator" (Long Beach, California) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: The Whistle Blower [VHS] [1986] (VHS Tape)
Based on a novel by John Hale, this 1987 film is a cold war spy story with more twists and angles than can be absorbed in a single viewing.
The boundaries between right and wrong are blurred, in this complex plot where co-workers in the secret service are asked to spy on each other, truth-seekers are murdered, and the guilty are kept protected in their luxurious nests.

With an excellent cast that includes James Fox, Nigel Havers, John Gielgud, Felicity Dean, and many top-notch character actors, it's a fast paced hour and 40 minutes; one of my favourite parts is how they manage to get information out of the imprisoned double agent, making him believe that he has escaped.
Also adding a lot to the film is the lovely soundtrack by John Scott.

Michael Caine is powerful as the former spy and bereaved father, who investigates his son's death. Part vulnerable, part tough guy, it's a subtle, touching, and brilliant performance, and its believability makes this intricate thriller a 5 star film.

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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars The Whistle Blower, 28 Jun 2002
A genuinely chilling Cold War account of betrayal and ruthless elimination in mid-eighties Britain. Solid performances all-round as our 'special relationship' with the US is exposed in all its ugliness and paranoia. Michael Caine plays a shattered father on the trail of his intelligence worker son's killers. This leads to the heart of a dark and unaccountable establishment, still shaken after recent defections to the Soviet Union. The latest traitor must be kept secret from the Americans, and the death toll begins to mount. Only the rage and grief of a parent searching for truth and can shine a light on this darkness. The plot twists and turns enough to keep our interest throughout, and the climax is simple but highly effective. A clever and unpretentious film that succeeds where many cold war thrillers fail..the events are perfectly believable. If you grew up in the eighties, this will ring a few bells.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Cold war nostalgia, 24 Sep 2006
By Thomas Dana Lloyd "D. Thomas" (Rome, Italy) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Whistle Blower [DVD] [1987] (DVD)
See the cinema original prototype for innumberable and rather repetitive tv serials. Not quite "Tinker Tailor" class of course, but brings us back to the Cold War atmosphere of the 80s. Dated? Not completely, since the issues of unaccountable authority, portrayed in the film, are still very much with us.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A well-acted and slightly sad spy story
Frank Jones (Michael Caine) has a son (Nigel Havers) who works in a top secret British intelligence agency. Read more
Published 16 months ago by C. O. DeRiemer

2.0 out of 5 stars Whistling the wrong tune.
Considering the subject matter - the accountability of government agencies - is as relevant today as it was when the film was made this is a strangely uninvolving story. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Wayfarer

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