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| Defence Of The Realm [1985] | ![Defence Of The Realm [1985]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51tHuYMlZ%2BL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: David Drury
Actors: Gabriel Byrne, Greta Scacchi, Denholm Elliott, Ian Bannen, Fulton Mackay
Studio: Network
Category: DVD
List Price: £12.99
Buy New: £12.41
You Save: £0.58 (4%)
Buy New from £12.41
Avg. Customer Rating:  (9 reviews)
Sales Rank: 48069
Format: Pal
Language: English (Unknown)
Rating: Parental Guidance
Media: DVD
Running Time: 90 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5027626275648
ASIN: B000V6AEQI
Release Date: January 28, 2008
Theatrical Release Date: 1985
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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Amazon.co.uk Review
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 iLondon Daily Dispatch/i. 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 (IPrime Suspect 3/I) keeps this highly complex, John le Carre-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. IDefence of the Realm/I overlooked and truly entertaining thinking person's film. I--Doug Thomas/I
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 An absolute cracker - as good as they come January 24, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
The showbiz adage of 'never work with children or animals' was, within the British film industry, extended to 'never work with children, animals or Denholm Elliot'. He was, rightly, labelled a 'scene stealer' and with his passing, one of the 'true stars' were lost. br /br /Gabrielle Byrne and Greta Scacchi star in this 1984 UK film, but the film, despite featuring a young Robbie Coltrane ( Cracker ), is forever Elliot's. Massively underrated, this film is a powerful indictment of the true 'powers that be'. Governments come and governments go, but the 'real' powerbrokers, along with the 'internal workings' remain in place, rumbling on. br /br /Is this a political thriller, a journalistic thriller, a shadowy thriller even - scary too, maybe ?. Probably all and more besides. It's very taut, very fast, very complex and, perhaps, very true to life ( the scary bit ). Underhand and double dealing are rife and little mercy is shown to the designated stooges. Elliot, as Vernon Bayliss, suffers no fools here and realising the enormity of the truth and confiding in nobody, pays a heavy price for his refusal to be swept along with the tide of seemingly incontrovertible proofs. Perhaps Fox Mulder saw this film and coined the phrase 'trust no-one' from Elliots' performance. br /br /What is sure, though, is that a field day awaits conspiracy theorists who watch this. There is no sex, no violence and no profanity and I defy anyone to watch this film only once.
 Very much a 1980's film March 1, 2006
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
"Defence of the Realm" hasn't aged as well as I thought it might have . The Cold War political themes are outdated and the Fleet Street setting ,with it's drunken hacks and offices wallpapered with pictures of nude girls ,appears curiously quaint now. The acting and the incidental music isn't the greatest either. "Defence of the Realm" isn't even in the same league as "The Parallax View" ,a film which one other reviewer has compared it to. That said , it does have a good plot featuring a cover up that goes right to the top ,leaving you wondering how many real life incidents never go reported and get covered up by sinister establishment networks who claim to be doing so "in defence of the realm".
Excellent movie, captures old Fleet Street August 14, 2005
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I recently saw this film again and, yes, it does repay several viewings. And although the cover-up stuff is very contemporary, what struck me this time is how, unintentionally, it captures British journalism as it was before all the papers left Fleet Street. What we see here is a pre-computer world. Journalists do their stories on type-writers, newspaper libraries consist of paper-based clippings and photographs. No computer-aided searches here. Immediately adjacent to the newsroom is the printing plant (these days it would be a remote location and everything would be first generated on computer). We even see a "banging out" ceremony for a retiring printer who, of course, in those days, worked in "hot metal".pBy all means see this movie for its plotting, acting and direction, but also get a whiff of Fleet Street as it was not that long ago with its smell of ink, newsprint and alcohol - and before the management consultants and merchant bankers took over the old newspaper buildings.
***** for the film, * for the UK Region 1 4:3 screen DVD June 15, 2005
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Long been a favourite dramatised documentary film.pVery accurate portrayal,pAnd a refreshing lack of 'love interest' distraction,bras the male and female leads do their duty to the country,bronly hampered by the Crown.pYet again, Britain shows the States how to do a tense, gritty thriller.pBut yet again, Uncle Sam shows Old Blighty how to do a DVD video,brin the correct aspect ratio for starters!br brEarly big-screen bit-part for Robbie "Cracker" Coltrane.brWide-screen on the US release ["Defense(sic.) of the Realm"]
Rates With "The Parallax View" March 5, 2004
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
A conspiracy film on par with the best, set in the UK during the Reagan/Thatcher era cold war, and as timely now as then. It has the barely controlled paranoid feel of the earlier American "The Parallax View", but the sinister agendas are more specific and topical to the day in which this one was made -- the mid-eighties US/Soviet nuclear brinksmanship over Europe. Any revival of the political thriller (long overdue, I think, considering all that has transpired in the past few years) needs to include this at festival screenings. I've heard a remake of "The Manchurian Candidate" is in the offing, in which case "Defense of the Realm" is due for rediscovery. Oh yeah, almost impossible to buy in the States these days. Just not Big or Flattering enough, I guess.
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