Customer Reviews

Damn the Defiant [VHS]

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First I'll repeat what I wrote in my review of the VHS version of "Damn the Defiant!":

"There aren't a lot of movies about the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, despite the popularity of novels such as those written by Patrick O'Brian and C.S. Forester, but "Damn the Defiant" is an action film far above average. Not only does it boast fine acting by Alec Guiness and Dirk Bogard, it presents an unusually realistic look at life aboard a warship in the Age of Fighting Sail. If you like Jack Aubrey and Horatio Hornblower, then this is a movie you shouldn't miss.""

And I will now state that the DVD version is even better. It presents both the "widescreen" as well as the clipped "full screen" versions (the VHS has only the "full screen") and visually the "widescreen" is much more impressive, giving an even better impression of life aboard a sailing man of war. If you are at all interested in this era of history, this DVD is a real keeper!

The movie presents a side of Napoleanic British Royal Navy life I have seldom seen in film. Lashings are common enough in sailing films, but the use of corporal punishment, press gangs, and poor shipboard life and the like reveal a picture of life in the Royal Navy in the early 1800s less often shown.

As for the movie...while a a good and decent ship's captain (played by Alec Guinness) prepares for sea, we learn that his young son will ship out with him as a new midshipman. In the meantime navy pressgangs are out on the streets rounding up men to be pressed into service in the navy. Involved in rounding up men for the crew is a new first officer (Dirk Bogard).

The story centers around conflict between the good and fair captain and his devious and conniving first officer. Caught in the middle of them is the young, innocent midshipman son of the captain.

A supporting plot involves a plan by the sailors to seek for improved conditions...and there is, of course, the war.

One thing leads to another, and the captain is wounded in battle. While the captain is bedridden the now outwardly abusive first officer takes over and runs roughshod over the crew and the ship.

I enjoy this film for it's fine efforts toward historical accuracy. The character development is excellent, and you can feel the strain on the captain as he stands by and is helpless to remove his son out from under the thumb of the 1st officer.

An excellent yarn of life at sea. Guinness is, as always, outstanding. Top notch! Top marks! 5 stars.

This is a fine story of life aboard a British naval vessel during the Napoleonic wars. Alec Guiness stars as the enlightened and thoughtful captain, Dirk Bogarde is the cruel and hard first lieutenant (executive officer). The two are locked in a battle of wills and leadership concerning the means by which the ship will be commanded. The captain believes that a happy ship is an efficient ship, and seeks to lead by inspiration. The first lieutenant believes in merciless discipline, reinforced with his sadistic love of inflicting punishment. This conflict is complicated by the fact that the men of the British fleet are plotting the famous Spithead mutinies, and the first lieutenant has influential friends in London. This is a very interesting story of leadership and conflict.

The storyline moves along smartly most of the time, and the acting is quite good. The special effects are very good--no "bathtub ships" or battles. Guiness does his customary excellent job in his role as captain, although I personally thought he might have exerted more personal force than he did; his leadership style as portrayed in the film is somewhat understated. Bogarde is excellent as the villainous first lieutenant--you'll hate him by the end of the movie.

This is a fine movie worth watching more than once.

Damn the Defiant is built around a true incident, the "Spithead Mutiny" of the British Channel Fleet during the war with France in 1797. British sailors rose up in a mostly peaceful rebellion against the abominable conditions in which they were forced to serve. The movie, based on the novel "Mutiny" by Frank Tilsley, tells the story of the frigate Defiant, on a solitary mission deep into the French held Mediterrean Sea. The crew, already involved in the planning for the fleet-wide mutiny, suffer under the lash of the ship's sadistic First Lieutenant (Dirk Bogarde), while the Captain (Alec Guinness) is incapacitated, first by the torture of his son and then by the loss of his arm in a battle with a French frigate. But the good triumph in the end, as is right. It is a surprisingly complex story with well developed characters, but it delivers plenty of action as well. The battle scenes are well done, though the final action with a fire ship is too clearly model work. The DVD provides a fine viewing experience. The video is generally very good. The picture is soft occasionally and the rich colors become over-saturated in a few brief instances, but I did not find any of these flaws too distracting, and it is far better than my old VHS recording. The sound is very full and the dialogue was always clear and never overwhelmed. Obviously, a movie this old is not going to provide the same kind of audio as a contemporary film, but I found no serious fault with it. I highly recommend Damn the Defiant to any fan of naval adventure in the age of sail, as typified by Horatio Hornblower.

Alex Guinness stars as the newly appointed captain of the Defiant, a ship in distress because of the oh-so-evil first mate played by Dirk Borgarde. At first unwilling to believe the rumors of his first officer's nefarious ways, the captain attempts to give the First Officer the benefit of the doubt. Unfortunately, it soon becomes apparent that Defiant is NOT a happy ship, and his new first officer is entirely to blame.

Flogging, abuse, and a impending mutiny threaten to destabilize the Defiant. Can the captain appease the mutineers or will he (and his son), pay the ultimate price.

I thoroughly enjoyed Damn the Defiant! This was an entertaining movie with a cast of great characters. My only peeve? By the end of the film I really, really hated the first officer. I really wanted him to SUFFER for what he did to the crew. In my opinion, he got off a bit too easily.

Overall, an excellent film, which will appeal to those who like Horatio Hornblower or Master and Commander.

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.

A great movie. About as "salty" as they come. Tremendous scenes of life aboard an English Man-O-War coupled with the history of the period. From the Mutiny at Spithead to a stunning portrail of the status of the Ship's Captain, this movie covers it all. You'll watch it again and again.

Damn the Defiant! -- U.K. title: H.M.S. Defiant -- is a classic story of the British Navy's widespread "mutiny" of 1797. The film centers on board the HMS Defiant and the conflict between its Captain and First Officer and of the British Navy's sailors harsh conditions which give rise to rebellion.

Alec Guisness, Dirk Bogarde, and Anthony Quayle are excellent in their roles. Director Lewis Gilbert does an admirable job of moving the story, characters and action along.

Any of you who love the Hornblower stories will feel right at home here. Columbia is to be congratulated for giving us a 2.35:1 widescreen anamorphic-enhanced DVD of this great character-driven film. The flip side is p&s but why bother? This film needs to be seen in its original format. Sound is a clear mono. Extras are spartan but interesting.

Now if only Warner Brothers would give us the 1951 swashbuckling classic "Captain Hornblower" with a superb Gregory Peck in the title role!

This fictionalized story of a mutiny on HMS Defiant, commanded by a captain burdened with a vicious first lieutenant, is worth seeing if you like nautical fiction in general, or are a lover of novels by Patrick O'Brian or C.S. Forester. It is not easy watching, although there is no deliberate crudity (this is an old film for one thing).

The story begins prosaically enough with the Defiant setting off under the command of a man who has just brought his son in as a midshipman (a typical way for a son to follow his father into the navy; Nelson began by following a maternal uncle into the navy, albeit on another ship). We learn quickly enough that this voyage will not quite be what is intended. The first officer, played brilliantly by Dirk Bogarde, is a vicious but very well-connected man, who punishes harshly for the slightest offense (even an unintended one). The crew are on the point of mutiny, in what is intended to be a concerted action with the rest of the Mediterranean Fleet and the ships in British ports. A few sailors are reluctant to join the planned mutiny, but they are persuaded to join thanks to the harshness of the lieutenant and the lack of action taken by the captain. Is the captain weak? Not really. His choices are limited firstly by the system (whereby powerful enemies can ruin even a captain's career) and secondly by the fact that his son is made a pawn in a vicious game. Things take an unexpected turn, firstly when the captain gets his son off on a prize crew (a small crew commanding a captured enemy vessel, civilian or otherwise) and thus wrests back control from his first lieutenant; and secondly, when the captain is seriously injured.

The denouement comes rapidly. The crew mutinies, driven to desperation - but they must make a crucial choice when the French fleet comes out unexpectedly with fire ships (ships set aflame deliberately) and attacks the British ships still at anchor. Will the crew agree to let the captain take command back and fight off the French ships? Or will the crew choose to murder all the officers (or the most hated ones, at any rate) and take the ship where they will? Watch the film for the dramatic if slightly unrealistic conclusion. This film is particularly recommended for an unflinching portrayal of the harshness of naval discipline (with back-breaking lashes for even the slightest gesture of insubordination or resistance) and for the realistic portrayal of naval actions. The principal roles are played by Alec Guinness (the captain) and Dirk Bogarde (the first lieutenant). The film, incidentally, was directed by John Brabourne (7th Baron Brabourne), a son-in-law of Admiral The Earl Mountbatten of Burma. The DVD appears to have no special features, and the sound and picture quality is said to be only average. I wish that a special edition widescreen DVD was available with documentaries about the naval aspects of the Napoleonic wars, the British navy in the late 1700s, and finally, some information about the great naval mutinies at Spitshead and Nore.

For someone like me, who is just beginning to be fascinated by nautical fiction, this was a great film, better than even the Hornblower series and film (good as they are). If you are reading nautical fiction set in this era, this film is strongly recommended. There is no particular amazing feat of seamanship, merely a realistic depiction of hard choices made by men facing almost impossible consequences.

This towering film deals with the role and the meaning of the authority. Two opposites sides of the coin: one of them bets for the option B according Taylor's theory : the human being must be led and punished due they are lazy, unproductive and disinterested in the work,in this sense Dirk Bogarde is the officer absolutely convinced about this; and his methods are extremely cruel and merciless. The discipline in excess is to my view an evident symptom of mental insanity; and I agree with Freud when he affirms the violence in the human being is an exteriorization of a self destructive instinct: And the distance between violence and the excessive discipline is so close that overlap one each other behind mesmerizing words.
Alec Guiness represents the humanitarian side of the leadership. He knows that the best results can be obtained with discipline and a bit of left hand: a light and permissive relationship in which the joy can be part of the command chain.
Both visions will face in multiple areas; Bogarde disobeys elemental orders, assumes personal considerations about the navigation speed, the final goal of the assigned mission, inflames the ego of the men under his command arguing possible promotions in case certain norms be lightly readapted, he exerts a psychological pressure over Guiness exaggerating the punishment on his own child Mr. Crawford.
And finally we have a third disturbance element: the workers leader: Anthony Quayle who plans to generate a mutiny on board.
As you see, we have a circle script, in the purest tradition of the British state of mind: Remember Ronald Neame's Tunes of Glory of 1959 , the famous Kubrick ' s Paths of Glory or Billy Budd.
An unforgettable movie; supported by a great scrip, superb cast , magnificent action sequences and edition work, a permanent lesson about the Management role in the life of the organizations and far beyond a life lesson.