Rent Defence of the Realm (1985)
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Two reporters, Mullen (Gabriel Byrne) and Bayliss (Denholm Elliott), receive an anonymous tip-off on a breaking political scandal regarding an MP, a call girl and an East German military attache. But when Bayliss suddenly dies, Mullen realises that the story goes far deeper than anyone imagined.
- Actors:
- Gabriel Byrne, Greta Scacchi, Denholm Elliott, Ian Bannen, Fulton MacKay, Bill Paterson, David Calder, Frederick Treves, Robbie Coltrane, Annabel Leventon, Graham Fletcher-Cook, Steven Woodcock, Alexei Jawdokimov, Danny Webb, Prentis Hancock, Michael Johnson, Mark Tandy, Nicholas Coppin, Veronica Duffy, David Hatton
- Directors:
- David Drury
- Producers:
- Robin Douet, Lynda Myles
- Writers:
- Martin Stellman
- Aka:
- Defense of the Realm
- Studio:
- Network
- Genres:
- Thrillers
- Awards:
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 27/09/2021
- Run Time:
- 96 minutes
- Languages:
- English Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono
- Subtitles:
- English
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.85:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Brand-New 2021 Interviews with Producer Lynda Myles, Production Designer Roger Murray-Leach, Composer Richard Harvey and Boom Operator Clive Copland
- Theatrical Trailer
- On Location Featurette
- Image Gallery
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Reviews (4) of Defence of the Realm
Elliott Shines - But Too Briefly. - Defence of the Realm review by NC
The cast brought me here. Any film with Denholm Elliott, Ian Bannen and Bill Patterson can't be all bad. Add to that the ultra-reliable Frederick Treves and Fulton Mackay and surely there must be something worth watching. Alas and alack, all that talent have bit parts only. Elliott, immense when on the screen, is killed off early, and the film becomes far less watchable from then on. I can't help thinking that an almighty trick has been missed by making the film a vehicle for the younger, lesser talent of Gabriel Byrne rather than one of Britain's finest ever actors.
Slickly done, and there are brief moments of joy at the start when Elliott and Bannen are together, but ultimately it's a conspiracy thriller which fails to thrill very much, involving people you're not given a chance to care about very much. Greta Scacchi appears presumably because someone realised there was such a thing as females on the planet, and so hastily concocted a role for one.
Clumsy Omissions - Defence of the Realm review by (NONE)
What exactly happened to the youth who climbed the fence, and why did it matter? How did this connect up with the KGB Contact? And, suddenly, the Denholm Eliot character was dead. Why, how and to whose advantage? Clumsy plot holes like this made it impossible to take the film seriously. And what was Robbie Coltrane doing there?
Sleeper - Defence of the Realm review by RD
Defence of the Realm is a real sleeper. It has a cast that most people would die for, including the underrated Byrne as the lead but most importantly it's in many ways an old fashioned thriller. Despite the 80s action-thriller boom, this eschews action for plot and for character. It's not perfect though, the main offender being the film has a bizarre 80s soundtrack that doesn't really fit with the film but otherwise I've always felt this to film to be a real diamond in the rough.