Defense of the Realm David Drury Digital Life DVD

Defense of the Realm
starring: Gabriel Byrne, Greta Scacchi, Denholm Elliott, Ian Bannen, Fulton Mackay
directed by: David Drury

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Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
EAN: 9780792855828
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 0792855825
Label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: MGM (Video & DVD)
Region Code: 1
Release Date: June 03, 2003
Running Time: 96 minutes
Sales Rank: 58322
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Theatrical Release Date: November 21, 1986

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Editorial Review:

Description:
'Taut, extremely entertaining' (Leonard Maltin) and laden with suspense, this fast-moving chiller stars Gabriel Byrne as a Cold War reporter who discovers that free speech comes at a deadly price. Co-starring Greta Scacchi and Denholm Elliott, Defense of the Realm is 'electrifying, terrifying' and will leave you 'limp from controlled tension' (Los Angeles Times)! When a tawdry sex scandal links a high-ranking British politician to a Russian KGB agent, ambitious newsman Nick Mullen (Byrne) swiftly gets the story on Page One. But when his scoop-of-the-decade begins to unravel the cover-up-of-the-century Â– involving military secrets, nuclear weapons and government murders Â– Mullen and the politician's beautiful secretary (Scacchi) finds themselves ensnared in a web of deadly intrigueÂ...where every move could be their last!

Amazon.com:
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 London Daily Dispatch. 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 (Prime Suspect 3) keeps this highly complex, John le Carré-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. An overlooked and truly entertaining thinking person's film. --Doug Thomas

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Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Defence of the Realm
All about whistle blowing and why everyone should for a better world.
I like Gabriel Byrne and Greta Scacchi so I'm a little prejudiced. I guess this movie shows me up as a frustrated journalist.
I guess I would have done exactly what Gabriel Byrne did and suffer a similar fate.
A British movie with no screaming sirens, roaring helicopters and screeching tires. A break from Bruce Willis.
Very believable but beware of the ending.The Holcroft Covenant

Rating:

- fantastic cold war thriller
i love this movie. really captures the feeling of the early 80's when the cold war was in full swing. Gabriel Byrne, Denholm Elliot and Greta Scacchi are great. demonstrates the value of script and plotting vs explosions and car chases. pay attention because the plot is a little convoluted but all makes sense in the end. similar in feel to "All The President's Men" in that it is investigative journalism driven and plays on our fears of unseen forces and behind the scenes string pullers. highly recommended.

Rating:

- Not a typical political thriller
This is a tough film to review because on one hand it doesn't take a linear approach to plot/storytelling, which means that the viewer has to fit a lot of the pieces together. But the thing is, there are different approaches to making a film in which the viewer has to fit pieces together.

For example, in "Fear X", with John Turturro, the method used in which the pieces have to be fit together is an intriguing one because, principally, we are given some extremely interesting characters who pull us into the story and make us WANT to put the pieces together. The difference between "Fear X" and "Defense of the Realm" is instructive. In the latter, the primary focus in NOT on the characters but instead on the plot machinations that beg the viewer to fill in the gaps. This plot-driven approach--with basically flat characters--does very little to really attract the viewer enough to want to put the pieces together. ... Read More

Rating:

- Thriller from Over the Sea
Defense of the Realm is a very interesting movie about the British government and the extent they will go to protect it. Nick Mullen (Gabriel Byrne) is an investigative reporter that has stumbled onto a scandal that could rock the government. When the story unravels to a bigger scandal, his life becomes in danger.

I always am skeptical of these types of film but something about this has a ring of authenticity. Gabriel Byrne always has an intensity about him. In this film he rises to a new height. Greta Scacchi is great as the politician's secretary that gets involved with Byrne.

This film will keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat.

DVD EXTRAS: None

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