HMS Defiant (1962)
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
This late 19th century seafaring saga has some impressive credentials: a strong cast, a script by Nigel Kneale and Edmund H North (the latter did the adaptation for Ray's In a Lonely Place and co-wrote Patton), beautiful CinemaScope photography by Christopher Challis, crisp editing by Peter Hunt (later to become a Bond stalwart), and superb design by Arthur Lawson. It was nothing special in 1962, but today seems rather cherishable, and to make it now would cost rather more than $40 million. As an evocation of class conflicts among the officers and bitter resentments among the press-ganged crew, the movie is tense and convincingly acted, with the traditional Mutiny on the Bounty roles reversed: Captain Guinness is the humanitarian, and First Lieutenant Bogarde is the unrepentant cat-lover.Author: ATu
Cast & crew
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Producer: John Brabourne
Cast: Alec Guinness, Dirk Bogarde, Anthony Quayle, Tom Bell, Nigel Stock, Murray Melvin, Victor Maddern, Maurice Denham, Bryan Pringle full cast
Genre(s): Period/Swashbucklers
Duration: 101 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Hippies who work for The Man
To celebrate George Clooney comedy 'The Men who Stare at Goats', we look back at six memorable onscreen hippies who fought the system from within
Roland Emmerich's guide to disaster movies
Ahead of the release of '2012', Roland Emmerich offers his ten tips on creating the perfect global catastrophe
Grant Heslov: interview
Grant Heslov, director of 'The Men who Stare at Goats' talks about his old pal George Clooney, his interest in the paranormal, and his fond memories of working on 'Happy Days'
The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'
Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’
Ten inspirations behind 'Avatar'?
Time Out ponders the influences behind James Cameron's anticipated space-opera on the basis of the trailer
Michael Jackson's This Is It: review
Kenny Ortega's posthumous concert film is a rousing eulogy for one of pop's great enigmas
Michael Haneke: The man behind the menace
From Cannes to Munich to London, Dave Calhoun tours Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or winner, 'The White Ribbon'
Lone Scherfig talks 'An Education'
Danish director Lone Scherfig was an unlikely choice for a very English affair like 'An Education'. Cath Clarke meets her
How Jane Campion brought John Keats back to life
Time Out gets Romantic with the ‘difficult’ New Zealander about her new film, 'Bright Star'
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations












What do you think?
Post your review now