Damn the Defiant!
1962 · Movie · 101 min · ★ 6.5 · 95% critics
During the Napoleonic Wars, a Royal Navy crew joins a wider effort to peacefully petition for better treatment. Tensions rise aboard ship when a cruel first officer pushes the sailors toward open revolt, especially after the captain is left unable to keep order.
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Details
- Original title
- H.M.S. Defiant
- Years
- 1962
- Release date
- 1962-04-15
- Language
- English
- Runtime
- 101 min
- Critic score
- 95/100
- TMDB rating
- 6.5/10 (60 votes)
About
You’ll likely enjoy this if you like old-school naval adventures and tense shipboard dramas such as Captain Horatio Hornblower or The Cruel Sea; Not for you if slow-burn period stories and harsh onboard discipline aren’t your thing.
Pros: strong performances; exciting naval action; gripping power struggle | Cons: some unlikely moments; occasional historical errors; captain feels inconsistent
Themes
- sea
- ship
- mutiny
- based on novel or book
- son
- royal navy
- napoleonic wars
- tall ship
- 18th century
- sea battle
- high seas
- press gang
- +1 more
Cast & crew
Alec Guinness
as Captain Crawford
Dirk Bogarde
as Lieut. Scott-Padget
Anthony Quayle
as Vizard
Maurice Denham
as Mr. Goss (Ship's Surgeon)
Nigel Stock
as Senior Midshipman Kilpatrick
Tom Bell
as Evans
Richard Carpenter
as Lieut. Posonby
- PG
Peter Gill
as Lieut. D'Arblay
Ray Brooks
as Hayes
Robin Stewart
as Pardoe
Directed by Lewis Gilbert