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H.M.S. Defiant AKA Damn the Defiant! (Blu-ray)
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray B - United Kingdom - Powerhouse Films Review written by and copyright: Rick Curzon (9th July 2025). |
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The Film
 Alec Guinness (Kind Hearts and Coronets) and Dirk Bogarde (The Gentle Gunman) lead the all-star cast of H.M.S. Defiant, a rip-roaring tale of mutiny on the high seas from the great British action director Lewis Gilbert (Sink the Bismarck!, The Spy Who Loved Me). During the French Revolutionary Wars, Crawford (Guinness), Captain of the Defiant, enters into a battle of wills with his sadistic First Officer Scott-Padget (Bogarde). When Crawford is injured during a skirmish with French forces, Scott-Padget takes control, but the crew begin to rebel against his brutal command, whilst remaining loyal to Crawford and to their country. Adapted by Edmund H North (The Day the Earth Stood Still) and Nigel Kneale (The Quatermass Experiment) from Frank Tilsley’s best-selling novel Mutiny, H.M.S. Defiant – originally released in the US as Damn the Defiant! – does not water down its depiction of the harsh realities of naval life.
Video
From the booklet: H.M.S. Defiant was sourced from Sony’s HD remaster. The film’s originalBoth versions of the film are identical in terms of quality with only the opening title being any different. It's seamlessly branched. This period piece has typically rich colour values and primaries soar when they're on screen; namely in the red coat uniforms. There's lots of wooden furniture, rich fabrics in the production design, set dressing and costumes; lots of rich browns, blues and ocean looks inviting. Flesh tones remain fairly even throughout. Black levels are crisp and deep with plenty of shadow detail in well-lit interiors and exteriors but darkly lit scenes and anything with day for night filters tend to have some crush. Contrast is supportive allowing detail to show through nicely in white surfaces with no blown out highlights. It's a punchy image although optical transitions see a drop in detail and have some mild density fluctuations; par for the course. Being a CinemaScope production we do have some squeeze distortion at the far edges of the frame; again, par for the course. There's plentiful grain and texture in this image but this is a marvellous thing; it's what one would expect of a 1962 anamorphic production. As per usual for Sony masters, no damage at all. The encode is up to standard ('A') 1080p24 / AVC MPEG-4 / BD50 / 2.35:1 / 100:48
Audio
English DTS-HD Master Audio English 2.0 Stereo (48kHz, 1566Kbps, 24-bit) Subtitles: English HoH With the concurrently released The .taming of the Shrew (1967) from Powerhouse Films, we had a situation where IMDB claimed that Zefferelli's film had a 4-track stereo track for 35mm release prints, but only 1.0 on the disc. Here, we have the reverse situation with IMDB claiming that the film sound mix as mono but on the disc we have 2.0 stereo with decent separations and rear activity, at least decent rears for a film of this vintage. Mainly confined to expanding the score and there's not much directionality. Dialogue is mostly crisp and clear, although occasionally seems low in the mix. Sound effects are naturalistic and present but this isn't a sonic knockout by modern standards; but, if you're reading this review you'll know that. I'm not sure if this is a newly created stereo track or a genuine one from when the film was made; I'd err on the latter personally. In any case, it serves the film well and suits the era in which it was made. Hard are well up to the usual high standard I've come to expect from Powerhouse Films ('A-').
Extras
"The Guardian Interview with Lewis Gilbert: Conducted by Tony Sloman at the National Film Theatre, London, 23 October 1995" 1995 interview (82:26) A career-spanning interview with Gilbert who was always very easy going and filled with anecdotes; a great raconteur. It starts discussing his acting career and then onwards. Michael Caine appears at the beginning to introduce Sloman's interview. Topics covered are the early attempts at getting subtitles in films, how English actors are very down to Earth and just get on and "do it" without all the psychology, working in documentaries early in his career, working with a rep company of both actors and technical crew (Bill Cartlidge and John Dark both of whom are in the audience), dealing with .orson Welles, casting Michael Caine in Alfie amongst many other topics. Presented upscaled 1080i60 1.33:1 with lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (48kHz, 192Kbps) and no subtitle options. "The British History Entertainment Project (BEHP) Interview with Lewis Gilbert: Conducted by Roy Fowler on 18 and 27 June, and 24 July 1996" 1996 interview plays as an alternate audio track over the film (100:43) An excellent interview (seemingly at Gilbert's house) in which Fowler gets lots of fascinating detail out of Gilbert, covering many of his films. Defiant gets a solid section on it ("the opposite of the Laughton film", "a nice easygoing picture") the Bonds are all discussed as well as his "chamber pieces" like Educating Rita and Alfie. But, the most interesting section for me was where he talks about the psychology of directors, which is knowing when to kick someone up the bum to get what you need or to put an arm round their shoulder and tell them how lovely they are. Presented in lossy English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (48kHz, 192Kbps) and no subtitle options. "Cast Adrift" 2022 interviews with actors Brian Phelan, Peter Gill and Roger Mutton (28:22) "Defiant Crew" 2022 interviews with production manager Richard Goodwin, assistant editor John Chrome, assistant editor Norman Wanstall, standby props John Chisholm, special effects Martin Gutteridge (47:29) 75:51 worth of interviews covering the making of the film with a nice spread of surviving personnel both in front of and behind the camera. The closest thing a retrospective documentary we're likely to get for a forgotten film. Presented in 1080p24 1.78:1 with uncompressed English LPCM 2.0 stereo (48kHz, 16-bit) and no subtitles. UK Theatrical Trailer (3:12) US Theatrical Trailer (3:12) Vintage promos in 1080p24 cropped to 1.85:1 with uncompressed English LPCM 1.0 (48k.hz, 16-bit) with no subtitle options. H.M.S. Defiant Image gallery: Original Publicity Material (75 images) Hefty still gallery in HD. 36-page liner notes booklet with new essay by Sheldon Hall, archival interviews with Dirk Bogarde and Murray Melvin, extracts from the film’s pressbook and film credits Hall is always good value either onscreen in documentaries, in interviews or in print and this essay is no different. An excellent hardcopy booklet with plenty of interest including interviews with the late Bogarde and Melvin.
Packaging
Not sent for review.
Overall
A long forgotten navel adventure gets the special edition treatment from Powerhouse. Image and sound are as good as can be shy of 4K and HDR. Extras are excellent and whole package is highly recommended ('A').
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