Who Dares Wins (1982)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

Ian Sharp

Writers:

George Markstein (original story outline)
James Follett (book)

Release Date:

26 August 1982 (UK)

Genre:

Action

Tagline:

Who Dares Wins. The Final Option.

Plot:

A trooper with the British Special Air Service (SAS) infiltrates a radical political group who are planning...

Plot Keywords:

SAS | John F Kennedy | Terrorist Plot | Reagan Era | Special Forces

Cast

Lewis Collins	...	Capt. Peter Skellen
Judy Davis	...	Frankie Leith
Richard Widmark	...	Secretary of State Arthur Currie
Edward Woodward	...	Commander Powell
Robert Webber	...	General Ira Potter
Tony Doyle	...	Colonel Hadley
John Duttine	...	Rod Walker
Kenneth Griffith	...	Bishop Crick
Rosalind Lloyd	...	Jenny Skellen
Ingrid Pitt	...	Helga
Norman Rodway	...	Ryan
Maurice Roëves	...	Maj. Steele (as Maurice Röeves)
Bob Sherman	...	Hagen
Albert Fortell	...	Freund
Mark Ryan	...	Mac

Also Known As:

The Final Option (USA)

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

UK | Switzerland

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:18 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:18 | UK:AA (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Heatherden Hall, Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Richmond Light Horse Productions

Trivia:

The British Army helicopters featured in the film, where the SAS abseiled from, are Westland Scouts. 150 were made by 1968 and they saw action in the Falklands war in 1982.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During the Embassy storm sequence two dummies are clearly used dangling from a helicopter, representing SAS soldiers entering the building through the top floor windows.

Quotes:

Capt. Peter Skellen: I know more about nuclear devastation than you ever will.

Soundtrack:

American Medley

"Die Hard" - take a hike!

With Roy Budd's thunderous theme music, spot-on cinematography and action set pieces refreshingly absent of blue screen visual effects. "Who Dares Wins" is pure action movie through and through.>

Lewis Collins' effective performance as Peter Skellern delivers Bond-style cheek and charisma especially during his scenes with Judy Davis (Frankie Leith). Although, sadly, cheesy dialogue and interaction with Rosalind Lloyd (Jennie Skellern) lets him down. A switch between the character of merciless undercover agent and likeable family-guy he's clearly not comfortable with.

Both Judy Davis and Ingrid Pitt carry off superbly powerful female roles written beyond token-women-posing-with-machine-guns. Particularly Pitt who's performance adds a sadistic ominance whenever she's on screen.

Action wise, several brutally vicious fight sequences added to the gobsmacking finale make this one hell of a movie.

Who Dares Wins does get bogged down a little in the posturing grandstanding of Woodward, Widmark and Davis late on where the focus changes.

Maximum plus points to Phil Meheux (cinematographer) for the truly heart-stopping footage.

All together a damn good 120 minutes and Britain's best shot at making an action movie. I love it, watch it whenever I can. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED and vastly underrated. Seventeen years on it's stood the test of time. Classic.