Was That Film Really That Bad??? - Who Dares Wins

It's that music. 

Simple and to the point

When you start watching Who Dares Wins and that music plays, you get it. You get what they're aiming for. The film announces itself with all of the subtlety of Lily Savage and, after a brief initial credits sequence with war memorials and Parliament (that's a big hint for it's politics), continues into a peace rally (without the stirring music) and we're into the set up proper. Unlike a similar vintage film, North Sea Hijack, where the music exists to batter you into submission proclaiming it's an action movie like it's got five lights, Who Dares Wins immediately tells you what you should expect - drama, action, tension, right wing politics!

Sadly, this is its first mistake (aside from the politics). You see, this 1982 release, inspired heavily by the 1980 Iranian Embassy Siege, is less of an action film and more of a slow pot-boiler with an action heavy finale. The title, using the motto of the Special Air Service, does fit the film well, though, so I'll give it that.

The world's worst Grindr profile pic?

Also known by its US title, "The Final Option", this film shows the planning and execution of a nuclear disarmament group's operation to take the US Ambassador to the UK and several high level guests hostage in order to force the launch of a nuclear missile at Holy Loch in Scotland. To prevent this from happening, an SAS officer (who resigns his commission rather than be returned to unit after a set up involving an interrogation almost gone wrong with two visiting NATO officers on an exercise) ingratiates himself with one of the leaders of the anti-proliferation group and ends up taking part in the op, becoming a key figure in ending the hostage situation. In between all this, there is a family sub-plot where the SAS dude's family are held as an insurance policy so he does what he's told, as well as a nod to the politics involved where a visiting rich Libyan dude splashes the cash on far left groups in the UK and US, as well as keeps ties with a UK politician (a not so light nod to the Labour Party at the time). With me so far? Good!

Nefarious Lefties - They've left their Marx on the wall.

So with the plot dealt with, let's get straight into the casting, where the film shows its relatively low £5m budget. Headlining is Lewis Collins as SAS Captain Peter Skellen. Coming at the end of his "Professionals" stint, this was Collins' attempt to start a movie career (and ultimately, though unsuccessfully, grab a casting session for James Bond). Describing the film as less action orientated than his first script reading led him to believe, he gives the role some welly, and he can do "serious bastard looking" rather well. True, he can come across as a bit cold at times, but then he's a killer, even with the devoted family life (despite forming the beast with two backs with Judy Davis' terrorist leader Frankie Leith and showing no remorse over it). No, this is Collins' show and he plays the part perfectly. He's looks impeccable whether out on exercise or visiting a pub and you can believe he was in the military. Which he was: a private in the Territorial 10th Battalion, Parachute Regiment. He would later pass selection for the Territorial SAS but refused entry because of his fame. Would he have made a good Bond? I would like to think so. Instead we got another two Moore entries that, being realistic, he was far too old to play. Anyhoo, back to the rest of the cast.

Judy Davis is the co-leader of the People's Lobby, the terrorist group attached to CND. She's good and spars well against pretty much everyone, showing a degree of enthusiasm lacking in some of the smaller roles. Her gradual un-hinging as the siege develops demonstrates this perfectly. Indeed, she is the best member of the cast and her later career garnered her two Oscar nods as well as BAFTA, Emmy, SAG and Golden Globe wins, plus many more than there is space to mention. A truly class act. 

Playing to her favourite character type, we have Ingrid Pitt as a rather nasty piece of work. She's definitely a killer and very convincing in the role. You can certainly tell she likes playing to this type and her method of killing Skellen's contact (a perfume spray on a bus) is both chilling and camp silliness at the same time.

We do get some Hollywood dazzle with the inclusion of Richard Widmark as the US Secretary of State and Robert Webber as the head of Strategic Air Command. The former was a last minute replacement for William Holden who passed away prior to filming. Both give steady performances for the relatively brief time they are onscreen and add a bit of gravitas, especially in the politics discussion that I'll get to later.

The majority of the rest of the cast are a mix of familiar British names. Edward Woodward, Tony Doyle, John Duttine, Paul Freeman, Nick Brimble, Kenneth Griffith, Maurice Roeves, Trevor Byfield, Tony Osoba, Norman Rodway, Patrick Allen and even Oz Clarke. Yes, that Oz Clarke! All are decent to good, though shout outs go to Doyle, Roeves and Duttine. The first two play Skellen's SAS superiors, the latter is the People's Lobby co-leader. Each brings a bit more oomph to their portrayals and really get into character.

He doesn't like the look of his Pinot Grigio!

On the film's technical side, it does quite well. No, the budget wasn't massive but it does show what it needs to. They used Pinewood's main building as the embassy, there's some fairly long talky bits and it has a very grimy feel at times, though that could also just be 1982. I remember it vaguely but that was mostly the period after the steel works closed and the demolition of the cooling towers. One thing I will comment upon is the sound editing. A lot of the sound design is library stuff that often doesn't relate to what's happening onscreen. For example, they randomly use Sterling SMG gunfire for MP5 firing. It's only at the beginning of the film but having fired the latter, I know what it sounds like. For some unknown reason, they change the sound editing for the final assault. Nope, no idea either and strange as they want to go for realism elsewhere in the film. They did get SAS support and help for the production, to the point of taking up their SAS advisors offer to do the embassy assault themselves, knowing that real SAS bods would look much more realistic than stuntmen. You also get some decent Westland Scout action, though you also get to appreciate how bloody small those things actually were.

Dyb, Dyb, Dyb!

Politics is a biggie in this film and considering when it was made and who the opposing sides were, it's very much a hit job on the anti-nuclear lobby. They are seen as a front for more radical, anti-capitalist groups. They are funded by countries who are opposed to western democracy and, in a six minute long discussion at the beginning of the siege, lose a political argument to some of their hostages about the west disarming first. Not wanting to start a fight about 40 year old politics, I will say that it was a different time, with different priorities and the ever present threat of nuclear conflict. For those of you too young to remember the 1980's, check this out about how close we came to missiles flying in 1983. That said, it's a right wing film that is very pointed in its depiction of left wing supporters - the (presumably Labour) politician dealing with a foreign financier, the parody of Bruce Kent (the Roman Catholic general secretary of CND at the time portrayed by Kenneth Griffith) and the fact that the radical Leith is living a comfortable lifestyle after inheriting wealth. Balanced, it is not. Creating conflict for the sake of a film story, it does. 

I'm going to mention the music again. The majority of it is ok, but the main theme is ear worm brilliance and worth the price of admission alone. It suits the action parts of the film spectacularly well. There you go.

This bit, with that music, is cool.

Aside from the dated and questionable political views, some technical points of order and iffy sound design, is this film any good? As a time capsule from the early Eighties, yes, yes it is. It looks and feels authentic in the mundane detail of the period. From the smoky, ill-lit pubs to diabolical home furnishings and Dear God, those fashion choices (some of which you can buy today in Primark - youths wear them, Jesus wept!), it's 1982 all over. The film itself is unevenly paced, with a strong start, but then sags whenever we get to Skellen's family life. Yes, that builds up to one half of the climax but still, it's drags on the film. The film does raise tension well, but it is let down by silly, stupid character choices, such as letting Skellen use a bathroom without a guard, which handily lets him use a mirror to signal the police outside. That said, the SAS assaults on the embassy and Skellen's home are done well, and when you get Collins on-screen doing his thing, there is a pang of sadness that he didn't become Bond.

It's one way to clean the windows, I suppose.

Who Dares Wins, then, is a decent combination of political thriller and action film. It falls between the two stools and the politics half of the film is definitely the weaker of the two but the overall result is not bad. A bit like Britain at the time, it shows that the job could be done despite the lack of money. You can watch this film on YouTube at present, a quick search will see to that, or you can pick up a copy on DVD or Blu-ray from the usual places.