Who Dares Wins (UK)

Having seen the film when I was young it made a big impression on me, so seeing it released on DVD meant I jumped at the chance to grab a copy and I was not disappointed.

The film has a good story to it, and it shows off different areas of the roles the SAS perform, right up to the last 20 minutes where they launch a full on assault onto an American embassy. This coincides with the rescue of one of the Lead character`s wife and kid, where you`ll see them with no way into the room other than having to blow a hole through the wall to gain entry!

The quality of the DVD video is excellent. The picture is always sharp and clear.

Extras on the DVD are limited with a brief text history of the SAS, and a photo gallery (shots from the film), but if your even remotely interested in special forces or the SAS you`ll sure to love this DVD.

4.3.£20 for this they are having a laugh.1982 turkey thats good for a laugh destined to be in bargain bins everywhere

This is a typical Universal "back catalogue" release. Very little attention to detail paid to the accuracy of the liner notes, some very well used library shots and little expense spared on what was originally a very successful film at the time. The narrative is a little slow and the direction and editing could have been a lot tighter but overall the film is no worse than many action films of its time. Much of the crew were responsible for The Professionals including Ray Menmuir (associate producer), Ian Sharp (director), Phil Meheux (cinematography) ,Syd Cain (production design) and obviously Lewis Collins (actor) and it shows. The look and feel is very late vintage Professionals. The action scenes are brilliant and very well put together and although are dotted about the film make it worth viewing. The climax where the SAS do there stuff is very good macho fun.

The picture quality is slightly better than the video versions previously released by Rank Home Video and then Polygram. I am convinced they are from the same video master! Audio-wise, I believe the original soundtrack was indeed mono and the DVD is in mono albeit it firing on the L & R channels of Dolby, but misleadingly labelled as Dolby AC3 stereo, which is potentially a trading standards issue as identical L & R can`t be classed as stereo!

There are loads of extras knocking around for this film, from the original press briefing with the stars and director in 1982 through to news articles on ITN which could have been used but all you get is some factually incorrect background. It could have been nice to track down the original stereo music soundtrack (which does exist) and re-dubbing as Network have done with Robin of Sherwood superbly using new Surround effects tracks. But as with Knight Rider and many of their low-price back catalogue, Universal continue to concentrate on knocking them out without proper care and in this collector`s market, that is short sighted.

OK so this film ain`t the `Usual Suspects`, there isn`t an `oh yeah` twist at the end, no lawyer`s names on the bottom of coffee cups and it is totally devoid of any John Woo style explosions, but if you want a good old fashioned `good guys win in the end` film, this is as good as it gets. Lewis Collins plays an SAS officer who goes deep under cover to penetrate an anti-nuclear terrorist organisation. Things get a bit tricky at times, but our hero pulls us through. The film culminates in a very exciting and, it has to be said, well filmed seige on the american embassy which bears many similarities to the assault on the Iranian embassy.
The visual quaility is not that good,the audio is slightly worse, and i suppose that some of the acting maybe considered a little bit hammish, but i would still have to say this is one of the most enjoyable films i have ever seen. I f you wonder why i have given the DVD an overall 10 out of 10 it is because i love films, i am not a HIFI nerd who feels the need to to study the EQ settings on the digital remix, this is a great come home from the pub and switch the brain off movie, and may there be many more of them.

Who Dares Wins, a great movie based on an SAS operation back in 1982 (when it was filmed). Lewis Collins (ex Professional - AKA CI5) played a damn good character and was a great actor in this film.

Alot of what was done, techniques etc, was very close to being true (infact the majority of what was shown was correct)