Touches You

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Admirable film.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

I AM A GREAT FAN OF SPECIAL AIR SERVICE (SAS). WATCHED ALMOST ALL SAS MOVIES WHICH USES GAS MASK (RESIDENT EVILS INCLUDED).. RATING WILL BE GIVEN AFTER ENG SUB IS PROVIDED.. THANK YOU..

Despite being made over 20 years ago, it remains a tense drama/action film which hasn't dated at all. It was inspired by the infamous Iranian embassy siege, where the SAS were filmed on the news breaking in and very effectively ended the siege and dispatched the terrorists. It's a very well made film. It stars the late, much missed Lewis Collins as the SAS captain who goes undercover by forming a relationship with the terrorist cell leader. A topical issue today given the police have recently been criticised for similar tactics. The film did receive some media criticism for being perceived to be right wing by supposedly depicting peace protesters as terrorists. But this was a blatant misstatement of the plot: the terrorists are hiding themselves within that movement and Edward Woodward's police commander makes the point that the vast majority of peace protesters are just that. Collins gives an excellent, hard and understated performance. Due to in real life being adept at various sporting activities and even applying to join the TA wing of the SAS, he readily convinces with the action. But he's also very convincing in the film's quieter moments too. If the film was made today, it'd be stuffed with OTT action and explosions. Instead this film builds the tension slowly to a standout set piece finale which is incredibly well done: the SAS rescue of his wife and the assault on the mansion. I believe the real SAS were involved in structuring these scenes and in acting them out. It shows.

When SAS Captain Peter Skellen is thrown out of the service for gross misconduct due to unnecessary violence and bullying, he is soon recruited by The People's Lobby, a fanatical group aiming to hold several US dignitaries hostage. But Skellen's dismissal is a front to enable him to get close to the terrorist group. Can he get close enough to stop the Lobby from creating an international incident?...Imagine a really really British version of Die Hard, made six years before said movie, and featuring a hero who is more British than Austin Powers, and you have this movie.A what a weird and almost wonderful film it is. Collins is definitely leading man material, and it cannot fathom for the life of me why he never made it huge in the movies, he has great albeit very British screen presence.Back to the movie though, and we get him, dressed like the Major from Fawlty Towers, getting it on with Judy Davis, so he can join some sort of freedom group led by Ned Flanders.Its a lot of talk talk for the first two acts, but as son as the action rears its head, it never lets up, and is very well edited and choreographed.It's not uh classic I remember, but it's still fun to watch.

It was 1982; Britain had Thatcher, America had Reagan. The Falkland war had just past and there was a strong vein of nationalism within the UK. With that backdrop, we have "Who Dares, Wins" (AKA Final Option). It's too easy to dismiss this movie as a piece of right wing propaganda, but I think that's too simplistic. It was a film scripted in Los Angeles with the usual oversimplification that only the British film industry could carry off, and so was somewhat detached from UK reality, with cardboard cutout terrorists and macho army guys. Lewis Colins, a then well-known UK actor from the TV series the professionals, which had ended production by that time, was cast as the hero. He's more than up to the task, but what a waste of other cast members (Judy Davis, Widmark, etc.).A contemporary TimeOut review described it as "something to offend everyone" - that sums it up.