Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

It's 1797 during the French Revolutionary Wars. Captain Crawford (Alec Guinness) is setting off on his ship, the H.M.S. Defiant, with his eager young boy. He's a veteran with a gentle touch considering the era. Lieut. Scott-Padget (Dirk Bogarde) is his new well-connected, ruthless, hardnosed first mate. There is a building conflict between the two. Much of the crew have been pressed into service by force and some are plotting a fleet wide mutiny.This is a well made thrilling sailing navy flick. The acting is first rate led by the great Guinness. The back and forth between Crawford and Scott-Padget is intriguing although more background for Scott-Padget would help. It's not quite at the level of the best of the genre but it's plenty good enough. The miniature action is quite nice. The hand to hand combat is thrilling. It's solid swashbuckling with a compelling clash of personalities.

During the Napoleonic War Captain Crawford is given command of the Royal Navy ship HMS Defiant . A new crew are press ganged in to service . These unwilling recruits must be turned in to sailors but very quickly the practical Captain Crawford finds himself clashing with First Officer Scott Padget The QUATERMASS trilogy of the 1950s made Nigel Kneale a household name . Unfortunately Kneale didn't like this name or to be pigeonholed as a science fiction writer and spent all his energies trying to escape this albatross around his neck . He adapted the film versions of LOOK BACK IN ANGER and THE ENTERTAINER and adapted the novel Mutiny by Frank Tilsley in to this film DAMN THE DEFIANT and what a nice little gem of a film it is too . He wouldn't thank me for saying this but if you enjoyed the personality clash between Breen and Quatermass in QUATERMASS AND THE PIT you'll enjoy this movie too Two things Kneale was outstanding at was both character interaction and dialogue . There's a golden rule of scriptwriting of " Show don't tell " and Kneale never breaks this rule but the dialogue is flowing with exposition and character even if there's not much action happening on screen . At the heart of the story is the conflict between Crawford and Scott Padgett on the methods used on getting the best out of the crew . Crawford is experienced and though he's no soft touch he's aware sailors are only human and they're not sailors through their own free will so walking along the thin divide of what is needed to be done and not overstepping the line is his paramount concern . Scott Padget's view is entirely different and rules through a brutal iron fist . The crew however don't care who is running the ship and are going to mutiny regardless This film might seem a little bit old fashioned and stagy compared to something we might get today but nowadays directors like to wave the camera about trying to show off how much money the studio spent on the production . Nowadays the going rates for stars are also a bit too high for my liking and how many so called " stars " nowadays have the presence of a Guinness or a Bogarde as seen here . Even the actors in relatively small roles such as Tom Bell and Murray Melvin impress in a tightly plotted story that is the best of British

I see that mine is the fourth review within a month of this 1962 movie it's as if the film were just released! This is absolutely first rate gripping drama - wonderfully acted by three of England's best, with beautiful production values and a fascinating and varied tale. It is really three tales in one: of naval warfare during the Napoleonic Wars (three wonderfully created battles), of mutiny, and of the conflict between a captain and his first lieutenant. The folding of these three stories is really superbly done - and the characterization is superb - we feel very strongly that we know these very interesting people - and the acting by the three stars: Alec Guinness, Dirk Bogarde and Anthony Quayle is excellent. I take issue with one comment by a poster who wrote that Guinnesss plays a weak character - I don't agree though we are shown the strategic and tactical genius of his first lieutenant with whom he is in conflict. This is British film-making at its best. At least as fine as Master and Commander. I can't imagine anyone who would dislike it - anyone.

I remember seeing H.M.S. Defiant in the theater when it came out back in 1962. It's too bad my VHS copy is formatted. One really needs the wide screen to appreciate the vast sweep of this wonderful sea adventure.The Defiant sets sail from the naval harbor at Spithead just before the ships of the Channel Fleet are ready to start an organized mutiny. So with no contact between them and the ships at Spithead or in the Mediterranean, the men of the Defiant have to work out their own course of action. That action is the basis for what happens.They've got an unwitting ally in the ship's executive officer, Scott- Padget played by Dirk Bogarde. A future Drake or Hawkins with influence and a taste for sadism. He looks to usurp the authority of Captain Crawford who is played by Alec Guinness. The conflict between them plays into the hands of the mutineers.In that other famous story of the sea, Mutiny on the Bounty, Fletcher Christian points out to Captain Bligh that the men drafted into the Royal Navy from the press gangs aren't king and country volunteers. Neither are these people in the foc'sle of the Defiant.Bogarde plays against type and does it well. He's usually not a villain in film although he had essayed villainous roles before in his career. But Guinness is a wonder. His Captain Crawford, calm, detached, and inspiring in his own way in his patriotism was a role Alec Guinness could be proud of. Totally different than the characters he played in those Ealing studio comedies. This falls more in line with Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai or Colonel Sinclair in Tunes of Glory without the bad character features the other two had. Great Britain eventually stopped using press gangs, but at the time it was the way the Royal Navy got a crew together. In fact later on during the Napoleonic Wars, the British took to stopping American ships and impressing members of those crews in the Royal Navy. It was one of the causes of the War of 1812.Two other performances in H.M.S. Defiant are worthy of note. Anthony Quayle as the mutiny leader on the Defiant and Tom Bell one of the mutineers whose rashness nearly blows it all for the seamen and their cause.Hovering over all of this is the French and to me the highlight of the film is Alec Guinness reminding the men of their duty to prevent a French invasion of their island home. It's a superb piece of drama.A little Mutiny on the Bounty, a little Horatio Hornblower go into the plot of H.M.S. Defiant. It's a good mix with a superb group of players serving it up for the audience.