Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Casey Duggan It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Freeman This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Oslo Jargo (Bartok Kinski) *** This review may contain spoilers *** *Plot and ending analyzed*Defense of the Realm isn't too bad, I think it is an interesting film with a premise that is very obscure. If you can understand some of the low-audible dialogue and the heavy-handed British lingo, then it's a worthwhile film. Defense of the Realm has newspaper reporter Gabriel Byrne digging up muck in England, where a Member of Parliament gets thrashed and eventually dismissed for supposedly associating with a KGB agent. It's hard to follow at times and the ending is a big let-down because during the entirety of the film there was an enigmatic suspense that was really showing itself. Still, it does manage to bring enough closure to allow for the full critique of the American nuclear program abroad, which is staffed by lunatics. As a political thriller is should satisfy the basic audience.Also recommended: The Parallax View (1974) Three Days of the Condor (1975) The Conversation (1974) All the President's Men (1976) Telefon (1977)

Michael Neumann Good political thrillers demand sharp wits from filmmakers and audience alike, and here's a case in point: a competent, complex, and all too plausible fiction exposing the invisible machine at work behind top-level government affairs, set in England but perhaps even more relevant to audiences on this side of the Atlantic. Gabriel Byrne stars as an ambitious Fleet Street reporter following another unremarkable Ministry sex scandal, who finds his life in sudden jeopardy when his investigation begins to touch on some highly sensitive matters of national security. The scenario combines all the best elements of investigative journalism with the worst aspects of Realpolitik expediency: treachery, paranoia, and corruption (in short, all the things that make governments work). The atmosphere is sinister and the plotting appropriately elliptical (but never too hard to follow); only the sudden, downbeat ending looks artificial.

Marlburian It seemed quite promising, but was hard to follow in places, not helped by one or two outdoor scenes not transforming well onto a TV screen. I'd recorded it, so on several occasions was able to rewind to have another go at understanding it. It might help if I was to watch the entire film again from start to finish, but I can't be bothered. As I understand it, a youth fleeing from the police clambers over a very nasty looking fence onto the runway of an American air base and gets killed by an aircraft that's landing with a nuclear bomb on board. This precipitates an emergency exodus from the base. Cue cover-up, investigated by local MP who gets set up, leading to investigation by reporter.Byrne does well as the reporter, but as is often the case Denholm Elliott impresses the most. Greta Scacchi is very bland.

thehumanduvet This is a wonderfully moody piece, featuring the magnificently brooding Gabriel Byrne as a journo on the trail of sinister conspiracies.Dark, seedy and washed out, with a wealth of British stars, following an intricately woven thread of plot, this is a great example of old-fashioned, restrained British film.