Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Who Dares Wins Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 10, 2010

Ian Sharp's "Who Dares Wins" a.k.a. "The Final Option" (1982) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Arrow Films. The supplemental features on the disc include a brand new audio commentary with legendary producer Euan Lloyd and director Ian Sharp; the documentary feature "The Last of the Gentleman Producers"; and a making of. Without optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Lewis Collins as Peter Skellen

The main character in Who Dares Wins, Peter Skellen (Lewis Collins, Der Commander), is a man who loves his country. He is also a good husband and father, as well as a member of the SAS, the British Special Air Services. Peter has an outstanding record, which is why his superiors have a great deal of respect for him.

When one of Peter’s comrades is assassinated by a radical group of leftists, he is immediately ordered to infiltrate it. Peter quickly approaches the female leader of the group, Frankie Leith (Judy Davis, Children of the Revolution), and becomes her lover. He moves in her lavish apartment and soon after is given a key position in the group.

Things get complicated when Peter discovers that the leftists are getting ready to kidnap a number of political leaders and dignitaries, and demand that the British government nukes an area of Scotland for the world to see and finally realize that in a nuclear war there would be no winners. Peter begins forwarding crucial information about the group's preparations to his superiors, but is quickly exposed by one of Frankie’s ex-lovers. Nevertheless, she decides to keep him alive and use his SAS expertise when negotiations with the British government begin.

Soon after, Frankie's men take over the U.S. Embassy and capture a number of important guests who have gathered to celebrate a special event. Peter is also there. The leftists announce their demands and negotiations begin. A couple of hours later, the SAS raids the U.S. Embassy and, with Peter's invaluable assistance, free the hostages.

Ian Sharp’s Who Dares Wins was inspired by the notorious besieging of the Iranian Embassy in London in May, 1980 and its focus is solely on the SAS and the mechanics of its tactical operations. Rather predictably, its narrative is fairly simple and free of surprising twists.

There are, however, a number of really awkward political statements in this film that could potentially surprise some viewers. The more prominent ones emerge during the second half of the film and address the U.S and British foreign policies, as well as political activism in general. Practically all of them, however, feel extremely dated.

Collins, who rose to popularity with the British TV series The Professionals and at one point was amongst the prime candidates to play James Bond, looks decent as an undercover SAS agent, but his lines could have been a lot better. Predictably, he is at his best during the final twenty or so minutes where he rarely speaks.

Davis looks fantastic and is at ease with her lines. The sequence where she delivers her revolutionary speech in front of the dignitaries at the U.S. Embassy is amongst the best in the film. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about her comrades as they usually look and sound as if they are auditioning for an upcoming project.

The directing is a mixed bag. Most of the action footage for instance is quite well done, but the leftist concert with the planned provocations looks utterly ridiculous and seriously hurts the film's credibility. Surprisingly, the music score, featuring original tunes by Jerry and Marc Donahue, is very good.

Note: In the United States, Who Dares Wins has previously been released on VHS under the alternative title The Final Option. To the best of my knowledge, it was never released on DVD.

Who Dares Wins Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Ian Sharp's Who Dares Wins arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Arrow Films.

Generally speaking, the high-definition transfer is pleasing but at the same time very inconsistent. Fine object detail varies, clarity fluctuates and contrast levels are not always as consistent as I assume they could be. For example, many of the indoor scenes look soft, at times even noisy. On the other hand, the outdoor footage looks sharper, but, again, clarity isn't consistent. The film's color-scheme is pleasing, but do not expect lush and well saturated colors - blues, greens, reds, browns and blacks look notably soft. Mild edge-enhancement is often easy to spot. I also noticed halos during a couple of scenes. Macroblocking, however, is not an issue of concern. Blown through a digital projector, the film looks relatively stable but lacks real depth (I have to assume that this is at least partially due to the lensing). Small flecks and small scratches are easy to spot. All in all, I have t conclude that Who Dares Wins could have looked better, but at the same time I feel that there are a number of source limitations that contribute greatly to how the film currently looks in high-definition. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location. Please note that there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu. The main feature and all of the supplemental features are also available on a separate DVD).

Who Dares Wins Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: English LPCM 2.0. For the record, Arrow Films have not provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

The English LPCM 2.0 track is surprisingly strong. The bass is potent and the high-frequencies prominent. The rock concert, in particular, sounds terrific (again, surprisingly so). The action scenes form the second half of the film sound good, but do not expect your system to get a serious workout - the audio effects are extremely limited. The dialog is clean and stable, and I did not have any trouble following it, but optional English subtitles for the main feature should have been included. For the record, I did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, or hissings to report in this review.

Who Dares Wins Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: All of the supplemental features on this Blu-ray disc are encoded in PAL. Therefore, if you reside in North America, or another region where PAL is not supported, you must have a Region-Free player capable of converting PAL to NTSC, or a TV set capable of receiving native PAL data, in order to view them.

Commentary - an audio commentary with legendary producer Euan Lloyd and director Ian Sharp. This is a wonderful, very informative commentary that offers an abundance of information about the production history of the film, the events that inspired it, its message and characters. Mr. Lloyd's comments, in particular, are outstanding. (The comments about the real attack on the Iranian Embassy in 1980 are also terrific).

The Last of the Gentleman Producers - a wonderful piece on producer Euan Lloyd and his involvement with the film industry. In English, not subtitled. (38 min).

Making of - a standard featurette offering a look at the production history of Who Dares Wins (part of the Electric Theater Show series). In English, not subtitled (25 min).

Who Dares Wins Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Ian Sharp's Who Dares Wins has not aged particularly well, but I think that some viewers may argue that this is actually what makes it entertaining. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of British distributors Arrow Films, looks acceptable and sounds very good. It also arrives with a brand new, truly fascinating commentary with producer Euan Lloyd and director Ian Sharp. The disc is Region-Free. RECOMMENDED.