Demon's Souls Remake Review (Revisited)

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, guys figured I would get one more post into the blog before the end of the month to make up for a lack of posting for the first two months of 2025. So, here I will revisit my initial review of the Demon's Souls remake, which was the launch game for the standard PS5.

So, after four years or so, let's take another look at this remake of the classic original and see how it fairs.

And the usual warning is coming up...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY

So to save time on me typing the story synopsis, here's a decent size snippet of it from Wikipedia

"In ancient times, Boletaria was attacked by a being called the Old One due to the abuse of forbidden Soul Art magic, with the world being almost lost in a magical "Deep Fog" filled with soul-eating demons. The Old One was eventually lulled into slumber, saving Boletaria and populating the damaged world with special humans called Monumentals. In the game's present, Boletaria's ruler King Allant has restored Soul Arts and consequently awoken the Old One and its demon army within the fog. Boletaria is now being consumed by demons, with those humans without souls turning into insane monsters. Players take the role of an adventurer entering the fog engulfing Boletaria. After being killed, the player wakes up in the Nexus and meets a benevolent demon called the Maiden in Black, as well as various other characters.

Now bound to the Nexus until the Old One is returned to slumber, the player travels to five regions of Boletaria, killing the powerful demons controlling those areas and absorbing their souls to increase their power so they can face King Allant".

THOUGHTS

Well, just after over four years from its initial release, the Demon's Souls remake remains an excellent update to the original PS3 classic game, which sees the game get an impressive visual overhaul with 4K graphics thanks to the PS5's enhanced graphics. However, the gameplay mechanics of the game also remain faithful to the original game too and are also keeping in with the spirit of the other Souls games. In short, if you enjoyed the other Souls games, then you are sure to enjoy this update remake also as the developers, Bluepoint (who also remade the acclaimed RPG, Shadow of the Colossus) did a fantastic job here.

GAMEPLAY

Now this section will be quite big of course and I will split it as usual like my other game reviews into sub-sections below.

MOVEMENT

Starting with movement, the game follows much the same system as the Souls games that succeed it with a third person perspective view that can be rotated 360 degrees to see the character face on or from behind. The player can also do the usual actions such as attack, run, sprint, walk (of course!) and in addition that was never included in the other Souls games, your character can even climb up ledges! This was expanded a little in the remake as at certain points in the game, your character can vault over walls although this is pretty limited in its use. One thing your charatcer cannot do however is jump, which is a bit bizarre but ah well, hey ho, this must come down to a limitation from the original game that was kept here.  

CHARACTER CLASSES AND STATS

Next is of course your character classes and stats, which are of course very important and have a big impact on your overall progression throughout the game. Starting with classes, you have 10 different types to choose from that include a warrior, knight, magician (sorcerer in the sequels), priest (cleric in the sequels), hunter and a wanderer and these can be either male or female. These classes will all have their own individual characteristics that are determined by their stats and these can be altered as you progress through the game and this will also grant them usage of different weapons, spells and other items in the game.

As for the stats, similar to the other Souls games you have a set number that are much the same that include vitality, endurance, strength, intelligence, luck, magic and faith. Vitality, endurance and strength are pretty much self-explanatory whereas other stats such as intelligence affect the amount of spells magic spells you can hold and the magic stat determines the power, which increases as you level up that stat itself. Faith is also much the same in that when you level it up you will gain access to more slots and it will boost the strength of offensive miracles or also increase the requirements needed to use these miracles.

There are also some additional stats that would feature in the other Souls game too such as luck, which boosts your item discovery from fallen enemies as you can increase it. And of course there is dexterity, which is used to handle certain weapons that requirement more refined skill to use such as spears, bows, halberds or katanas.

And before moving on, its worth mentioning of course that these stats are leveled via the NPC known as the Maiden in Black, who appears in the game's main hub, the Nexus, which I will mention in a bit.

WEAPONS

And this brings us onto weapons and there are plenty of weapons to be found in Demon's Souls just like in the other games in the series and some of these appear in the other Souls games too. And the remake largely keeps the original weapons intact with little new weapons added.

So, similar to the Dark Souls trilogy, you have different classes of weapons such as straight swords, large swords (which are the equivalent of great swords in the sequels) spears, hammers (including clubs I think), bows (including crossbows), katanas, daggers, curved swords (that inflict bleed damage) and axes. And these weapons all have varying requirements when it comes to strength and dexterity although I don't think they require intelligence or faith like some of them do in the Dark Souls trilogy.

There are also a selection of shields in the game too, which you character will use for defense and to block attacks (as you do with a shield!). Again there are different classes of shield such as small, standard and large with a mixture of wood, leather and metal shields with varying degrees of resistance and effectiveness for physical and elemental damage.

You can still of course use these weapons even if you do meet the requirements for them but it just means, like the DS trilogy you cannot use them effectively until you meet those requirements. However some of these weapons, especially weapons such as large swords, can be used if you meet the dexterity requirement for them and will allow to use them two-handed with most strength weapons proving most effective being held with two hands anyway.

As for the remake, they did add two new weapons which are the ritual blade and the reaper scythe as well as the hoplite shield. The ritual blade is a large axe (although it does look more like a large machete than anything else!) which can be found used by the skeletons in Shrine of Storms. The reaper scythe is a polearm weapon, similar to the great scythe in the other Souls games. Both of these weapons however cannot be upgraded.

ARMOUR

As for armour there is actually a surprisingly small amount of armour sets in the game with just 18 in total to be found and every class has their own individual set. The armour sets can range from very light for characters such as magicians and hunters to the more heavy sets worn by knights and priests. Again the weight factor of the sets will also impact on your equipment load as you will fat roll (i.e. roll slowly) if you are wearing a heavier and don't have sufficient endurance to wear it.

COMBAT

As for the combat again it is very similar to the following Souls games in that your character uses a mix of defense and offense when taking down enemies with a weapon and shield. You can also as a caster (mage or priest) use spells to take down enemies at range or use a bow or cross-bow to do the same. The game also introduces the parry and riposte system where you can use your shield deflect an enemy's attack and follow it up with a deadly finishing move and addition to this you can get behind enemies and backstab them.

The remake version of the game has enhanced versions of the riposte and backstab attacks, which are altogether a bit more brutal looking in their execution! However, these attacks actually remain faithful to the original take down methods of the original game.

THE NEXUS

And then we get to what is the game's central hub, which is known as the Nexus and is like Firelink Shrine in the sequels (or Majula in the Dark Souls II) where your character can level up their stats (via the Maiden in Black) talk to other non-playable characters (i.e. NPCs) and purchase items and upgrade weapons. The Nexus also features what appear to be five headstones that allow the player access to different worlds that are the main playable areas of the game but in order to access them you need to talk a specific NPC (the Monumental) to do so.

NON-PLAYABLE CHARACTERS (NPCs)

Then there are the NPCs, who like in the other Souls games can help your character along the way and offer different things such as the Nexus blacksmith, Boldwin, who can upgrade your weapons and purchase weapons and other items form. There is also another blacksmith, Ed, who does further weapon upgrades and can craft weapons from boss souls as well as upgrade unique weapons. There is also an NPC, Stockpile Thomas, who can store items and weapons for you if you become over-burdened with your equipment load and this can happen quite often in the game as you pick up items throughout. Then there are NPCs you can purchase spells or miracles from that you find as you travel through the worlds and you can also trade boss souls with them for additional spells/miracles.

Then of course we have the Maiden in Black, who levels up your character and she also plays a pinnacle role in the end of the game but I won't say much more than that! Plus I cannot forget to mention the one and only Patches, who features in just about EVERY Souls game (bar Dark Souls II that is!). Patches if you don't know is basically a sneaky and untrustworthy merchant, who will screw you over at any given opportunity but can later on sell you stuff that is of good use such as healing items, arrows and rings.  

CHARACTER AND WORLD TENDENCY

Another key aspect of the game is to do with your character and world tendencies.

Starting with character tendency, this affects your character directly based on your choices throughout the game to either help NPC's or kill them or invade online players and kill them. So, essentially you will have either a black or white tendency with the black tendency it reduces your health to 45% and your attack power is increased as an invading black phantom.  White tendency however will increase the player's attack power in Soul form and it will also increase your attack power as a blue phantom (i.e. where you assist other online players to fight bosses).

As for the world tendency, this directly affects the difficulty level of events that take place in the game's different worlds and are specific to that world. So, essentially if you stay in human form and keep dying then this will lead toward the world tendency turning black, which in turn strengthen enemies HP and attack power but they will end up dropping more souls when they die and you will have a better chance at obtaining rare items. Your character's maximum HP will reduce in Soul form also, which can makes thing very challenging indeed! There will also be more black phantoms of standard enemies that appear at different areas in that world as well to challenge you.

As for white world tendency, enemies will have less HP and attack power and will reduce the chance of dropping rare items but they should still provide health items when they are killed. Your attack power is also increased when in soul form and can go up in increments based on how white the world becomes.

SOUL AND BODY FORM

And this brings me onto the two different forms your player can take, which are soul and body form as both these forms have different effects on gameplay.

Starting with soul form, the player will have reduced health but they can as previously mentioned have more attack power in this form based on your world tendency as it will be more if it is white and less if black. They will also appear more ethereal than they would in body form and one benefit also is that they make no noise when they move around. When you are in body form however you will have full health but you will do less damage than in soul form and you will also make audible noise when you move.

ARCHSTONES

Another key aspect of the game are the archstones, which your character will use to travel between the different worlds and the Nexus and there are often more than one to be found in each world. Each world will begin with one each but as you defeat bosses, more will appear as you progress and they can allow you to checkpoint your progress in the worlds as you make your way through them. You can also use what is known as shards of archstone, that are the equivalent of your homeward bone from Dark Souls that can return you to the Nexus at any time.  

ENEMIES AND BOSSES

Moving onto the enemies there are is plenty of variety here with no shortage for your character to fight against that range from your low level scrubs that are the dreglings up to red eye knights. There are also some really annoying enemies called fat officials, who are appear in a couple of the worlds who armed with whips or axes and can throw fireballs at you. However in the remake, they decided to redesign the officials a bit by giving them warty skin! There are also plenty of monster/creature type enemies such as giant bugs, rockworms, gargoyles, man centipedes, storm beasts and of course your typical rabid dogs!

There are also hybrid-human enemies such as mind flayers, who are essentially octopus headed magicians that can deal out some pretty nasty damage, shadow lurkers, who are like ghostly spirits that deal out magic damage and of course we have armoured skeletons, who can really mess you up with their falchions (i.e. a curved sword that deal heavy bleed damage!). So there are certainly plenty of bad guys here to keep you on your toes and will test you throughout the game.

There are also another type of enemy in the game that appear as red phantoms and they can interrupt your progress at different times in the game. The phantoms will vary in challenge as you progress and their presence can also be affected by the world tendency of the game as they will often appear more if you have a black world tendency than white.

Boss wise there are plenty on display here and they of course will allow the player to regain their body form if they were in soul form when the boss is defeated. The bosses will of course drop a high number of souls as well as their own soul, which can be traded with the magician or priest NPC's for special spells/miracles. Bosses also come in different types such as humans and monsters and there is plenty of variety on display here in the game in that regard.

The bosses definitely vary in their challenge level and I have to say that most of them are pretty easy in comparison to the rest of the bosses found in the Dark Souls trilogy but some of them are pretty interesting in their design all the same.

RINGS

Then there are the rings in the game, which just like in the other Souls games, grant the character different abilities and resistances and they can equip two at a time. There are 26 rings in total in the game and as a few examples there is the Cling Ring, which can be used to boost your HP when you are in soul form and the regenerator ring, which slowly recovers your health over time. Other rings also include the Thief Ring, which enables you to become harder for enemies to detect, Ring of Magical Sharpness, which boosts your magic power but also lowers your magic defense. Other rings also include the ring of flame resistance, which boosts your fire defence as well as the ring of gash resistance, that boosts your defence to bleed weapons. As for the last one I will mention is The Ring of Herculean Strength, which boosts your equipment load similar to Havel's Ring in the sequels.

WEAPON UPGRADE STONES

Next we have the stones used for upgrading weapons and there is a big variety of stones to be found throughout the game that all have different properties and can add various effects to weapons such as infuse them with fire, magic, bleed or poison.

There are too many to mention here to go through them all but the two primary types of stone you will use in the game are hardstone and sharpstone and they can fully upgrade your weapons from its base level up to +10. These types of stone however are the basic upgrade paths and will not add any additional elemental effects to weapons.

Starting with hardstone, this is used to upgrade weapons such as straight swords, axes, hammers, bows and even shields and they come in different varities that are shards, large shards, chunks and pure stone (maxes out the weapon to +10). So, basically hardstone would be used to mainly upgrade strength based weapons as opposed to dex based ones. As for sharpstone, this is used to upgrade weapons such as spears, curved swords, katanas, daggers and rapiers, which are all pretty much dexterity based weapons. Again similar to hardstone, sharpstone comes in varieties of shard, large shards, chunks and pure stone.   

CONSUMABLE SOULS AND ITEMS

And last of all for the gameplay section, I will mention a bit about the consumable items in the game as well as souls that you can collect throughout. To start with the consumable souls, these are often found on dead bodies and will range in the number of souls they give you from as little as 200 up to 10,000 souls. These are very handy for boosting your souls count when you might be low and want to purchase items or even uprgade weapons or level up.

As for the consumable items there are plenty also to be found in the game and primary ones are for healing your health but some can also be used to cure status ailments such as poison or toxicity. The healing items vary from the smallest, which are Crescent Moon Grass alway up to New Moon Grass, which completely restores your health. As for the status healing items there are three usable ones here that are Widow Lotus that cures the plague, Royal Lotus, which cures poison and Soldier Lotus that cures bleeding.

Other consumable featured also help restore your magic power and there are two such items that can do this that are Fresh Spice and Old Spice. Fresh Spice will only recover a small amount of your magic power whereas Old Space will recover a larger amount of it. These items can also be purchased from different NPC merchants in the game.

EQUIPMENT LOAD

And lastly in the gameplay section, I will mention more about equipment load as already mentioned, your character can become overburdened by the load that they carry as they pick up items throughout the game. However, you can offload equipment to the NPC at the Nexus called Stockpile Thomas, who will hold your equipment safely for you. However, in the remake, a neat change that has been added is if you are danger of being overburdened, the game will allow you to move any items that would do so to storage, so it can be retrieved at a later date. This is a nice change from the original's rather inconvenient way of forcing you to drop items to or leave them behind due to your equipment burden.

GRAPHICS

Finally moving onto the game's graphics, well its safe to say that the orignal Demon's Souls graphics were easily the most dated looking of all the Souls games, especially given as it was initially released on the PS3. However even by PS3 standards, the graphics are still a bit behind the times but I guess this might have come down to the budget limitations available to the developers at the time.  

However, this is not a problem in the remake as the graphics are simply stunning in their richness and detail as the environments all look fantastic as they have been given a huge 4K upgrade over the original's dated looks. In fact the game comes with two modes, a performance mode targetting 60fps and a native 4K mode, which runs at 30fps. Character models also look excellent too although I would still say their facial animations looks a bit weird an unnatural at times. Regardless of this though, they still look very impressive.

You also have access a number of visual filters that give the game a different look as the standard look of the game is pretty dark alot of the time, particularly in the Nexus. However, the visual filters allow players to make profiles for the game that appear more bright or vivid, which can prove useful especially in a darkly lit area in the game.

So, overall the visuals are very impressive in the remake and it does show off the PS5's graphics capapbilities very well indeed.

MUSIC

As for the music, the game features a pretty good score by Shunsuke Kida and it is largely very orchestral and features choral sections also very much like the Souls scores that would follow it but I would still say that the Dark Souls trilogy's music scores were far more memorable than this one here. Regardless of that though there are still some good themes here that include the themes for the bosses, Armour Spider, Tower Knight and my favourite is Maiden Astraea, which is quite different from the rest of score and is easily the real standout of the soundtrack.

As for the remake however, the score has been re-orchestrated by American composer, Bill Hemstapat, who recorded the score with a 75 piece orchestra. The remake score however doesn't bear a great deal of resemblance to the original although some themes do have a familiar sound to them but for the most part, the score is quite different to the original as it is more grandiose sounding in its orchestral arrangements. However, the score itself in the remake is still pretty good even if it lacks the charm of the original in some ways, there are some standout tracks such as the themes for King Allant, Maneaters, Fool's Idol and Maiden Astrea. So, it does vary from the original score but its still worth a listen.

FLAWS

As for the flaw, well yes the game does have some worth noting.

For startings is the concept of World Tendency, which if you are new to the game then its something that might trip you up as it did in my first playthrough of the original (which the save file got corrupted for, so I had to start a 2nd playthrough to finish the game!). And the main problem with this is if you stay in body form and keep dying, the world tendency will turn black as mentioned in my WT section and the enemies become stronger and harder to kill and your max health is reduced in soul form. So, this is a real pain in the asss if you get stuck in such as situation and it can also force to deal with an extra bunch of in-game invaders who also have more health! So, in short you really need to take care when you play this game at first and if in doubt, just stay in soul form to avoid this trap.

Something else that bugged me in the game was to do with how the Maiden in Black keeps changing her position every time you travel back to the Nexus and given it is a pretty big place, its easy to lose track of where she is! I mean one minute she's at the bottom of the stairs and the next she is right up the top where you can't see here without running around or she might sitting down in a crouched pose! So, I wish they would have limited the amount of positions she can move to when you travel back to the Nexus to make your life just that bit easier to find her and level up.

Another problem found was to do with the lack of archstones at times in the game, which can cause much frustration in certain areas, particularly in the Tower of Latria world, as I had found myself having to do a massive runback from the second archstone to try and progress through the swamp area and up the top. However, when I did this one time, I was killed en-route to the top by a gargoyle and another time I carelessly jumped off a lift taking me up, which meant I had to start all over again! So, the lack of archstones really does force you to be extra careful in these areas, which can also be pretty challenging.

Then there is of course the issue relating to the sheer amount of upgrade stones throughout the game as there simply too many to choose from and they are quite confusing in what some of them even do! In fact I think overall there are 16 different types of stone to be found in the game, which is too many if you have ask me and serve more to confuse the player than help them.

Another thing that might also be a big problem in the game is that there is no forgiveness system like there is in the Dark Souls games, where you can be pardoned for your sins if your accidentally attack an NPC either in the Nexus or in the worlds. And if you make this mistake that means you are pretty much scuppered with dealing with that NPC, so if you e.g. unwittingly attack the magician, Freke, then he will refuse to deal with you and will try and kill you instead, leaving you no choice but to kill him. So, if you are a mage then that's you pretty much screwed!

UPDATE TO LAST PARAGRAPH: This is actually not the case in the remake, as a seek forgiveness option was added to this new version of the game, where you can select different options for character custimisation at a statue found in the Nexus. So, yeah, this previous paragraph while true to the original, is no longer relevant to the remake.

I also noticed in the game that there are certain weapons that cannot be upgraded, which I found a bit annoying such as the crossbows and certain shields like the leather ones. Now I can sort of see the point of not necessarily wanting to upgrade a leather shield but a crossbow?! I mean come on! A crossbow can be a pretty essential weapon in the Souls series and to not allow it to be upgraded is frankly ridiculous! So, I'm not sure what the game director, Hidetaka Miyazaki's logic was here when he made these upgrade decisions in this game.   

Another issue I have, which is specific to the remake version is to do with killing the crystal lizards in an area, because in the original game and other Souls games you could just reload the game from the menu and the crystal lizards would reappear. However, in the remake, you cannot do that here as you need to travel back to the area to reset it, so you can kill the crystal lizards you missed. This is an annoying change especially when it comes to having to kill the surrounding enemies over and over again and probably one of the poorest changes in the remake.

Another remake issue is to do with the new recording of the NPC dialogue, which has been altered somewhat and feels like its lacking some of the character and personality in the original. A prime example of this is the character, Boldwin the blacksmith at the Nexus, who was a grumpy Scotsman in the original game but here they've made him more amicable sounding. So, instead of his grumpy sign off of "You come back alive! I need your business!" its now "Do come back alive. I need your business" which makes him sound more submissive and wishy washy!

Another example of this comes in the form of needlessly changing the dialogue from the original with the worst offender being the Maiden in Black's dialogue when you finish leveling up your character. And in the original, the Maiden at this point would ask "Art thou done?" but they changed it to "Art thou finished?" in the remake! Now, this to me is totally pointless and adds nothing to the game whatsoever other than maybe annoy or irk some fans of the game, who would also feel these choices are largely pointless.

Another issue and one of the more disappointing aspects of the game is how just easy most of the bosses in the game are to defeat. I mean the final boss of the game, King Allant, who is essentially a large grub is ridiculously easy as you can even just finish him off with magic spells without even going anywhere near him! There are still a few tricky bosses in the game but to finish it all off with a "boss" that has zero challenge to him, is pretty disappointing. Although at least with the remake, they kept the difficulty level quite consistent with the original game overall.

WARNING: THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH HAS SPOILERS RELATING TO THE END OF THE GAME.

Last of all is an issue to do with the end of the game where after you defeat the second to last boss, King Allant, however after you do this you can no longer upgrade your stats via the maiden anymore, as she then grabs you and takes you underneath the Nexus to the Old One. So, by doing this, you are locked out of upgrading your character stats anymore, despite getting over 100,000 souls for killing Allant, you are denied the chance to do so and now need to wait to begin the new game plus before upgrading again, which really sucks. This also remains one of the more disappointing decisions in the remake, that they didn't amend this and allow your levelling up even after the Maiden takes you below, but nope(!) they decided to stick to the original game's daft decision for this, which was a big mistake imho but oh well!

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So to finally sum up, Demon's Souls Remake is an excellent update to the original game and its enhanced, stunning visuals really show off the PS5's graphical abilities. The gameplay also remains as enjoyable as the original and with a few tweaks here and there, it gives the game a more modern feel to its combat, which is a good thing.

There are a few issues however with the gameplay here and there and the sound effects and some changes to the voice acting are a bit annoying and disappointing in places. However all that aside, Demon's Souls is still an excellent upgrade to the original game and if you own a PS5, then its certainly worth a look to anyone, who fancies giving the Souls games a try.

So, I will give Demon's Souls remake a rating of:

9 out of 10

Right, that's it for now guys and I will be back in April for more posts.

Until then bye for now and Umbasa!

A Few Good Men Review (Revisited) "Sweet dreams, son!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK guys, so trying to get another post in just before the end of the month and I thought I would revisit one I did a few years back, which is of the legal drama, A Few Good Men starring Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson. 

So, after 33 years, let's see how this film fairs...

Oh and the usual warning is coming up...

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

STORY  

So the film begins at Guantanmo bay naval base in Cuba, with two young marines, Lance Coporal Dawson (Wolfgang Bodison) and Private Douney (James Marshall) entering the room of Private Santiago (Michael DeLarenzo) where they proceed to tie him up and stuff a rag down his throat, however as a result of the attack, Santiago dies and Dawson and Douney are arrested.

Shortly after Dawson and Douney's arrest, naval investigator and lawyer, Lieutenant Commander Jo Galloway (Demi Moore) believes the two marines did not murder Santiago and they were in fact acting on order known as a "code red" which is a form of disciplinary military punishment.  Galloway requests that she defend the two marines however her request is denied and instead the case is assigned to Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee, an inexperienced, cocky lawyer in the US Navy but who has a strong track record for plea bargaining.  Kaffee and Galloway at first however don't get along as Galloway resents Kaffee's carefree attitude as he clearly doesn't want to take on the demands of the case whereas Kaffee resents Galloway's overzealous attitude.

However despite their differences, they travel to Cuba along with Kaffee's fellow lawyer, Lt Sam Weinbeg (Kevin Pollak) where they meet with the commanding officer, Colonel Nathan Jessup (Jack Nicholson) who neither confirms or denies the practice of code reds on the base, and after a brief investigation of the base, the three of them fly back to the States. 

However on their return to the States, Jessup's executive officer, Lt Colonel Markinson (J.T. Walsh) goes AWOL, and Galloway grows more convinced that the order was a code red.  Kaffee and Galloway go and question Dawson and Douney who tell him that they were given an order to perform a code red on Santiago by their commanding officer, Lieutenant Kendrick (Kiefer Sutherland).

Kaffee then approaches the prosecution lawyer Captain Jack Ross (Kevin Bacon) and tells him the marines were given an order and he works out a plea bargain with him, where he will offer the marines involuntary manslaughter for which they would receive a reduced sentence of six months.  Kaffee takes the offer to Dawson who turns it down as he refuses to admit he did anything wrong other than follow his duty and will not dishonour himself or his corps.

As a result of this, Kaffee verges on quitting the case after having a row with Galloway, who insists they go to court and put the marines on trial, but Kaffee soon decides to take on the case.  And from here this is where Kaffe, Galloway and Weinberg plan their case to try and save their two clients from serving a life long prison sentence.....

THOUGHTS 

As far as courtroom dramas go, "A Few Good Men" definitely is one of the most entertaining and absorbing ones of its time and it has aged very well 33 years on from its release.  The story itself was actually based on a phone call the writer Aaron Sorkin had with his sister, who worked as a lawyer in the US Navy Corps for three years, where she defended marines who were accused of murder after a direct order from their commanding officer to carry out a hazing disciplinary action on a fellow marine.  Sorkin would then go on to write his script for the stage where it was a success on Broadway on its initial run in 1989.

And it has to be said that Sorkin's screenplay is wonderfully written and richly worded and the characters are all really well drawn out, and it also lead toward a fruitful career as a screenwriter for TV and film, as Sorkin went on to write "The West Wing" for TV, as well as films such as "The American President", "The Social Network" and "Steve Jobs".

PERFORMANCES (Warning: this section may contain spoilers and strong language!)   

As for the performances well they are excellent as the film features a great cast.

Starting with Tom Cruise, who despite his tendency to play annoyingly cocky characters (and yep Daniel Kaffee here is no exception here!) still provides a really good performance as Daniel Kaffee, the inexperienced and yes, cocky naval lawyer, who would rather take the easy way out of the case rather than go to trial.  However as the film progresses, Kaffee's character begins mature and grow and he takes on his responsibilities rather than run away from them.

And Cruise certainly has plenty of good scenes in the film such as the one where he is met by an angry naval officer, Spradling, as the two of them argue over a pending case of a young naval employee who supposedly smoked marijuana but it turned our to be oregano.  So, in the scene Spradling angrily says to Kaffee "We were supposed to meet 15 minutes ago. You're stalling on the McDermott case. We either get it done now, or I'll hang him from a f****** yardarm!".  And Kaffee, surprised asks the person he is practising soft ball with, Sherby "Do we still hang people from yardarms" and Sherby replies "Don't think so" and Kaffee says to Spradling "Sherby doesn't think we still hang people from yardarms anymore".

So, Kaffee tells Spradling "I'll file a motion seeking to obtain an evidentiary ruling in advance... ...then I'll file against pre-trial confinement. You'll get three months' paperwork... ...because a signalman bought and smoked a dime bag of oregano!".  And as the two of them continue to haggle over a resolution to the case and Spradling eventually gives and says "I don't why I'm agreeing to this!" and Kaffee grins and says "Because you have wisdom beyond your years!".

Then there is the scene where Kaffee confronts Dawson and Douney, who are being detained while Kaffee and Galloway do their investigation and in the scene Kaffee asks Dawson if their superior officer, Lt Kendrick ordered them to give Santiago a code red.  So, Kaffee walks in angrily and asks Dawson "Did Kendrick order the code red?" and Dawson asks "Sir?" and Kaffee about to lose his temper says "Don't say sir like I just asked you if you cleaned the latrine. You heard what I said. Did Lt. Kendrick order you guys to give Santiago a code red?!".  And Dawson says "Yes, sir" and Kaffee asks Douney, who also says "Yes, sir".

So, Kaffee, exasperated asks "You mind telling my why the hell you never mentioned this before?!" and Dawson says "You didn't ask us, sir" which pisses off Kaffee more who says "Answering my questions, isn't going to win you a place in my heart.  I get paid no matter how much time you spend in jail!".  And Dawson angrily says "Yes, sir, I know you do, sir!" which prompts Kaffee to yell "F*** YOU, HAROLD!!".

Then there is the scene where Kaffee offers Dawson and Douney, Ross's plea bargain deal to serve a 6 month sentence for involuntary manslaughter, however Dawson refuses to go for it.  So in the scene Kaffee tells them "All right, here's the story. The government's offering involuntary manslaughter. Two years. You'll be home in six months".  This prompts a look of surprise from Dawson and Douney but little more than that and Kaffee says "Wow! You're the greatest lawyer in the world! How can we thank you? Fellas, you hear what I just said?! You'll be home in six months!!".  However, Dawson says to Kaffee "I'm afraid we can't do that, sir" and Kaffee asks "Do what?" and Dawson says "Make a deal, sir."  And Kaffee bemused asks "What are you talking about?" "We did nothing wrong. We did our job. If that has consequences, I'll accept them. But I won't say that I'm guilty, sir".

So, Kaffee becomes angry and points accusingly at Jo and says to Dawson "Did she put you up to this???!" and Jo says "No".  And Dawson says "We have a code, sir!" which angers Kaffee "You and your code plead not guilty. You'll be in jail for life. Do what I say, and you'll be home in six months. Do it, Harold. Six months, it's nothing. It's a hockey season!".  But then Dawson lays it on the line as he tells Kaffee that he believes he was right and will not dishonour himself or the corps, so he can go home in just six months.  So, Kaffee requests to talk to Dawson alone, so the others leave and Kaffee says to Dawson "You know, Downey worships you. He's gonna do whatever you do. Are you really gonna let this happen to him because of a code, Harold?".  And Dawson looks at Kaffee and asks "Do you think we were right?" and Kaffee says "It doesn't matter..." but Dawson angrily asks agains "DO YOU THINK WE WERE RIGHT??!" and Kaffee says "I think you'd lose!".  And Dawson looks at him in disgust and says "You are such a coward!  I can't believe they let you wear a uniform!".

Then there is the scene right after where Kaffee argues with Galloway as he is ready to walk away from the case.  And Kaffee says in disbelief "I don't believe it!  Dawson wants to go to jail, just to spite me! If he wants to jump off a cliff...fine!  I'm not gonna hold his hand on the way down!".  Then Galloway argues with Kaffee and tells him "I want them to be judged, I want you to stand up and make an argument!" and "Why are you so afraid to be a lawyer?!  Were Daddy's expectations that high?!".  And Kaffee sighs and says "Oh, spare me the psychobabble father bullshit!  Dawson and Douney will have their day in court but they'll just have it with another lawyer!".  And as Galloway insists that they need him as he know how to win and if he walks away he will seal their fate, Kaffee tells Galloway "Their fate was sealed the moment Santiago died!".  And as Galloway asks "Do you believe they have a case?" and Kaffee angrily says "You and Dawson, you both live in the same dream world. It doesn't matter what I believe, it only matters what I can prove. So don't tell me what I know and don't know. I KNOW THE LAW!!". 

And to save a lot of time in typing more paragraphs for Cruise, I will just skip to the scene where Kaffee questions Colonel Jessup in court and he finally get's to the point where he asks him if he ordered the code red.  But before that there is the funny moment where Kaffee asks Jessup a number of questions about his personal items and telephone calls he made as he made his trip to Washington.  And Jessup tells Kaffee "I wore utilities on the plane" rather than his uniform and Kaffee asks "Toothbrush, shaving kit, underwear?".  And this provokes Ross to shout "Object!" and Kaffee asks "Is the general's underwear a matter of national security?!".  

So, in the scene Kaffee says to Jessup "If Lt. Kendrick gave an order that Santiago wasn't to be touched... why did he have to be transferred? Colonel? Kendrick ordered a Code Red because THAT'S what you told him to do!".  And then Kaffee begins to bellow at Jessup and shouts "AND WHEN IT WENT BAD, YOU CUT THESE GUYS LOOSE!! You signed a phony transfer order!  You doctored the logbook!  You coerced the Doctor!  Now I'm asking you!  COLONEL JESSUP DID YOU ORDER THE CODE RED???!!".

And as the Judge says "Colonel, you have to answer that question!" Jessup refuses to back down and says angrily "I'LL answer the question!" and he looks at Kaffee and says "You want answers?!" and Kaffe says "I think I'm entitled!".  And Jessup again asks "You want ANSWERS?!!" and Kaffee yells back "I WANT THE TRUTH!!!" and Jessup shouts that great line "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!".

And Jessup (SPOILER!!!) finally admits that he ordered the code red as Kaffee yells at him "DID YOU ORDERED THE CODE RED???!" and Jessup yells back "YOU'RE GODDAM RIGHT I DID!!".  Then Kaffee recommends they go to "an immediate 39a article session" as the court members and the jury leave the room, Jessup is placed under arrest and he lunges at Kaffee but is restrained.  And Jessup then says to him "All you did was weaken a country today, Kaffee! That's all you did. You put peoples' lives in danger. Sweet dreams, son!" and Kaffee says "Don't call me, son.  I'm a lawyer and an officer in the United States Navy.  And you're under arrest, you son of a bitch!".

And lastly there is the scene at the end where Ross, the prosecution for the case, asks Kaffee "Airmen O'Malley and Rodriguez.  What exactly were they going to testify to?" and Kaffee tells him "They were going to testify that they had no recollection of absolutely anything".  And Ross responds sarcastically "Strong witnesses" and Kaffee says "And handsome too, don't you think?" and they both laugh.

Demi Moore who it has to be said was a rather unlikely choice for such a role here, is actually pretty good as Lt Commander Joanne Galloway, the overzealous naval investigator who works on the case with Kaffee.

And Moore has quite a few good scenes of her own also such as the one where she talks to Captain West (John M. Jackson) in his office at JAG (Judge Advocate General) corps about the Dawson and Douney case.

And in the scene Jo tries her best to make a strong impression and also put herself forward to defend Dawson and Douney however when she makes the recommendation she bungles it nervously.  And Jo says to Captain West "Sir, I'd like to have them moved up to Washington and assigned counsel. Someone who can really look into this. Someone who possesses not only the legal skill...but a familiarity with the workings of the military.  In short, I'd like to suggest that I be the one who that-- That it be me who is assigned to represent them, myself!".  And Captain West says to her "Commander, why don't you go and get yourself a cup of coffee" and Galloway politely says "No, thank sir, I'm fine" and West says to her bluntly "Commander, I'd like you to leave the room so we can talk about you behind your back!" and Galloway smiles awkwardly saying "Certainly sir!".

Then there is of course Moore's most notable scene where confronts Kaffee for his lack of commitment over the case and tells Kaffee that she knows exactly who he is and his background.  So, she says to Kaffee "Daniel Alistair Kaffee, born June 8th, 1964...at Boston Mercy Hospital. Your father's Lionel Kaffee, former Attorney General of the U.S...died 1985. You went to Harvard Law, then joined the Navy...probably because that's what your father wanted. Now you're just treading water for the three years in the JAG corps...just laying low till you can get out and get a real job. If that's the situation, that's fine, I won't tell anyone".  However Jo then get's angry and warns him "But if this case is handled in the same Persian fast-food, slick-assed manner...with which you handle everything else...then something's gonna get missed! And I wouldn't be doing my job if I let Dawson and Downey to sit in prison, because their attorney predetermined the path of least resistance!".  And Kaffee simply stares at her and says "Wow!  I'm sexually aroused commander!".

Another good scene from Moore is when Galloway confronts Kaffee over his decision to quit the case and get another lawyer for Dawson and Douney.  And as Kaffee is about to leave, Galloway says to him "One thing, though. When you ask the judge, be sure and ask nicely" and Kaffee turns around and says "What do you want from me??" and she says "I want you to let them be judged. I want you to stand up and make an argument!".  And Sam sarcastically says to her "An argument that didn't help Calley at My Lai, an argument that didn't work for the Nazis at Nuremberg!".  However then Kaffee turns around and gives an angry response "For Christ's sake, Sam!  Do you think that's the same as two teenage marines executing an order they didn't think would result in harm? These guys aren't Nazis!" and Galloway says "Don't look now, Danny, but you're making an argument".

However as Kaffee is about to leave again and says that Dawson and Douney will have their day in court with another lawyer, Galloway says "Another lawyer isn't good enough! They need you! You know how to win!  You know they have a case, and if you walk away from them now you've sealed their fate!".  And as Kaffee angrily tells her not to tell him what he knows or not because "I KNOW THE LAW!" Galloway says to him "You know nothing about the law! You're a used-car salesman! An ambulance-chaser with a rank! You're nothing. Live with that" and she leaves instead.

And last of all is the scene where after their case hits a bad setback later on the film, Kaffee returns home drunk as he tells them about (SPOILER!!) Markinson (Jessup's executive officer at Gunatanamo bay, who was set to testify) having shot himself.  So, in the scene Galloway tells Kaffee that they still have a chance to win the case if they subpoena Jessup much to Kaffee's annoyance.

So, Jo (I'll call her Jo from now on!) in the scene says to Kaffee "In the morning we'll ask Randolph for a continuance for 24 hours" and Kaffee asks "Why would we do that?" and Jo says "To subpoena Colonel Jessup".  And Kaffee refuses to listen to Jo's reasoning and he says "No, I won't listen, Jo.  Your passion is compelling but useless.  Lowden Douney needed a TRIAL lawyer today!" (meaning she messed up being Douney's attorney) and she says to him "You chickenshit!  You're gonna use this as an excuse to give up?" and Kaffee says to her with a sense of finality "Its over!".

However Jo refuses to give in and she asks Kaffee "Why did you ask Jessup for the transfer order in Cuba?" and Kaffee annoyed answers "I wanted the damn transfer order!".  Jo, however spits back at him "Bullshit!  You could have gotten it by calling any one of a dozen departments. You didn't want the order. You wanted to see Jessep's reaction when you asked for the transfer order! You had an instinct and it was confirmed by Markinson! Now, damn it, let's put Jessep on the stand and end this thing!".  But as Kaffee goes into a big long rant and ends it like a game show host yelling at Jo "SHOULD OR SHOULD WE NOT FOLLOW THE ADVICE OF THE GALACTICALLY STUPID????!!" he then angrily knocks some papers and books off a table.  And Jo, shocked, takes a moment and then puts her coat and as she is about leave she says to Kaffee "I'm sorry I lost you your set of steak knives!" and she leaves (referring to a scene earlier where Kaffee said he will get a set of steak knives if he wins one more case). 
 
Jack Nicholson next up is terrific in his role as Colonel Nathan Jessup, the intimidating Guantanamo bay Naval base officer, who is the superior officer at the base where Santiago died.

Nicholson also has his share of great moments in the film such as the scene where we first see Jessup, reading Santiago's letter and he puts it down and introduces himself saying "Who the f*** is PFC William T. Santiago?!".  And then after Lt Kendrick tells Jessup who Santiago is, Jessup says "Well, apparently he's not very happy down here at Shangri-la because he's written everybody but Santa Claus, asking for a transfer. Now he's telling tales about a fenceline shooting!".  And Jessup looks to Markinson and says "Matthew?" and Markinson offers "I'm appalled, sir" and Jessup now annoyed says "You're appalled!  This kid broke the chain of command and ratted on a member of his unit to say nothing of the fact that he's a U.S. Marine and it would appear he can't run from here to there without collapsing from heat exhaustion!".

And towards the end of the scene, Jessup decides to have a quiet word with Markinson when Markinson disagrees with Jessup's decision to keep Santiago on the base and be trained rather than transferred.  So, in the scene Jessup bluntly tells Markinson "We go back a while. We went to the Academy together...were commissioned together, did our tours in Vietnam together. But I've been promoted with greater speed and success than you. Now, if that's a source of tension or embarrassment for you...I don't give a shit. We're in the business of saving lives, Lieutenant Colonel Markinson. Don't ever question my orders in front of another officer!" and he walks out leaving a frustrated Markinson alone.

Then of course there is the great scene where Kaffe, Jo and Sam go to Cuba and meet with Jessup at the base and they have lunch together where Jo asks Jessup a sensitive about code reds and whether they still happen on the base.  And in the scene Jessup says to Kaffee "You know, it just hit me.  She outranks you, Danny. I want to tell you something. And listen up, because I mean this. You're the luckiest man in the world. There is nothing on this earth sexier--believe me, gentlemen, than a woman you have to salute in the morning. Promote them all, I say, because this is true. If you haven't gotten any from a superior officer, well...you're just letting the best in life pass you by!".

And just before they go, Kaffee asks Jessup for a copy of Santiago's transfer order for his paperwork in a rather abrupt manner and Jessup somewhat takes offence.  But in the scene just as Kaffee is about to leave, Jessup says "But you have to ask me nicely!" and Kaffee is somewhat taken aback and asks "I beg your pardon?".  So, Jessup says firmly "You have to ask me nicely!  See, Danny, I can deal with the bullets, the bombs and the blood. I don't want money and I don't want medals. What I DO want is for you to stand there...in that faggoty white uniform... ...and with your Harvard mouth, extend me some f***ing courtesy!! You got to ask me nicely!".  And as Kaffee takes a moment and asks in more polite tone "Colonel Jessup, if its not too much trouble I'd like a copy of the transfer order, sir" and Jessup takes a moment and then says "No problem".

And last of all is the lengthy courtroom scene where Kaffee questions Jessup about the circumstances surrounding Santiago's death and it leads into him asking Jessup if he was the one that ordered the code red on Santiago.

So, in the scene Kaffee builds up to the moment and he yells at Jessup "DID YOU ORDER THE CODE RED?!" and as the Judge tells him he doesn't need to answer that, Jessup furiously says "I'll answer the question!".  So, Jessup glares angrily at Kaffee and asks "You want answers?!" and Kaffee says "I think I'm entitled!" and Jessup again asks "YOU WANT ANSWERS??!" and Kaffee yells "I WANT THE TRUTH!" and Jessup yells back "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!".

So, Jessup launches into his lengthy vitriolic speech which he spits at Kaffee "Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded. Who's gonna do it?! You?! You, Lieutenant Weinberg?!! I have a greater responsibility than you can possible fathom. You weep for Santiago and you curse the Marines. You have that luxury. The luxury of not knowing what I know: That Santiago's death, while tragic,  probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives!".

And Jessup continues "I have neither the time nor inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the freedom I provide then questions the manner in which I provide it! I would rather you just said thank you and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a DAMN what you think you are entitled to!".  And Kaffee continues to pressure Jessup "Did you order the code red?" and Jessup says "I did the job..." and Kaffee goes in for the kill "DID YOU ORDER THE CODE RED???!!" and Jessup not holding back, yells "YOU'RE GODDAMN RIGHT I DID!!!".

And as Jessup tries to leave, he is arrested by MP's and as Ross reads Jessup his rights, Jessup angrily says "What the hell is this?!  I'm being charged with a crime?!  IS THAT WHAT THIS IS?!  I'm being charged with a CRIME?!  That's funny, that's what this is!".  And Jessup suddenly lunges at Kaffee but he is restrained by the MP's and he yells at Kaffee "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!! YOU MESSED WITH THE WRONG MARINE!!".  Jessup soon calms himself down a little and he looks around the room in disgust and says "You f****** people!  You have no idea how to defend a nation!" and he glares at Kaffee and says "All you did was weaken a country today, Kaffee, that's all you did!  You put peoples lives in danger. Sweet dreams, son!".  

Kevin Bacon next is excellent as Captain Jack Ross, the prosecution lawyer for Dawson and Douney's trial and Kev has some great moments himself in the part as he was just starting to establish himself as a more serious actor at this stage in his career after appearing earlier films such as "Footloose".

And some of Bacon's best scenes include the one where Ross addresses the jury for the first time as he makes his opening statement.  And Ross in the scene tells the jury members of Kaffee "Now, Lieutenant Kaffee is gonna try and pull off a little magic act here. He'll try a little misdirection. He'll astonish you with stories of rituals. Dazzle you with official-sounding terms like Code Red. He might even try to cut into a few officers for you. He'll have no evidence, none, but it'll be entertaining. But in the end... ...all the magic in the world will not divert your attention from the fact... ...that Willy Santiago is dead, and Dawson and Downey killed him.  These are the facts of the case and they are undisputed".

Then there is the scene where Kaffee meets with Ross and tells him that he has Markinson and he will testify against Jessup and Kendrick but Ross warns him of the dangers of making unwarranted accusations against both men.

So, Ross says to Kaffee "If you accuse Kendrick or Jessep of any crime without evidence, you'll be court-martialled for misconduct and that's gonna be stapled to every job application you ever fill out!".  And Kaffee says to Ross "I think the whole f***ing bunch of you are certifiably insane and this code of honour makes me wanna beat the shit out of somone!".  And Ross fires back "Don't you dare lump me in with Kendrick and Jessep just because I wear the same unifrom. I'm your friend. I don't think your clients don't belong in jail, but I don't get to make that decision! I represent the U.S. government without passion or prejudice and my client has a case!".

So, Ross stands up to leave the bar and before he does he says to Kaffee "You got bullied into that courtroom. By everyone. By Dawson. By Galloway. Shit, I practically dared you. You got bullied into that courtroom by the memory of a dead lawyer".  And just before Ross leaves, a furious Kaffee stands up and yells at Ross "YOU'RE A LOUSY F****** SOFTBALL PLAYER, JACK!!" and Ross turns to him and says "Your boys are going down, Danny.  I can't stop it anymore".

Kevin Pollak is also great in his role as Lt Sam Weinberg, Danny's fellow lawyer and good friend, who enjoys a bit of banter with Danny while he also plays his part in preparing their case.

And Pollak's good scenes include the one where Sam is out pushing his baby's pram as he walks with Kaffee.  And Sam says to Kaffee of his baby daughter "You heard her.  She said her first word.  Pa" while pointing and Kaffee says "She was pointing at a mailbox, Sam!" and Sam replies "That's right, as if to say "Pa, lookl!  A mailbox!".  And just before they part company, Sam refers to their trip to Cuba and that they should wear white uniforms because its very warm down there.  Sam then asks Kaffee "You got dramamine?" and Kaffee asks "Does dramamine keep you cool?" and Sam says "No, it keeps you from throwing up, you get sick when you fly" and Kaffee tells him "I get sick when I fly because I'm afraid of crashing into a big mountain!".  And Sam then offers "I got some oregano.  I hear that works pretty good" and this refers to Kaffee's prior case regarding an Navy employee smoking a dimebag of oregano, so Kaffee laughs.

Another good scene from Pollak comes just after Kaffee questions the Guantanamo bay naval base doctor (Christopher Guest) in court and Jo embarrasses herself in front of the judge as she asks that the doctor's testimony be stricken from the record and "strenuously objects" to her comments being overruled.  So, after the court clears, Sam, clearly annoyed with Jo says "I strenuously object? Is that how it works? Objection. Overruled! No, I strenuously object! -Oh, then I'll take some time to reconsider!".  And Jo says "I got it on the record" and Sam angrily says "You got the court thinking we're afraid of the doctor. You object once, so we can say he's not a criminologist. You keep after it, our cross looks like a bunch of fancy lawyer tricks. It's the difference between paper law and TRIAL law!  Christ, even the judge said he was an expert!".

And just before Sam leaves the courtroom, Jo asks him re: Dawson and Douney "Why do you hate them so much?".  Sam then turns around and angrily says to her "They beat up on a weakling. The rest is this just smoke-filled-coffeehouse crap. They tortured and tormented a weaker kid! They didn't like him, so they killed him. Why? Because he couldn't run very fast!".  And then Sam asks Jo just before she goes "Why do you like them so much?" and Jo turns to him and says "Cos they stand on a wall and they say "Nothing's gonna hurt you tonight.  Not on my watch!" and Sam says to her "Forget about the Doctor, this trial starts Monday".

They beat up on a weakling.
The rest is this just
smoke-filled-coffeehouse crap.
They tortured and tormented
a weaker kid!
They didn't like him, so they killed him.
Why?
Because he couldn't run very fast!

Read more: http://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/movie_script.php?movie=a-few-good-men

Las  

Then there is the scene where Kaffee has his big row with Jo after Markinson had shot himself, with their case seemingly in tatters, Jo suggests they put Jessup on the stand, which Kaffee rejects and then ridicules her for before she leaves.  So, Sam says to Kaffee afterward "Did I ever tell you I wrote a paper about your father in college?" and Kaffee says "Yeah?" and Sam says "One of the best trial lawyers ever" and Kaffee says "Yes, he was".  And Sam goes on to say "But if I were Dawson and Downey, and had to choose you or him...I'd choose you any day of the week, and twice on Sunday. You should have seen yourself thunder away at Kendrick".  Kaffee then asks "Would you put Jessup on the stand?" and Sam says "No" and Kaffee asks "Do you think my father would have?" and Sam says "With the evidence we got, not in a million years".  But Sam then says "But here's the thing, and we can't get around this: Neither Lionel Kaffee nor Sam Weinberg are lead counsel for the defense in U.S. v. Dawson and Downey. So there's really only one question: What would you do?".

And lastly is the scene where the next morning, Kaffee decides to put Jessup on the stand and they start to go about their tactics for the case.  And Sam asks "What do we do?" and Jo says "I think we should hit Jessup with the phony transfer order" and Sam says "Without a witness" and Jo says "We have a witness" and Sam says "A dead witness".  And Kaffee, shooting hoops with his basketball says "In the hands of a lesser attorney that would be a problem!" and Sam smiles and says to Jo "Look at this.  Last night he was swimming in Jack Daniels and this morning he can leap tall buildings with a single bound!".  And as Kaffee confidently makes his case for how he will get Jessup to admit he ordered the code red and then asks where his baseball bat and that he thinks better with it.  So, after Kaffee get's his bat, he quickly looks at his closet that contains his lawyer clothes and he then races out saying "Stay here, I'm going to the office for a while!" and Sam says to Jo "He DOES think better with that bat!".

J.T. Walsh is also very good in his role as Lt Colonel Markinson, Jessup's executive officer, who feels guilty about Santiago's death and decides to later help Kaffee.

And I will mention for the sake of time only one of J.T.'s scenes and its the one where Markinson sneaks into Kaffee's car while he is out getting himself a magazine.  And as Kaffee get's in and drives away, he suddenly sees Markinson in the back seat and he exclaims in surprise "Jesus Christ!!" and Markinson says "You left the door unlocked".  And Kaffee asks him "Are you aware you are under subpeona?" and Markinson says "Yes. I'm also aware the lives of two Marines are in your hands. If I could do something about that, I would. Since I can't, all I can do is help you, Lieutenant".

So, Kaffee asks him "What do you know?" and Markinson says "I know everything" and Kaffee asks "Was it a code red?" and Marikin says "Yes" and Kaffee asks "Did Kendrick give the order?" and Markinson says "Yes".  And Kaffee then asks "Did you witness it?" and Markinson says "No" and Kaffee asks "Then how do you know?" and Markinson says "I know" and Kaffee says "Yeah, you know shit!" but Markinson then says "He was never going to be transferred off that base" which prompts Kaffee to pull over his car and look back at Markinson.  And Markinson continues "Jessup was gonna keep him on the base and wanted him trained".  Kaffee then says "You signed the transfer order" and Markinson tells him "I know.  I signed it the morning you arrived in Cuba.  Five days after Santiago died".  Kaffee then starts his car again and says to Markinson that he will work out a deal with prosecutor to offer him immunity and that he will check him into a motel.  Markinson then says "I don't want a deal, and I don't want immunity. I want you to know that I'm not proud of what I have done, nor of what I am doing".

Kiefer Sutherland next is excellent as Lt Kendrick, the Guantanamo bay officer, who is alleged to have given the code red order on Santiago.

Kiefer also his his moments in the film such as the one where Kendrick shows Kaffee, Jo and Sam around Santiago's quarters, which were sealed off.  And Kaffee asks Kendrick "Lt Kendrick, may I call you John?" and Kendrick formally says "No, you may not" and Kaffee asks him "Have I done something to offend you" and Kendrick replies "No, I like all you Navy boys.  Anytime we have to go some place to fight, you fellas always give us a ride".  Jo then asks Kendrick "Lieutenant, do you think Santiago was murdered?" and Kendrick tells her "Commander, I believe in God and his son Jesus Christ.  Because I do, I can say this: Private Santiago is dead and that is a tragedy.  But he is dead because he had no code, he is dead because he had no honour and God was watching!".

And lastly there is Kiefer's big courtroom scene where Kaffee questions Kendrick on the stand over Santiago's death.

And in the scene, Kaffee asks Kendrick "Lt Kendrick, would you say Santiago was a good marine?" and Kendrick says "I'd say he was about average".  Kaffee however then produces some conduct reports and hands them over to Kendrick who looks at them and says "Yes, Private Santiago was below average.  I do not see the need to trample on the man's grave".

Kaffee then questions Kendrick about another marine, Private Bell, who was caught sneaking liquor out of the officer's club.  So, Kaffee asks Kendrick "Did you report Private Bell to the proper authorities?" and Kendrick smiles and says "I have two books at my bedside, Lieutenant: the Marine Code of conduct and the King James Bible. The only proper authorities I'm aware of are Colonel Jessep and the Lord our God!".

Then Kaffee questions Kendrick about Dawson receiving a below average report rating on one occassion "Was Dawson given a below average rating because he was caught sneaking food to Private Bell?".  And Kendrick replies "Lance Coporal Dawson was given a below average rating because he committed a crime?" and Kaffee asks "What crime did he committ?" and Kendrick says "He disobeyed an order".  And Kaffee says "And because he made a decision about the welfare of a Marine that conflicted with your order, he was punished, right?" and Kendrick again firmly says "Lance Corporal Dawson disobeyed an order!".

And Kaffee finishes by saying to Kendrick "Lieutenant Kendrick, one final question. If you HAD ordered Dawson to GIVE Santiago a Code Red...!" and this rattles Kendrick who shouts "I told those men specifically not to touch Santiago!!".  And Kaffee finishes "...wouldn't it be reasonable to think he disobeyed you again???!" and Ross shouts out "Lt, don't answer that!" and Kaffee says "You don't have to, I'm through!".  So, Ross asks Kendrick one last time "Did you order Dawson and Douney to give Santiago a code red?" and Kendrick, still rattled says "No, I did not!". 

Wolfgang Bodison next up is very good in his debut role as Lance Corporal Dawson and Bodison himself never had any prior acting experience and was actually the personal assistant to the director, Rob Reiner, who thought Bodison fit the bill physically for the role, so he had him audition.

And Bodison has some good moments aswell but I will mention just a couple of his scenes and the first being the one where Kaffee offers Dawson and Douney a deal so that they can serve just a six month prison sentence.

However in the scene Dawson refuses the deal and says to Kaffee "I'm afraid we can't do that, sir" and Kaffee asks "Do what?" and Dawson says "Make a deal, sir.".  Kaffee, bemused says "What are you talking about?!" and Dawson says "We did nothing wrong. We did our job. If that has consequences, I'll accept them. But I won't say that I'm guilty, sir".  And Kaffee tries to make another attempt at convincing Dawson to go for the deal "Six months!  Do it, Harold!  Six months, its nothing.  Its a hockey season!".  Dawson then takes a moment and says "Permission to...." and Kaffee exasperated by Dawson's formality shouts "SPEAK!!! JESUS!!".

So, Dawson asks "What do we do then, sir?" and Kaffee asks "When?" and Dawson says "After six months, we'll be dishonourably discharged, right, sir?" and Kaffee says "Probably" and Dawson asks again "What do we do then, sir?" and Kaffee has no answer.  So, Dawson get's up and explains "We joined the Marines because we wanted to live by a certain code. You're asking us to say we have no honor, that we're not Marines! If a court decides what we did was wrong, I'll accept whatever punishment they give."  And then he walks toward to Kaffee and says firmly "But I believe I was right, sir. I believe I did my job and I will not dishonor myself, my unit ...or the Corps, so that I can go home in SIX MONTHS! Sir!".

And Kaffee tells the others he wants a moment alone with Dawson, so the others leave and Kaffee says to Dawson "You know, Douney worships you.  He's gonna do whatever you do.  Are you really gonna let this happen to him because of a code, Harold?".  And Dawson asks "Do you think we were right?" and Kaffee says "It doesn't matter what I think..." but Dawson snaps "Do you think we were right???!!!" and Kaffee says "I think you'd lose".  Dawson then looks at Kaffee with disgust and says "You're such a coward!  I can't believe they let you wear a uniform!".  And Kaffee tells him "I'm not going to feel responsible for this, Harold.  You're going to Leavenworth for the better part of your life and you know what?!  I don't give a shit!".  Kaffee opens the door to leave and asks Dawson "What happened to saluting an officer when he leaves the room?" and Dawson stands up and defiantly shoves his hands in his pockets instead.

And lastly (SPOILER!!!!!!!!!) there is the scene where Dawson and Douney's trial is over and they are found not guilty of the murder but are guilty of conduct unbecoming a US marine, so they are to be discharged form the marine corps.  And Douney, confused asks Dawson "What did that mean?" and he approaches Jo and says "Colonel Jessup said he ordered the code red!  What did we do wrong?!  We did nothing wrong!!".  And Dawson, looking ashamed says "Yeah we did.  We were supposed to fight for people who couldn't fight for themselves.  We were supposed to fight for Willy".  And as Dawson and Douney are about to leave the courtroom, Kaffee says to Dawson "Harold...you don't need to wear a patch on your arm to have honour" and Dawson, suddenly filled with respect for Kaffee says to him "Ten-hut!  There's an officer on deck!" and he salutes Kaffee, who salutes back and Dawson leaves.

James Marshall is also pretty good as the niave Private Douney facing trial for carrying out a code red on a fellow marine, Private Santiago, who died as a result.

And Marshall's best main scene is where Douney is questioned by Ross in court over the day on which the code red took place.  And in the scene Ross asks Douney "Private, the week of 2 September, the switch log has you down at post 39 until 16:00, is that right?" and Douney replies "I'm sure it is, sir, they keep that log pretty good".  Ross then asks "How far is it from Post 39 to the barracks?" and Douney says "Oh, its a ways, sir.  Its a hike" and Ross asks "Have you ever had to walk it?" and Douney says "Yes, sir, that day. Friday. The pickup private-- That's what we call the guy that drops us off. Also because he can get the girls in New York City....he got a flat tire at Post 39, so we had to double time it back to the barracks".  Ross then says to Douney "And if its 15 minutes by jeep, I'm guessing its an hour by foot, right?" and Douney with a sense of pride says "Pick-up private and me did it in 45 flat, sir" and Ross smiles and says "Not bad".

So, Ross then says to Douney "You've said your assault on Santiago was ordered by Lieutenant Kendrick...in your barracks room at 16:20, am I right?" and Douney says "Yes, sir".  However Ross throws Douney a curve ball "But you just said you didn't get back to the barracks until 16:45" and Douney looks nervous "Sir?" and Ross says "If you weren't back till 16:45, how could you be in your room at 16:20?".  Douney now flustered says "Well, you see, sir, there was a blowout..." but Ross interrupts him and asks "Private, did you ever actually hear Lt Kendrick order a code red?" and Douney nervously says "Well, Hal said..." and Ross firmly asks again "Private, did you ever actually hear Lt Kendrick order a code red?!" and Douney, caving under pressure says "No, sir".

So, Ross grills Douney further and asks "Why did you go to Santiago's room?  Did Dawson tell you to?" and Douney panics and looks at Dawson and says "Hal...!" and Ross shouts "Don't look at him!!".  And Douney shouts again "Hal?!" and Dawson shouts out "Private, answer the Captain's question!" and Douney, beaten says "Yes. I was given an order by Lance Corporal Harold W. Dawson United States Marine Corps and I followed it!".

And second to last is Noah Wyle does well in his brief role as Corporal Barnes, who also testifies at Dawson and Douney's trial.

And Wyle's main scene is his testimony trial scene where he recalls that he once received a code red himself.  So, Kaffee asks Barnes "Did you ever receive a code red" and Barnes says "Yes, sir. We were doing seven minute assault drills and I dropped my weapon. It was over 100 degrees and my palms were sweaty and I hadn't used the resin like we were tought".  So, Kaffee asks "What happened?" and Barnes tells him "A few guys in my squad threw a blanket over me. Took turns punching me on the arms for five minutes and they poured glue on my hands. And it worked cos I ain't never dropped my weapon since!".

So, Kaffee asks Barnes if Santiago never received a code red prior to the one he got the night he died who says he never did.  So, Kaffee says "You got a code red because your palms were sweaty.  Why didn't Santiago and his burden to his unit, never get one?" and Barnes takes a moment and says "Dawson wouldn't allow it, sir.  The guys would talk tough about Santiago but they would never go near him.  They were too afraid of Dawson, sir".  Ross at this point says "Object!  The witness is speculating!" so Kaffee says "Alright, I'll rephrase...Jeffrey did you want to give Santiago a code red?" and Barnes says "Yes, sir" and Kaffee asks "Why didn't you?" and Barnes smiles and yes "Cos, Dawson would kick my butt, sir!" and Kaffee says "Fair enough".

And last of all is Cuba Gooding Jr, who makes an appearance in his small role as Corporal Hammaker and he does well enough in the brief role that he has but he only has a small amount of dialogue.

So, I will quote a part of his scene where the prosecutor, Captain Ross questions Hammaker about Kendrick's order to not touch Santiago. So, Ross asks Hammaker about Santiago's letter "Did it make you, Corporal?" and the Corporal doesn't respond, so Ross asks "Its OK, Corporal, did it make you mad?" and Hammaker says "Yes, sir" and Ross asks "How did it make you mad?" and Hammaker says "Private Santiago betrayed a code we believe in very deeply, sir". 

End of Performances section!  Sheesh that was a BIG one! 

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

So, FINALLY moving onto the director and music stuff, starting with the director, Rob Reiner does an excellent job here with the film and its surprising to see him direct a drama for a change here as he was previously associated with comedies (the most notable of which were "This is Spinal Tap" and "When Harry met Sally...").  Yet, Reiner makes the change to drama very confidently and he paces the film well, even if its running time of 2 hours and 18 minutes might appear a little lengthy its doesn't really feel that long.

And despite an emphasis on drama, Reiner still injects plenty of humour into the film as the cast and characters all deliver some wonderfully witty dialogue written by Sorkin.  This allows for Kaffee, Sam and Jo to develop a rapport with one another and work well together as a team as things progress and overall Reiner does an expert job at putting this together in the film.  

Music wise, Marc Shaiman provides the score and its a pretty good one overall even though its use of synthesizers does date it a little to the early 90's period the film was made in (1992) but Shaiman's score is still very well suited to the tone of the film.  Shaiman also scores a version of John Phillip Sousa's "The Washington Post March" which given that its a film about the US Navy and Marines its very suitable and is used for both intro and end credits.

FLAWS

As for flaws....yeah OK "A few good men" isn't quite that perfect.

For starters one of the problems I had with the film was to do with Sorkin's screenplay, while it is excellent and very well written, there are times where it is just a bit too excessive in its verboseness and Sorking could finish off his character's sentences alot quicker than he does!  So instead of e.g. Jessup saying to Markinson "Maybe transferring Santiago isn't the American way, Matthew" he has to say "And now I'm thinking, Lt Colonel Matthew Markinson, that your suggestion of transferring Santiago, while expeditious, and certainly painless, might not be in a manner of speaking, the American way!".  I mean surely he could just cut down their sentences just a bit as it makes the writing feel really bloated at times.  Sorkin's script is high quality but it is also a bit too high on words aswell.

Another issue I had was to do with Kaffee's character as he is the typical cocky callow youth, who is actually a very inexperienced lawyer and given that, why in the hell would he be the best man for the job of defending two marines charged with murder????  Surely they really should have given the case to someone who has a bit more experience on their side when its comes to trial law, but nope let's just give it to the cocky young lawyer who's making a start in life! Of course Tom Cruise had made a career out of playing cocky young guys up to this point, so this was no real departure for him.

Then there is the whole thing about Jessup's blatant deviousness, which Jo uncovers on their trip to Cuba as she presses him on whether code reds still go on at his base despite receiving cautionary memos against such actions.  And Jessup indirectly but still rather blatantly admits that code reds DO appear to go on at the base and he is also in favour of them as an "invaluable part of close infantry training".  So, even though Jessup doesn't admit it outright, its clear that he was in favour of the code red against Santiago.

Then there are some daft choices of dialogue in the film here and there such as the scene where Sam criticises Jo for her failed objection against the Doctor. So, in the scene asks her why she likes the marines so much and her response "Because they stand on a wall and say nothing is gonna hurt you tonight, not on my watch!" is pretty cringy! Anotther is when Kaffee questions Jessep on the stand and he asks why Santiago was transferred and Jessep says "I thought his life might be in danger once word of the letter got out" and Kaffee asks "Grave danger, sir?" and Jessep sharply replies "Is there another kind?!". Now, there is of course more than just one kind of danger from mild to extreme levels of danger, so to say grave danger is the one and only type of danger is pretty silly. Last of all is of course the final scene with Dawson and Kaffee where after Dawson is cleared from the trial but to be discharged from the marine corp, Kaffee tells him he doesn't need to wear a patch to have honour. So, Dawson proudly shouts "Ten hut! There is an office on deck!" and they both salute, which is again very cringe inducing! So, these lines remain a blot on an otherwise brilliantly written film. 

Another thing that bugged me was why did they choose Douney as the witness to take the stand over Dawson???  Dawson is the far more capable, decisive and articulate of the two, so surely he should have testified instead of Douney because they both recieved the order from Kendrick, its not like Dawson did it himself.  Or rather, perhaps Douney was picked for the sake of a plot device, so that the code red order could be pinned on Dawson instead, but I still think its daft regardless.

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up,  A few good men is still an excellent legal drama three decades on and it features some great performances particularly from Cruise, Nicholson and Bacon but Demi Moore, Kevin Pollak and Kiefer Sutherland also provide very solid support. The script from Aaron Sorkin is also high quality, despite the odd cheesy bit of dialogue here and there and Rob Reiner's direction is very solid throughout. There are of course some minor plot niggles and as already mentioned some cringy dialogue but that aside, A Few Good Men is a highly entertaining and gripping drama, which is well worth a look or revisit. 

So, I will rate A Few Good Men:

9 out of 10

Right, that's it for now guys and I will be back soon probably next month with another post.

Till then its bye for now!

Doctor Who - Review (Revisited) - The Deadly Assassin "9 out of 10!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, I figured its time for another post before March ends as I've been neglecting this blog for a while mainly due to some family issues of late but things are starting to return to normal, so I will try and get one or two more in soon.

So, I have chosen to take another revisit to one of my previous posts, which was a revisit of a Doctor Who story I reviewed from the Tom Baker era called The Deadly Assassin. So, this story is often considered a classic from the Baker era, so we'll see how it fairs.

And the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!! 

STORY

So, the story begins not long after the Doctor (Baker) now in his fourth incarnation, has parted company with Sarah Jane Smith (Lis Sladen in the previous story, The Hand of Fear) as he travels to Gallifrey he has a premonition of the assassination of the president of the Time Lords.  The Doctor arrives on Gallifrey however the chancellory guard are sent immediately to impound the TARDIS, which is classified as a type 40, which is no longer in service.  The Doctor manages to sneak out of the TARDIS and make his way to a lift which leads to the main tower, where he is about to be arrested by a soldier, who is killed by a mysterious figure.

The Doctor then manages to sneak back to the TARDIS and watches a newscast by a reporter named Runcible (Hugh Walters) who reports that the president is set to retire and to name his successor.  Runcible also talks with Cardinal Borusa (Angus MacKay) who is a former teacher of the Doctor from his days at the Time Lord academy.  The TARDIS is then transducted into the museum within the Capitol and the Doctor borrows some Gallifreyan Time Lord robes.  Meanwhile several floors below the main tower, we see the Master (Peter Pratt) who is now severely emaciated in form, speak with a masked accomplice and the Master tells them that the trap is set and the Doctor must die quickly.

The Doctor then makes his way into the ceremonial chamber, the Panoptican, and he speaks with Runcible before the President appears.  The Doctor then spots a camera up at an unguarded catwalk and next to the camera is a sniper rifle, which leads the Doctor to race up toward the catwalk, fighting past the crowd of Time Lords.  The Doctor arrives at the catwalk and takes the sniper rifle as he appears to spot the assassin in the crowd, the Doctor takes aim and fires and at that point the President collapses, dead.

The Doctor is then immediately assumed to be the killer and arrested and under interrogation he insists that he was framed for the murder.  The head of security, Castellan Spandrell (George Pravda) questions the Doctor and starts to believe his story and asks for archivist, co-ordinator Engin (Erik Chitty) to help him in a private investigation into the crime with the Doctor.  The Doctor also invokes article 17 at his trial, which allows him to announce himself as a candidate for the presidency, which allows him a stay of execution as well before his sentence can be carried out, much to the chagrin of one of the prime candidates for the presidential role, the ambitious Chancellor Goth (Bernard Horsfall).   

The Doctor begins to help Spandrell in his investigation and shows him the sniper rifle he used had the sights fixed so there wasn't a chance that he could have hit the preisdent if he tried.  The Doctor also suggests that the access the video camera box next to the catwalk which could possibly reveal who the real assassin might be, however before they can get there the Master removes the tape and kills Runcible and his technician.

The Doctor then is shown by Engin, the Matrix, which is a large neural network in which thoughts can be beamed directly into another person's mind and presented as virtual reality, which the Doctor realises the Master himself has used the Matrix and created the premonition of the president's murder and projected into the Doctor's mind.  The Doctor then decides to try and track the Master by joining his mind into the Matrix, however by doing so he could risk being killed, as if he dies in the Matrix he will also die in reality and with that the Doctor enters the Matrix where he faces a series of dangers and nightmares, which will eventually lead him to finding the identity of the killer....

THOUGHTS 

The Deadly Assassin is unique in itself as it is one of the few stories and the only one up to this point where the Doctor does not have a companion and its a highly entertaining one in its own right, penned by the script editor at the time, Robert Holmes (who singled handedly contributed more to the series history than any other writer, well up to this point!).  The story also expanded on the background of the Time Lords and it was the first story to exclusively feature Gallifrey as prior to this we had briefly seen Gallifrey in the Jon Pertwee story, The Three Doctors, but the planet was unnamed back then.

The Time Lords themselves are presented as a somewhat orderly and pompous race and their somewhat outlandish clothes and robes actually make the story quite stylish and individualistic.  But the story is also notable for finally revealing how long a Time Lord can live as they can regenerate 12 times after this time they will die and this is clearly also highlighted in the story that the Master already had used up his regenerations and is on his last legs which explains his decrepit form.

It also introduces a few other concepts such as the CIA, which is an amusing take on American acronym, which Engin reveals as the Celestial Intervention Agency, who allegedly played a part in commuting the Doctor's exile on Earth.  It also introduced the Eye of Harmony, which is the power source for the Time Lord's time travel, which was later housed in the Doctor's own TARDIS in "Doctor Who: The Movie" starring Paul McGann.

So the story certainly broke alot of new ground for the show and certainly was a landmark in that regard in expanding on the Time Lords mythology and background.  You could also say that the story in a way was a precursor to the Matrix film series as the premise of the films aren't all that different in terms of the actual matrix itself in that its a large neural network in which people live in a virtual reality and its the same here with the Doctor in the 3rd episode as he enters the matrix and fights for his survival.  

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)

As for the performances well they are all very good here.

Starting with Tom Baker as usual providing some wonderful stuff and by this time he had become very comfortable in the role as the Doctor and he has some great lines in the show as well as some great scenes.

So, a few examples include the scene where the Doctor disguised in robes has a chat with Runcible, the reporter, who asks him he has had a face lift and the Doctor says "Several so far!".  And as the Doctor watches out for the guards he looks down at whinces and pats his knee and Runcible asks "Are you alright?" and the Doctor says "Oh, just a twinge in the knee!".  But then the Doctor suddenly notices looking up, a rifle on the railing and he starts to run to get up there, shouting "Let me go!" and he get's up to the gallery and takes the rifle and looks down as the President arrives and the Doctor takes aim and fires..... 

Another good scene is where the Doctor pleads Article 17 during his trial and he says "I wish to announce myself as a candidate for the presidency!" which causes an outrage.  And Chancellor Goth angrily says "The application is frivilous!" and the Doctor says "No, sir! I invoke Article Seventeen of the Constitution which is a guarantee of liberty and says, in part, that no candidate for office shall in anyway be debarred or restrained from presenting his claim!".  And Goth says "He is abusing a legal technicality!" but the Doctor says "No, sir.  I am claiming a legal right!".

There is also the scene where the Doctor tells Spandrell and Engin of the possibility that the Master could have manipulated the Matrix to beam the premonition of the president into his mind, but Engin insists that the Master would have to have incredible mathematical skill and asks how good was he and The Doctor says "He's brilliant!  Absolutely brilliant!  Almost up to my standard!".  And the Doctor also states how the Time Lords technology does not compare to other worlds and how the Master could manipulate it easily "Child's play to the Master. Do you think this stuff is sophisticated? There are worlds out there where this kind of equipment would be considered prehistoric junk!".

And then we have the scene (SPOILER!!) with the great line when the Doctor tries to question the dying Chancellor Goth, and tries to find out what the Master's plan was, but Goth dies. So, the Doctor sighs and says to himself "Never a straight answer to a straight question!  Typical politician!".

Then there is the scene when the Doctor has Engin play him an old recording that speaks of the Eye of Harmony and the Doctor finally manages to put the pieces together regarding what the Master's plan was.  And the Doctor says "What a stupendous egotist!" and Engin asks "Who?" and the Doctor says "The Master!  He'd have destroyed Gallifrey, the Time Lords, everything, just for the sake of his own survival!".  But then Spandrell comes in with the Master's syrgine that he used earlier to apparently kill himself and the Doctor smells the residue of its contents and he suddenly realises the Master is far from dead.  And he tells Spandrell "Its a neural inhibitor!  Spandrell, we've been fooled!  The Master he's still alive!".     

And last of all is the scene where the Doctor
George Pravda is also excellent in his role as Castellan Spandrell, the head of security in the Capitol who has a rather amusing cynical word weary quality to his performance and he also has some good scenes in the story.

Pravda also has some good scenes that include the one where Spandrell chastises his head of the guards, Commander Hildred for losing the Doctor.  And Hildred tries to defend himself saying "But we have him trapped in the communications tower, Castellan".  However this prompts a sarcastic reply from Spandrell who says to Hildred "Well done, Hildred. An antiquated capsule, for which you get adequate early warning, tranducts on the very perimeter of the Capitol. You are informed that the occupant is a known criminal, whereupon you allow him to escape and conceal himself in a building a mere fifty three stories high. A clever stratagem, Hildred!".

Then there is the scene where Spandrell hears out the Doctor's case to try and prove his innocence and he shows him the sights had been fixed on the rifle he tried to use to shoot the assassin.  And the Doc says "I saw him draw a staser and step forward. I aimed a bolt at him, but at that time I didn't know the sights had been fixed".  However, Spandrell looks sceptically at the Doctor and says "One of the High council.  Its getting better and better!" and the Doctor asks "What is?" and Spandrell says "Your story.  But still a story.  Where is the evidence, Doctor?!".  And the Doctor realises where it is "I'll tell you where the evidence is.  In the Public Register camera. I was standing right beside it" and Spandrell smiles and says "Doctor, you may end up as President!".

And last of all there is the scene at the end (SPOILER!!!) where we see the Master leave Gallifrey in his TARDIS (disguised as a grandfather clock).  And Engin asks Spandrell "Where do you think they're heading?" and Spandrell says "Out into the universe and between you and me, I don't think its big enough for the both of them!".

Bernard Horsfall is great in his role as the ambitious Chancellor Goth who (PLOT SPOILER!!!!!!) turns out to be the assassin who is used by the Master for his own nefarious ends.

Horsfall also has some good scenes that include the one where just after the President has been killed, Goth insists the trial for the Doctor's role as the alleged assassin start immediately.  And Goth says to Spandrell "Castellan! The President is dead. The trial will start immediately" but Spandrell says "I will need more time" and Goth asks "Time for what?" and Spandrell says "There are unanswered questions" and Goth firmly says "That, presumably, will be the purpose of the trial!".  And Cardinal Borusa objects saying this against the Time Lords traditions of fairness and justice but Goth says "

This is a constitutional crisis. The President died without naming his successor. An election must be held within forty eight hours!".  And Borus interrupts saying "But that is a separate matter" which prompts Goth to shout "No, Cardinal! The Time Lords must not be seen to be leaderless and in disarray. The assassin must be tried and executed before the election".

WARNING: This paragraph is in itself a SPOILER!!! 

 

And lastly there is the scene where Goth confronts the Doctor in the Matrix as the two of them are set to fight one another.  And Goth, searching for the Doctor shouts out "Where are you, Doctor? You can't win, Doctor! You might as well give up now!".  And the Doctor asks "What do you want from me?" and Goth says "Only your life, Doctor!  Your life for my Master!" and the Doctor offers "I'll make a bargain with you" but Goth shouts "No bargains!  Show yourself, Doctor, get it over with!".  The Doctor however then insists "No, you show YOURSELF first!  You're REAL self!" and Goth says "Very well, Doctor" and he takes off his mask revealing his face.  And the two of them then engage in an intense fist fight, which ends with Goth nearly drowning the Doctor and he shouts at him "You're finished, Doctor!  You're finished!!".   

This scene itself caused big controversy at the time of its broadcast as Mary Whitehouse, the president of the then National viewers and listeners association said it was one of the most frightening scenes that featured in the show.  As a result the master tape for the episode had the ending trimmed for future broadcasts but it still exists in NTSC (the American TV format) and was restored for the VHS and DVD release.

Angus MacKay also does a great job as Cardinal Borusa, the pompous and authoratative figurehead in the Capitol who looks down on those around him and tries to play down the reality of the assassination so public perceptions wouldn't tarnish Goth's reputation.

MacKay has quite a few good scene too but I will only mention a couple, the first being where Borusa cheeikly dismisses the reporter, Runcible, one of his former students when Runcible tries to ask him a question.  And Borusa says "Runcible, you had ample time to ask me questions at your mispent years at the academy.  You failed to avail yourself of the opportunity then and it is too late now.  Good day!" and he walks off! 

And secondly there is the scene near the end when Borusa reflects on the damage the Master had caused in Gallifrey.  And Borusa says "Half the city in ruins.  Untold damage.  Countless lives lost!" but Engin offers "But if it weren't for the Doctor, it could have been much worse" and Borusa says "Yes indeed, I am conscious of the debt we owe the Doctor. But Gallifrey has never know such a catastrophe, such devastation. What will we say?".  And the Doctor smiles and says "Well, you'll just have to adjust the truth again, Cardinal. What about subsidence owing to a plague of mice?".  And this leads into the great line from Borusa "As I believe I told you long ago, Doctor, you will never amount to anything in the galaxy while you retain your propensity of vulgar facetiousness!".

Erik Chitty is also pretty good in his role as the elderly Time Lord, Co-ordinator Engin, who helps Spandrell and the Doctor and he provides a bit of charm to the story as Engin is something of an affable old fella.

And I will just mention one of Erik's scene and its the one where the Doctor is asked to help Engin do a bio of the Master for their records.  And Engin asks the Doctor "What about his character?" and the Doctor simply says "Bad!" and Engin sighs saying "Oh, Doctor, could you please be a little more specific?!".

And a little later in the scene, Engin reveals a very important piece of information relating to the life cycle of a Time Lord when the Doctor comments on the unlikeliness of the Master just accepting the end of his regeneration cycle.  And the Doctor says "And the more I think about it the less likely it seems?" and Engin asks what and the Doctor says "Well, that the Master would meekly accept the end of his regeneration cycle. It's not his style at all".  And Engin says "After the twelfth regeneration, there is no plan that will postpone death".

And the Doctor goes on to ask Engin about the President's role "What's so special about the President, Engin?" and Engin says "Nothing. He's simply an elected Time Lord, usually from some senior position. He holds the symbols of office, but otherwise he's no different from any other Time Lord".  

And Engin tells the Doctor about the items that the President carries and he later let's him listen to the recording about the legendary Time Lord, Rassalon.  But Engin all too enthusiastically parrots on about the Gallifreyan history to the Doctor "And today we tend to think of Rassilon as the founder of our modern civilisation. But in his own time he was regarded mainly as an engineer and an architect. And, of course, it was long before we turned aside from the barren road of technology.....".  And the Doctor smiles and interrupts Engin and politely says "Yes, that's all very interesting. Could we hear the transgram?".

And last of all is Peter Pratt as the Master, however for me he is the weak link in the cast as his performance simply cannot live up to the menace and charm that Roger Delgado originally brought to the role so well during the Pertwee era.  And here Pratt delivers a far more one note, serious performance and he doesn't really provide any real threat to the character.

Regardless of that though Peter still does have some good moments and he makes good use of his dramatic voice behind the mask he wears throughout the story as the Master is in bad shape and at the end of his regeneration life cycle.  And one Peter's good moments comes when the Master has a private meeting with a hooded figure, who tells that the Doctor has gain entrance to the Panopticon and the Master says "Of course, he knows he is entering a trap. But how can he resist such a bait?!".  And the figure asks "The hope of preventing an assassination?" and the Master says "Quixotic fool. He will die quickly. Make certain he dies very quickly!" and he looks up to the camera and we see the Master's skin is extremely ameciated and he looks almost like a skeleton!

And later there is the scene where the Master tries to trap the Doctor in the Matrix but in doing so he will effectively kill Goth, who is still attached to the machine.  And the Master berates Goth by shouting "You wistful, craven-hearted, spineless poltroon!  You failed me!".  Then the Master says of the Doctor "There is only one chance now.  I must trap him in the Matrix" and Goth pleads with him "No, Master, no!  For pity's sake!  The connections. You'll kill me!" and the Master angrily says "I have no time to waste on you!" and he presses a button that causes a fire that surrounds Goth, who screams.  And afterward, we see Goth's skin is charred and he is now dying and he says weakly to the Master "You fiend!  Why did I believe in you?!" and the Master takes out a needle and says "I'll cheat them yet!  I'm not beaten!".

And last of all there is the scene between the Doctor and the Master after they have found (SPOILER!!) Hildred's miniaturised dead body (courtesy of the Master's matter condensing gun, which shrinks people to death).  And the Doctor angrily asks the Master "Why have you brought me here?!" and the Master says "As a scapegoat for the killing of the President! Who else but you, Doctor? So despicably good, so insufferably compassionate. I wanted you to die in ignominious shame and disgrace!".  And as the Doctor tries lunging at the Master, he shoots him and orders Engin to give him the sash of Rassalon.  And the Master tells Engin "They're not dead. Stunned. They'll live long enough to see the end of this accursed planet, and for the Doctor to taste the full bitterness of his defeat!

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

As for the direction, David Maloney does a great job with the story and he keeps the story's pace quite taut throughout and in particular he creates a great sense of tension and suspense during the story's nightmare sequences in the Matrix where the Doctor is involved in a psychological game of cat and mouse.  These sequences feature some memorable moments such as the Doctor getting his foot caught in a railtrack only to face an oncoming mini railtrain coming straight at him as well as nod to North by Northwest where the assassin tries to gun down the Doctor in a plane armed with machine guns and also the climactic fight scene between the Doctor and the assassin (Goth).

As for the music, Dudley Simpson provides another excellent score which for a change features some organ music, which perfectly suits the dramatic tone of the scenes in the Panoptican and its actually the aspect that stands out the most regarding the story.  So overall its another very fine score from the series regular composer of the time until the end of the 1970s.  

FLAWS (Warning: this section may also contain spoilers!)

So regarding flaws.... does The Deadly Assassin have any???  Well it does have some but nothing too major.

But to kick off with what flaws it does have I would say one of them comes down to the portrayal of the Time Lords as just yet another pompous (not to mention all English accented!) race with high opinions of themselves, which makes for a somewhat narrow minded view of what could very well be a very diverse race of aliens.  But to be fair this story was only the first proper introduction of the race and is only the first story to fully feature on Gallifrey (in fact I might be wrong but it could be the only one!). 

The story also does feature one or two comical moments such as the scene in the nightmare sequence where the Doctor supposedly falls over the edge of a cliff.  However we in fact just see that Tom Baker is dangling from a very slight and small ledge and then all of a sudden a samurai warrior turns up and pulls out his sword and cuts the Doctor's scarf in two, which he was using to try and climb back up.

The climactic fight scene between the Doctor and Goth in the matrix is also a bit comical as during the fight scene we can clearly see Tom Baker's stunt double (played by the series stalwart stunt actor, Terry Walsh) wearing a curly black wig, and the fight scene in those moments looks pretty daft and undercuts the effectiveness of the fight itself.

I also found it a bit strange how Commander Hildred (Derek Seaton) would take such pleasure in being rather sadistic towards the Doctor as he essentially tortures him for information, it doesn't really seem to be holding with as Borusa himself said the Time Lords traditions of justice and fairness.  But then again the guy is a guard, so this is probably the first bit of action he's had in quite a while and he doesn't get to torture too many presidential assassins, so perhaps he was allowed to go a bit nuts here!

Another issue I had was to do with not so much Goth being the assassin, that part is OK in itself, but its more to do with the fact that they don't really disguise his voice very well in episode three when the Doctor fights Goth in the Matrix world especially when we hear Goth's laugh when he flies the bi-plane and shoots at the Doctor.  I mean its pretty bloody obvious at this point that Goth is the assassin as he is not disguising his voice at all here!  And when it get's to the final reveal, Goth's cover is already totally out the window and we know full well he is the assassin before he even takes off his mask!!

And last of all there is the scene where the Doctor asks the Master "Why have you brought me here?!" and the Master says he brought him as a scapegoat for killing the President.  Now yeah OK, I get that, but surely the Doctor already knows this, because earlier on when he was being interrogated by Spandrell he tells him "I've been framed!" and "Someone has gone to a great deal of trouble to get me into this mess!".  So by saying that, the Doctor knows that the Master is behind it, so there is no need for him to ask why he was brought to Gallifrey in the first place, so this moment is a bit redundant and if anything it just serves to spell it out to the audience. 

Anyway so that's for the flaws.

SUM UP

So to sum it all up, The Deadly Assassin is easily one of the best stories of the Tom Baker era of the show.  It features some great performances from its cast, a very solid script by Robert Holmes that reveals quite alot of crucial information about Time Lord history not to mention their life cycle.  It also is very well directed by the series veteran director, David Maloney, who had already directed quite a few classics in the series (The Mind Robber, War Games, Genesis of the Daleks to name a few) and this one is no exception.

The story also stands alone (or maybe not, not too sure!) in being quite unique in that its perhaps the only one where the Doctor has no companion, yet the the supporting characters more than make up for this as they are so well written, and Spandrell and Engin still stand in nicely as the Doctor's companions here.

So, overall this is great story and one of the best of the Philip Hinchcliffe producer era of the show, which was a considered a golden age of the original show at the time and rightly so, as this story is testament again to what a strong era this was in the show's original run. 

So, I will rate this story:

10 out of 10  

So, that's it for now and I will be back soon with another post at some point hopefully not too far off April, so until then its bye for now!