|
|
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 5035760400383
Format: NTSC
Number Of Discs: 1
Region Code: 2
Theatrical Release Date: July 10, 1987
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
In this 1987 espionage thriller, Michael Caine is Frank Jones, a businessman and patriotic war veteran whose son Bob (Nigel Havers) is a Russian linguist who works at the intelligence-gathering Government Communications Headquarters. A few days after Bob expresses doubts to his father about aspects of his work, police report to Frank that his son has died in a fall, and a verdict of accidental death is recorded. However, in the midst of his grief, Frank is puzzled by the circumstances of his son's death and decides to conduct his own investigation. In so doing he finds himself pitted against an utterly unscrupulous Secret Service prepared to stop at nothing, including murder, to cover up their operations. Set during a time when concerns about GCHQ were at their height and the Cold War had yet to thaw, many of the film's concerns seem, years subsequently, to be thankfully dated. Moreover, it's hard to believe that the bumbling British Secret Service would actually be capable of organizing a convivial soiree in a brewery, let alone orchestrating the sort of skullduggery they perpetrate here. Still, with a cast that features all the usual British suspects (Sir John Gielgud, James Fox, Gordon Jackson), there's no doubting the pedigree of The Whistle Blower, which, despite its ostensibly uncomfortable message, actually makes for very agreeable comfort viewing. --David Stubbs
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - Cold war based British espionage drama
Micheal Caine plays Frank Jones a decorated ex-British Navy veteran and now businessman. His beloved son Bob played by Nigel Havers is a Russian linguist working for the British Secret Service before the days of detente. He tells Caine that he suspects some strange things are happening in his agency, that he would like to expose.
The Secret Service suspicious of Havers has been bugging his conversations and ultimately liquidate him, covering up his death. Caine, unsatisfied with the ... Read More
Rating: - A Well-Acted and Slightly Sad Spy Story
Frank Jones (Michael Caine) has a son (Nigel Havers) who works in a top secret British intelligence agency. Frank has had experience in that line, but now has retired to a quiet and safe life. His son tells him that strange things are happening, and he's planning on leaving and marrying an older woman he's fallen in love with. He says a Soviet mole was found, that security is all over the place encouraging people to rat on each other. The higher ups seem convinced that if they don't do something, their ... Read More
Rating:  - Political drama? Perhaps. Taut espionage thriller? Hardly
This reviewer has not read John Hale's novel. An Amazon.com editorial review notes the book is not a spy thriller but rather, "a sad commentary on corruption in intelligence circles." One shouldn't expect "the excitement of a Forsyth, Ludlum, or Higgins."
The 36-year-old Nigel Havers (who has a viable "family-resemblance" to his "father" Frank) portrays a 28-year-old Bob Jones. As one intelligence eavesdropper remarks, Bob is a "self-righteous little prick." How true. Bob is a Russian ... Read More
Rating:  - Final Capstone of Cold War Films
The Whistle Blower is one of the capstones of the Cold War genre.
Michael Caine is in top form - this is one of his best parts.
While there are some parts that spin media culture, it has a transcendent quality that will provoke your thought.
Rating: - who is the enemy ?
Based on a novel by John Hale, this 1987 film is a cold war spy story with more twists and angles than can be absorbed in a single viewing.
The boundaries between right and wrong are blurred, in this complex plot where co-workers in the secret service are asked to spy on each other, truth-seekers are murdered, and the guilty are kept protected in their luxurious nests.
With an excellent cast that includes James Fox, Nigel Havers, John Gielgud, Felicity Dean, and many top-notch character ... Read More
|
|
![: The Whistle Blower [Region 2]](http://g-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/dvd/icons/dvd-no-image.gif){kind=icon}