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Britannia Hospital [1982] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
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Our Price: £25.17 (subject to change)
Unappreciated at the time, an absolute masterpiece
Review date: 2005-08-20 Rating: 10 out of 10
It's hard to believe in this age of successful dark comedy, from 'The Office' and 'Extras' to 'Brasseye' and 'The League of Gentlemen', how shocking this film was to reviewers at the time, simply by being pitch-black in its humour. Even recently, I heard some berk of a film critic say that it wasn't a patch on its predecessors, 'If...' and 'O Lucky Man'. Nonsense! It is easily the equal of 'If...' and rather superior to 'O Lucky Man', which, in my view, is way too long and rather uneven. Director Lindsay Anderson was understandably upset by Britannia Hospital's critical mauling, but its targets, from pompous royalists to selfish union leaders, from power-crazed professors to lazy, rule-bound porters are expertly brought down. Cynical coke-fuelled journalists, hospital administrators who would kill to look good (literally, at one point), policemen who can't control a situation without resorting to violence, vacuous wise-cracking DJs even a bemused Queen Mother who hasn't a clue what's going on...they're all there and rightly so. It was definitely a film ahead of its time. Interestingly, the production team apparently didn't research much what real hospital life was like before making it, but everyone I have met who has ever worked in a hospital finds it instantly and painfully recognisable!
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Reviews
80's revisited
Review date: 2005-03-10 Rating: 6 out of 10
this will recall the power of Unions against the self interest which thatcher ercouraged.
Working in the hospital heirachy is also demonstrated
The irony of research without ethical checks [pain in the butt that they are] being funded without question and power hungry males realising their fantasies is played well but overlong.
Excellent if it had been an hour shorter,
films like that shouldn't exist
Review date: 2004-01-12 Rating: 2 out of 10
my god i'm french and i saw this movie on the comedy channel and i still remember this nonsense jokeless movie with no humour at all
i wonder what kind of person like that 'cause i quite like english humour but this time it didn't pass
The third film in the Mick Travis Trilogy
Review date: 2002-05-06 Rating: 10 out of 10
If you liked If... and O Lucky Man, try hard to get hold of this film. Made in 1982, it is the long awaited follow up to O Lucky Man from 1973.
Not only is it directed by Lindsay Anderson, but it stars Malcolm McDowell and the rest of the cast from If... (including Biles) and the soundtrack is written by Alan Price of O Lucky Man fame.
The film is about pre-Thatcher England. Set amidst class war and union strikes, the film digs at everything from the NHS to the Royal Family.
A flop at the time due to it coming out during the Falklands War and the rise of patriotism, the film looks much better now and is very popular in the US.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Leonard Rossiter
Malcolm McDowell
Brian Pettifer
Fulton Mackay
John Moffatt
Creators:
Leonard Rossiter (Primary Contributor)
Malcolm McDowell (Primary Contributor)
Mike Fash (Cinematographer)
Michael Ellis (Editor)
Clive Parsons (Producer)
Davina Belling (Producer)
John Comfort (Producer)
David Sherwin (Writer)
Director(s):
Recording label: Anchor Bay
Manufacturer: Anchor Bay
EAN: 0013131141399
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Colour, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen,
Release date: 2001-12-04
Universal product code (UPC): 013131141399
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Region code: 1
Running time: 111 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1982
Language: English (Original Language)