A military weapons engineer struggles to do his job responsibly, while a hapless tank commander has to live with the consequences in combat years later.
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Title: Best Defense (1984)
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1 nomination.
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Dudley Moore | ... | Wylie Cooper | |
| Eddie Murphy | ... | Lieutenant T.M. Landry | |
| Kate Capshaw | ... | Laura Cooper | |
| George Dzundza | ... | Steve Loparino | |
| Helen Shaver | ... | Clair Lewis | |
| Mark Arnott | ... | Harvey Brank | |
| Peter Michael Goetz | ... | Frank Joyner | |
| Tom Noonan | ... | Frank Holtzman | |
| David Rasche | ... | Jeff the 'KBG' Agent | |
| Paul Comi | ... | Chief Agent | |
| Darryl Henriques | ... | Col. Zayas, San Salvador | |
| Joel Polis | ... | First Agent | |
 |
John A. Zee | ... | Col. McGuinn |
| Matthew Laurance | ... | Ali, Landry's Tank Crew | |
|
|
Christopher Maher | ... | Sayyid, Landry's Tank Crew |
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
Storyline
Wylie is a lazy engineer. Landry is a Sergeant specialising in Armour. They have never met but their lives become entangled when Landry must take the tank Wylie designed into combat. Wylie is waiting for his employer to go out of business when he meets another engineer who gives him a disk with the plans for a system that will save his employer. The other engineer is dead moments later leaving Wylie with the disk and credit for the design. Suddenly Wylie is no longer a hack, but the saviour of his company and finds his life is no longer the same. Written by John Vogel <jlvogel@comcast.net>
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Unfortunately, they're both on our side. See more »Parents Guide:
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Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
20 July 1984 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Best Defence See more »Edit
Box Office
Budget:
$18,000,000 (estimated)Opening Weekend USA:
$7,872,297, 22 July 1984, Wide ReleaseGross USA:
$19,265,302Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
MonoColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
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Did You Know?
Trivia
One of three Dudley Moore movies released in 1984. The other two are Micki + Maude (1984) and Unfaithfully Yours (1984). See more »Alternate Versions
ABC edited just 35 seconds from this film for its 1987 network television premiere. See more »Frequently Asked Questions
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I'll go against the crowd and point out that this much-reviled movie actually was quite prescient in premise. It anticipated a lot of History... and a lot of Human Error.
Mayhap it was too 'out there' for audiences in 1984,...and mayhap it has become an easy target for arm chair critics to despise out-of-hand without due consideration....
But after Afghanistan and Iraq... After the highly-publicized and critical defense industry design errors such as the Osprey and basics such as protective armor in Hummvees and personal protective gear for troops on the ground.... After the loss of life due to a 'so-what-if-it-works-take-the -$$$-and- we'll-fix -it-later-if-we-have to' attitude prevalent in the defense manufacturing industry....
Can anyone really throw rocks at the plot line of 'Best Defense'...?
Sure, it could have been executed better... Sure, Dudley Moore was still under the character-success-type-casting curse of '10'; having to be a perpetually the befuddled Randy-But-Inept Nice Guy in his every movie role....
Sure Eddie Murphy was ...well...stuck being 'Eddie Murphy'... (but you really can't take that away from him, y'know !)
I still maintain that in the cold, hard light of 2014... 'Best Defense' makes A Lot Of Sense....(sadly, so..SO... sorry to say)