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>
Taglines:
Unfortunately, they're both on our side. See more »Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
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See more on IMDbPro »
See full technical specs »
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
In the Mexican dinner scene, the song "Moon River" is playing in Spanish in the background. See more »Alternate Versions
To receive a 15 certificate the UK cinema version was cut by 2 minutes with heavy edits to the opening sex scene. The cuts were waived for the upgraded 18 rated video, and the certificate downgraded to 15 for DVD in 2004. See more »Frequently Asked Questions
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Dudley Moore and Eddie Murphy are two entirely different looking actors who have two things in common. They were both hugely popular box office comedy stars throughout the 1980's and they were both part of the cast of this 1984 Paramount release. If these two comedy titans had any scenes together, that could've made the film really great but despite that setback, the film is not a total waste. Two stories are told in the film. One has to do with technology programmer Wylie Cooper's (Moore) chance encounter with a man who's on the run from some shady corporate criminals and how Cooper's life changes for the better and for the worse after the encounter. The other is set two years later and has to do with American soldier Landry (Murphy) test driving a faulty experimental tank that Cooper had invented and accidentally driving it into the middle of a battlefield. That tank (Cooper building it and Landry using it) is what the two stories have in common. The most major complaint about this film is its constantly shifting from one story to the other thus confusing some viewers. I managed to follow along though and if anybody who's thinking of seeing this one can too, you may find both leading actors in fine form. Just don't expect the comedy sparks of their far more successful individually starring vehicles including "Arthur" and "Beverly Hills Cop."