User Reviews

"The Final Option" aka "Who Dares Wins" has been given some lame reviews however, I liked it. It's the story of a peace /anti nuclear protest group that is possibly planning a terrorist attack on American interests.

Captain Peter Skellen (Lewis Collins) is an elite British Special Air Services (SAS) officer who is chosen to go undercover and infiltrate the group. To make him credible to the organization, he is "kicked out" of the SAS for beating on two fellow officers. Leading the terrorists is Frankie Leith (Judy Davis) and Rod (John Duttine). The ease in which Skellen gains the confidence and cozies up Frankie is a little hard to believe. Rod doesn't trust the newcomer.

Anyway, it seems that the group is planning to take over the American Ambassador's residence during a dinner party attended by several dignitaries. They plan to demand the detonation of an atomic device over a military base in Scotland to demonstrate the destructive power of such a device and force world peace on the world.

The group overtakes the Residence and holds the persons inside hostage. Included in the hostages are the American Secretary of State (Richard Widmark) and a high ranking American General, Ira Potter (Robert Webber). Outside, Commander Powell (Edward Woodward) and SAS commander Col. Hadley (Tony Doyle) prepare to rescue the hostages. Negotiations between Powell and Frankie are initiated.

Meanwhile, Skellen' wife Jenny and their young daughter are taken hostage nad held by a group led by the villainous Helga (Ingrid Pitt). Preparations are made to rescue them. Back at the Residence, Skellen manages to get a message out to the outside. In the best part of the movie, the SAS stages a spectacular rescue mission to free the hostages while a separate group rescues Skellen's wife and child but not before a cat fight between Jenny and Helga. With only one dignitary killed, the operation is a success.

Lewis Collins was once touted as the next James Bond. I think he would have been a good choice based on his performance. here. Judy Davis steals the picture as the stern female militant leader. Some of the so-called names such as Richard Widmark, Edward Woodward and Robert Webber are not given enough to do but do their best within limited roles.

A better than average BOMB.

While earlier generations dealt with spies from foreign countries all of that changed as terrorists began attacking on their own in splinter cells secretly located in various countries, in some cases aided and abetted by people born and raised in those countries. No longer could James Bond face off against and all-encompassing evil organization or foe. Instead home grown terrorists were now the problem.

In May of 1980 a group of Iranian Arabs captured the Iranian Embassy in London. With 26 hostages negotiations went on for a few days. Then the SAS (Special Air Service) put in play an operation and saved the hostage. The story was turned into a book and then later used as the basis for the film THE FINAL OPTION.

British forces have learned of an imminent attack to be committed by a group that calls themselves the CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament). When one of their men planted in the group is killed they decide to take on a different tactic.

The SAS receives two foreigner to train with them, one American and one German. During their training the two men are tortured and accused of being spies by team leader Captain Peter Skellen (Lewis Collins). With no authority or cause to do so, Skellen is dismissed from his regiment and out on his own. In reality this provides him cover to infiltrate the CND as a disgruntled ex-SAS officer.

His contact advises him to meet Frankie Lieth (Judy Davis) and Rod Walker (John Duttine), the leaders of a group known as the People's Lobby. This is the real group behind the CND and the terrorist organization in the midst of a major operation they've been planning. Skellen becomes involved with Lieth who sees him as an asset while Walker is skeptical. A few incidents put into play to solidify Skellen's credentials with the terrorists and he's soon on the fast track to help them.

But Walker still distrust Skellen and has him followed, watched as he meets with his wife to assure her that he's safe and doing what he's been instructed to do. With this evidence in hand Lieth finally worries that Skellen might not be who he claims. She instructs other members of the group to kidnap his wife and daughter and uses their abduction to force him into aiding them in their plot.

That plot involves raiding the US ambassador's estate and capturing the ambassador, US Secretary of State and other high officials along with their wives. In return for their release the terrorists led by Lieth demand that a nuclear missile be launched at the Holy Loch naval base.

Only Skellen can find a way to aid his fellow SAS team into the building to stop the plans of the terrorists. But can he do it and contain casualties to a minimum if at all?

The movie is a solid piece of entertainment and allows its star Collins the chance to have become a major actor in the heroic styled films that the Bond films had become. For some reason that never came to fruition. It certainly was not due to this film or its reception by the public. When released it was the #6 film at the box office in UK that year.

The film had its supporters and detractors when released though. Producer Euan Lloyd wanted to take movies back to where they had been portraying soldiers in a more positive light than seen in recent years. President Reagan and his staff viewed the film positively. But critics weren't as kind viewing the film as a hawkish and terrible.

All in all the films does offer a solid action film that fans of the genre will enjoy. Perhaps a bit slower than most but that's to develop the storyline on display. When push comes to shove the depiction of the SAS team shows them in a positive light doing what they do best, what their mission is. The acting is very well done and the performance by Davis led her to many more substantial parts. It might not be a film that everyone will want to add to their collection but it is definitely one worth giving a watch.

THE FINAL OPTION, like RED DAWN and THE SOLDIER, was a product of that long-ago era called The Cold War. A lot of people today seem to forget that there really were groups like the movie's The People's Lobby, and the Nuclear Disarmament movement was going hot and heavy. And it's true that the Soviet Union, through the KGB and the other East Bloc intelligence agencies, funded these groups, and terrorist outfits like the Baader-Meinhof and the Red Brigades. So there's a background to this story. And, really, it's not too bad. The acting is pretty decent, especially Edward Woodward (who would go on to do BREAKER MORANT and TV's THE EQUALIZER). However, I think that they could have infiltrated Skellen into the bad guys without beating the snot out of those two unsuspecting exchange officers (especially the rather wimpy looking US "Ranger" Captain). But what really makes the film is the climactic assault on and clearing of the US Ambassador's residence. Of course, this is based upon the assault on the Iranian Embassy in 1980. Still, it looks great, and also seems very realistic. For example, no SAS troopers are killed by the terrorists, but one is injured going through a flaming window. And, unlike your average American hero, or member of THE A-TEAM, you see Skellen reload his empty MAC-10. As for any nay-sayers who wonder why the SAS guys don't get shot, it's a fact that when an entry team does its job right, and the opposition is basically untrained, the advantage always goes to the side with the training and the surprise. I'd like to see a new SAS movie, if it's made by the same team. These British film makers do a better job than our own American ones, because they go for realistic, plausible action and plots, rather than the overblown, hyper, unrealistic stories that Hollywood loves to make. Mind you, I love movies like DIE HARD, LETHAL WEAPON, and such, but it's refreshing to see something that looks like a training film done right.

This film may open with a CND peace march but things don't stay peaceful for long; one of the marchers is shot through the mouth by a sniper using a crossbow! It appears he may have been undercover as the security services clearly believe that a terrorist organisation is using a peace organisation called The People's Lobby as a front. In order to infiltrate the group it is arranged for SAS Captain Peter Skellen to be thrown out of the regiment so he can pretend to be sympathetic with the groups' cause. His approach is as subtle as a brick; he goes to an event put on by the lobby, walks up to its leader; Frankie Leith and proceeds to seduce her! He tells her that he is ex-SAS and she thinks he could be of use to them despite the objections of other members. By the time it comes for them to strike she is less sure but as the group has taken his wife and baby daughter hostage she is she he will do as he is told.

Their immediate target is the house of the US Ambassador; he his hosting a dinner attended by the British Foreign Secretary, the US Secretary of State and the general in charge of Strategic Air Command... Frankie believes that with these hostages the authorities will have no choice but to give in to their demands. She informs the authorities that if the hostages are to survive a nuclear missile must be fired at the submarine base at Holy Loch... as the Secretary of State points out she is clearly insane. With such a crazy demand it is only a matter of time before the building is stormed by the SAS.

This isn't a great film but it is a lot of fun; early action nicely introduces the key characters and grabs the viewers attention but after that is slows down somewhat until the terrorists get round to seizing the Ambassador's house. Things then get tense until it is time for the raid and that is the sequence that really makes the film worth watching. SAS Troopers abseil down from their Scout helicopters and land on the roof; these troops then lower themselves to the balcony before entering through the windows; meanwhile two more troops crash trough the windows and shoot terrorists while dangling beneath a helicopter! This action may have been a little exaggerated but anybody who has seen the news footage of the SAS raid on the Iranian Embassy will find it easy to believe. Lewis Collins was just right in the role of Skellen and Judy Davis was great as Frankie. The films main weakness was clearly the terrorists' demand; nobody would seriously believe they could force anybody to fire a nuclear missile and these characters all seem to think the plan will work... not one suggests it might not work! Still there is enough action to forgive this fault.

This is an entertaining film which culminates in some exciting action scenes. The problem is the main terrorist character Frankie who takes Skellen on board. Would she really do this? The other members of her People's Lobby warn her that Skellen could be working undercover but she ignores them ! It's just too ridiculous. Also the terrorists see Skellen meeting up with his contact and then eliminate the contact, so that should make them more suspicious. Supposedly Frankie takes Skellen on board because they develop a relationship in the space of five minutes of cheesy chat-up lines. It can only be explained by the comment towards the end that they are "amateurs".

The other ridiculous aspect is the terrorists demand that the British government drop a nuclear bomb on a submarine base. Firstly they are against nuclear bombs so this hardly seems something they would demand. Secondly they should realise that the Government wouldn't do it in a million years...

From the SAS point of view, the plot seems believable. The rescue scenes at the end are gripping and will leave you in a chill the first time you see them, particularly the Mews scenes.

It's worth watching anyway

In Europe, it's known as Who Dares Wins; in America, it's known as The Final Option, but under any title this ludicrous SAS action flick asks the audience to put their disbelief to one side for around two hours. I find it incredibly hard to comprehend how Lewis Collins (the hero here) was almost chosen as Roger Moore's successor in the Bond films.... this guy is so expressionless he'd struggle to get a job in a waxwork museum (as a waxwork!!!) Luckily, Judy Davis is on hand to partially redeem the affair with a meaty performance as a hard-line lady terrorist, and there's a climactic ten minute action sequence that is quite competently orchestrated by director Ian Sharp. Let it be added that it's a very, very, very long wait for these closing excitements to come around, and I can't honestly say that a near two hour wait for a bit of decent action was worth the effort.

SAS hard man Peter Skellen (Lewis Collins) goes undercover among a group of peace protesters who would like to see the end of nuclear weapons stock-piling. He meets their leader Frankie (Judy Davis), a strong-talking and opinionated woman who might just be capable of taking extraordinary measures to achieve her goals. Frankie's dedicated bunch violently lay siege to the American Embassy in London, demanding that a nuclear missile be fired at a naval base in Scotland (she believes that when the world witnesses a nuclear blast for real, everyone will be so appalled that they will join her campaign for disarmament). Unfortunately for Frankie, she makes the mistake of taking Skellen on her little embassy raid, and he plans to thwart their plan from inside with a little well-timed outside help from his SAS comrades.

The film is inspired - quite obviously - by the awesome SAS assault on the Iranian Embassy in 1981. Someone who saw that event on the news apparently thought it would be good to devise a film along similar lines. Unfortunately, the film is rather banal, with too much stupid dialogue and a heck of a lot of embarrassingly bad scenes (the arch-bishop's debate which descends into a riot, anyone?) Frankie's idea to bring about peace by instigating a nuclear blast is ridiculous anyway, so she becomes a laughable figure just when the audience is on the verge of viewing her as an interesting villain. Who Dares Wins tries to be a celebration of the military legend that is the SAS, but at the same time it dips into clumsy action clichés and ill-thought-out plotting. The result is a well-intentioned but wholly ineffective slice of Boy's Own absurdity.

I saw this many years ago and had good memories of it, so we settled down with a glass of wine last night to watch it on the 'Movies 4 Men' channel. Either I've changed or the film has not aged well. A rather over-groomed Lewis Collins (rigid hair, slightly camp wardrobe) does his 'Professionals' moody tough-guy act in this rather good story of a radical people's party taking hostage a group of top-brass and the SAS effort to free them. The first half of the film is all over the place, but it tightens up later on and of course (SPOILER) everyone is safe in the end. It looks rather like a TV-movie version of a 'Professionals' story, but maybe that's not so bad. Could have been a lot better.

Ian Sharp's intelligent direction of an inept screenplay, careful action sequences, and finely honed acting (to a point) by Judy Davis and Ingrid Pitt define this entertaining action film. Phil Meheux's beautiful cinematography and John Grover's editing almost cover the considerable number of lapses in the script.

However, far-fetched elements in the story ultimately undermine direction, acting, and action scenes. The script largely seems contrived instead of clever or creative, though elements of the narrative work well enough for two female characters to develop in interesting ways. That might be because Judy Davis and Ingrid Pitt are simply highly skilled actors. Roy Budd's score also integrates (or appears to blend in) elements of the film.

This is not a masterwork, but it does entertain better than any James Bond film ever does. One finds a measure of pleasure in realising how at least one Bond film might have worked had it enjoyed some of the gifts used to create this movie.

This is one of those British thrillers that imitates Hollywood and manages to better it in many respects. It's a taut and heavily realistic story of terrorism and a siege, but the emphasis is on realism which means that the gung-ho antics are brief and over very quickly. Personally I like the slow build approach, I think it works very well here, and it makes the climax oh-so-great. Lewis Collins has never been tougher as the SAS agent infiltrating a left-wing group, and everything else just comes together to build an engrossing, highly suspenseful picture. Top marks.