Synopsis
Rod Steiger is an Israeli nuclear scientist on a speaking tour of England. He is targeted forassassination by a group of Palestinian terrorists. While the French police manage to kill twoof the assassins, the third makes it to England, where he hooks up with an IRA fixer (who justhappens to be the spitting image of Conan O’Brien). The British Security Service calls inAnthony Perkins to head up the protection detail around Steiger. What follows is a Day ofthe Jacka…-style tale of as the assassins and the authorities match wits.
The casting takes some getting used to, particularly in the case of Perkins. His English accentis very weak, and it’s hard to put his other roles aside to buy him as a hard-drinking, hard-boiled,steely-eyed man of action (who also happens to be involved with Joanna Lumley). That said, hedoes a perfectly credible job. As well, though a bit too leisurely, the mini-series does build up adecent head of suspense. The neat twist is that, rather present us a battle of super-competentadversaries, The Glory Boys shows us two groups for whom life is one fiasco afteranother, and the question is whose luck will turn out worse. The ending is sardonic, cynical andwitty.
Audio
The mono sound is a bit rough. The dialogue is clear enough, but there are bursts of whitenoise out of the rear speakers every few seconds. Shut off your rear speakers and plug in theheadphones for this one, or you’ll be driven quite mad.
Video
A very iffy picture too, though I will cut some slack for the fact that this is a 20-year-old TVshow. Even so, the picture is very soft and grainy. The colours have a washed-out look to them,there is some edge enhancement visible, and the layer transition is very clumsy.
Special Features
Bios for Perkins, Steiger and Lumley, and that’s it. The menu is basic.
Closing Thoughts
Poor picture and sound, but the story is engaging enough. Worth a look, if you can get pastthe technical deficiencies.
Special Features List
- Biographies
