The Worst Film Ever

Good concept, poorly executed.

Excellent adaptation.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

This title took me years to get. Having trawled every Militaria site to try and find it I found it unavailable on any Formats. It was shown on UK TV and I thought it may turn up in the next 20 or so years. Having stumbled upon it I found it a pleasant surprise and a shock to see many of the cast from the early Eastenders series. A rarity that takes pride of place in my Video Vault. And one that should be released along side the likes of classics Scum and Made in England. For realism this has to be one of those films that anyone really has to see. The American Vietnam alternatives would have to be the great movies How Sleep The Brave or the equally brilliant Australian SAS movie The Odd Angry Shot. For realism in the Northern Ireland situation Contact should have its place in Film history. Thought provoking and heart wrenching in its realism. Rest In Peace A F N Clarke.

This movie is about reality behind the genre. At times the movie captures the bits which are usually left out, but are much more important in soldiering than the fireworks. The excellent down-tempo approach just makes it perfect in realism.I first saw this in the 80's, and it caught my attention like nothing before. I think I wore the VHS tape out before long. To my surprise, there was lots of familiarity when I entered military service a few years later.It is a pity that the movie is apparently not available currently. I would buy a copy right now.

CONTACT is a drama set around a platoon of British soldiers from the Parachute regiment patrolling the bandit country of the rural border between Northern Ireland and the Republic. There`s hardly any dialogue and absolutely no plot as we see a squad of soldiers getting on with a dangerous and thankless task . Director Alan Clarke has rightfully resisted making any political comment with CONTACT and gives the programme a docudrama feel with shaky camera work and jump edits which works totally in its favour . Witness the scene near the end where the platoon commander investigates an abandoned car , you`ll be able to hear your own heart pumping with anxiety.My one problem with CONTACT is that the patrol sees maybe a bit too much action with terrorists . You could serve several tours of Northern Ireland without coming into contact ( Hence the title of the drama ) with the enemy while here the patrol comes into contact with terrorists several times , but I guess soldiers yomping around Irish fields with no incidents wouldn`t have made much of a dramatic impact

This film had almost no dialogue and almost nothing happens except for a few outbreaks of random violence. But yet it is an incredibly gripping film. Alan Clarke lets us feel both the boredom and terror of war and the film never lets up for it's sixty minutes as the steadicam follows the exhausted british soldiers as they trudge through the endless, and eerily beautiful irish landscape.