Edge Of Darkness (TV Mini-Series/1985/BBC DVD)
Picture: C
Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Episodes: C+
Martin Campbell began his directing career in Australian
features films with mixed results (see Eskimo
Nell, reviewed elsewhere on this site) and that led to a TV career helming
episodes of The Professionals, Minder and Reilly: Ace Of Spies. Then
in 1985, ten years before his James Bond film GoldenEye (1995) revived that series, he made Edge Of Darkness for the BBC.
It was a success, but despite being a fan of the genre, I was never
impressed with it and it has not aged well after seeing it on DVD for the first
time since its original broadcasts.
As Campbell
own big screen remake is scheduled for 2010, you can now see the original (if
you wish) with Bob Peck as a police investigator who watches his daughter get
gunned down and wants revenge. However,
it turns out that will involve a long series of untangling a much larger plot
that has higher implications than just her murder. Unfortunately, the script is all over the
place, though the writers think they are convincingly intricate. As well, we do get a good supporting cast
including Joe Don Baker, Joanne Whalley, Hugh Fraser, Allan Cuthbertson, Zoë
Wanamaker and Tim McInnerny.
The conclusion is odd (an alternate version is barely
better), The Cold War aspects dated (thus, the upcoming remake) and there is
little suspense as it plays more like a police procedural. Baker himself would land up in the next Bond
film (The Living Daylights two years
later) and the score by Eric Clapton and the late Michael Kamen (who would
score the 1989 Bond Licence To Kill)
sounds far too much like a humorless variant of their Lethal Weapon work. This
makes for some odd viewing and will be a curio, but like State Of Play (another so-so BBC
mini-series just turned into a feature film) is just not that good, so see it
when you have some energy.
The 1.33 X 1 image is sadly too soft for a filmed show of
the time and needs a new transfer, while the Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is better,
but is also limited. Extras include an
isolated music track, alternate ending, BAFTA highlights (it won some awards),
Bob Peck interview, stills, Did You See with reviews of the
original broadcast and Magnox
interview featurette.
- Nicholas Sheffo
