Darkest Hour [Blu-ray]

Overview

This historical drama from director Joe Wright focuses on the trials of Winston Churchill (Gary Oldman) soon after he becomes prime minister of the U.K. in 1940. With Nazi armies rolling through Europe, Churchill must figure out how to rally the nation to action while many of his contemporaries advocate peace talks with Hitler. Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily James, Stephen Dillane, Ronald Pickup, and Ben Mendelsohn co-star.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/08/2022
UPC:	0191329213926
Original Release:	2017
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	Universal Studios
Language:	English
Time:	2:05:00
Sales rank:	12,564

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Gary Oldman	Winston Churchill
Kristin Scott Thomas	Clemmie
Ben Mendelsohn	King George VI
Lily James	Elizabeth Layton
Ronald Pickup	Neville Chamberlain
Stephen Dillane	Viscount Halifax
Nicholas Jones	Sir John Simon,Soldier
Samuel West	Sir Anthony Eden
David Schofield	Clement Atlee
Richard Lumsden	General Ismay
Hilton McRae	Arthur Greenwood
Benjamin Whitrow	Sir Samuel Hoare
Joe Armstrong	John Evans
Adrian Rawlins	Air Chief Marshal Dowding
David Bamber	Admiral Ramsay
David Strathairn	President Roosevelt,Voices
Eric MacLennan	Tom Leonard
Philip Martin Brown	Sawyers
Demetri Goritsas	Cabinet Secretary Bridges
Jordan Waller	Randolph Churchill
Mary Antony	Mary Churchill
Bethany Muir	Sarah Churchill
Anna Burnett	Pamela Churchill
Brian Pettifer	Lord Kingsley Wood
Michael Gould	Lord Londonderry
Paul Ridley	House of Commons Speaker
Michael Bott	Equerry
Pip Torrens	BBC Producer
Edmund Wiseman	Actor
Hannah Steele	Abigail Walker
Nia Gwynne	Alice Simpson
James Eeles	Maurice Baker
Flora Nicholson	Jessie Sutton
Bronte Carmichael	Young Girl on Tube
Jo Neary	Margaret Jerome
Richard Glover	Brigadier Nicholson
Tom Ashley	Ramsay Staffer
Joshua Higgott	Reporter
Imogen King	Teenage Girl at Tube Map
Miles Gallant	Naval Map-Room Officer
Faye Marsay	Sybil
John Atterbury	Sir Alexander Cadogan
James Harkness	AD Nicholl
Charley Palmer Rothwell	Christopher Wilson
Patsy Ferran	Maid
Sarah Flind	Cook
Steffan Donnelly	Back Bencher
Clare Almond	Member of Parliament
David Olawale Ayinde	Civilian
Antony Barlow	Labour MP
Annarie Boor	Londoner
Robin George	Downing St. Civil Servant
Michael Haydon	London Refugee
Adolf Hitler	Actor
Zak Holland	Civilian
Angelique Joan	French Girl
Keith Lomas	Conservative MP
Marian Lorencik	Businessman
Martyn Mayger	Conservative MP
Robert McLanachan	Labour MP
Johnny Mindlin	Radio Operator
Arnold Montey	Member of Parliament
Paul A Munday	Worker
Hugh O'Brien	Rear Admiral
Yves O'Hara	Artist
Johnny Otto	Member of Parliament
Andrew Reed	The Marquess of Hartington
Paul Riddell	Labour MP
James Thomas Scott	Conservative MP
Janette Sharpe	Civilian
Nick Simons	Politician
Danny Stewart	Dowager's Son
Dario Marianelli	Composer

Technical Credits

John Casali	Sound Mixer
Anthony McCarten	Producer
James Biddle	Executive Producer
Liza Chasin	Executive Producer
Lucas Webb	Executive Producer

Editorial Reviews

Gary Oldman is Winston Churchill. Many actors have portrayed the famous British bulldog -- most recently John Lithgow in his Emmy-winning turn in The Crown -- but none have so completely disappeared into the role as Oldman. The transformation is so complete that we instantly forget we're watching an actor when Churchill first pops up onscreen. Oldman's Churchill, in contrast to many portrayals, isn't a curmudgeonly old dodder, but a spry, even youthful, 65-year-old man who is full of vigor and zeal. He almost always has a sparkle in his eyes and a buoyancy in his step. But he's also flawed and crippled with doubt when the prime ministership is thrust upon him. Darkest Hour recounts roughly Churchill's first month in office, May 10 to June 4 of 1940. The war in Europe is already underway and the Nazis control France. The Germans intend to conquer England, which is more vulnerable than ever since more than 300,000 Allied troops are trapped on the beach at Dunkirk. Weak-kneed prime minister Neville Chamberlain (Ronald Pickup), who hopes to somehow accommodate Hitler by bargaining with him, is forced to resign. The polarizing and unpredictable Churchill replaces him. But from the get-go, Churchill faces dissent within his own party, while the opposition is eager to force his ouster and supplant him with the more appeasing Viscount Halifax (Stephen Dillane). Even King George VI (Ben Mendelsohn, reticent and regal) distains him. Fortunately, Churchill gets great support at home from his strong-willed wife Clemmie (a resplendent Kristin Scott Thomas), and from the British people themselves, who are unaware that their leader sometimes lies to them to protect them from the dire truth of the dilemma facing their country. In what is perhaps the film's most contrived but effective scene, the great man hops out of his chauffeured car, which is mired in traffic, and makes his way to an underground train. Onboard are ordinary citizens. Churchill, who is conflicted over whether to retreat from war and thus put British sovereignty in jeopardy, or to forge ahead into a battle that is certain to be bloody and perhaps calamitous, puts the passengers at ease through a bit of self-deprecation and then gives them the floor. It soon becomes clear they would rather fight and even die than be ruled over by the tyrant Hitler. Churchill then knows what he must do. Screenwriter Anthony McCarten's incisive script revolves around three of Churchill's most famous speeches: his initial address as prime minister to the House of Commons, his first radio address to the British people, and finally the "We shall fight on the beaches" speech that roused his people to war. McCarten, along with director Joe Wright (Atonement, Pride & Prejudice), takes us deep inside the smoky war rooms, the boisterous hallways of Parliament, and the stately accommodations of 10 Downing Street and Buckingham Palace, where the private and political battles that determined the eventual fate of Europe were waged and won. It's riveting stuff. None of this would be nearly as effective, however, without Oldman's towering performance at the film's center. If ever there was a man destined for his time it was Winston Churchill, and if ever there was an actor destined for a role it's Oldman in Darkest Hour, who should start clearing a space on his mantel for some serious Oscar hardware come the new year.