340:, knowing that Cooper took credit for somebody else's work, forces him to act as bait for Jeff in a set-up operation. The set-up nearly fails - Jeff is killed during a gun battle, and Cooper himself is shot. Realizing his mortality while being put on an ambulance, Cooper confesses to Clair (Shaver), an attractive co-worker, that he stole the DYP. This triggers an angry response from Clair and also from his wife Laura (Capshaw) who, arriving on the scene, realizes that Cooper has been cheating on her. Surviving the bullet, Cooper receives even worse news from a co-worker: the DYP-gyro he claimed credit for will not work, because it will cause overheating in the WAM, another critical component, crippling the tank's fire control and, in a combat situation, dooming the tank.
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the rest of the film, and his character never even comes into contact with any of the main cast. There had been a scene filmed during the re-shoots which featured Moore and Murphy's characters meeting, but it was cut from the film. Additionally, several other scenes that were important to the original plot were cut in order to fit the newly shot scenes with Murphy into the film, thus contributing to the film's poor reception and reputation as a "meandering mess."
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happen in his meeting with Jeff (Rasche), a deep-cover KGB agent, secretly hides the plans in Cooper's briefcase. After
Holtzman is murdered, Cooper discovers the plans. Cooper's co-worker and best friend Steve Loparino (Dzundza) later puts Cooper's name on the plans, and when the "new" gyro works, Cooper is hailed for saving the company.
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The film did not originally feature Eddie Murphy's character, and was solely a Dudley Moore film. The film's preview screenings were received poorly, and the studio suggested filming a role for Eddie Murphy, who was at the peak of his popularity. Murphy's part was almost completely unconnected from
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for the army's new tank. The company's future hinges on the success of the project. Cooper's gyro fails a crucial test, dooming the company. Downtrodden, Cooper later crosses paths with another engineer named Frank
Holtzman (Noonan) who has also designed a DYP-gyro. Holtzman, fearful of what will
307:, which is equipped with Cooper's system. Because of the tank's poor design and shoddy construction, Landry and his crew are barely able to control or navigate the XM-10 before it leaves the proving grounds and wanders into a combat zone during Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
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The film reaches its climax in a sequence weaving between 1982 when a more conscientious Cooper, having recovered, confronts his employers about the flaws in the DYP, while in 1984, Landry attempts to fire the main gun while under attack by an Iraqi
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for tanks, and eventually uses the design plans of a murdered competitor. The other subplot involves a tank commander who accidentally wanders into a war zone while trying to navigate a poorly designed tank.
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Instead, the camera cuts to the innards and shows that the DYP has been redesigned according to an idea that Cooper had in 1982 while fixing one of his son's toys. The redesign works, enabling the tank's
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495:. There's a movie that sucked real bad! At first, I wasn't going to do it because I read the script, and I felt like I was an actor at first. But the money they gave me to do
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about five months after the film was released, he admitted in his opening monologue that he knew the film was awful and did it for the money: "After I did
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turned out to be the worst movie ever done in the history of anything, and all of a sudden, I wasn't that hot no more. So, I called up the producer of
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The film follows the lives of two different characters, who never interact. One of the two sub-plots involves an engineer who tries to develop a new
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with $ 7.8 million but quickly lost steam, mostly due to poor word-of-mouth, and grossed a disappointing $ 19.2 million. It was nominated for a
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The film was released on July 20, 1984, grossing a total of $ 19 million at the box office, and received negative reviews from critics.
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Cooper and Landry never directly interact during the film, but the plot shows how the decisions made by Cooper affect Landry's tank.
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The film takes place as two parallel plots separated by a couple of years: In 1982, Wylie Cooper (Moore) is an engineer developing a
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Footage of David Rasche from this film was successfully used as a screen test for his lead role in the 1986 comedy TV series
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of 29 out of 100, based on eight critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". It opened strong at #2 behind
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to launch and destroy the Iraqi gunship. The film ends with Cooper and Landry as heroes in their respective jobs.
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too, OK? ... I was like, 'What?! How dare you give me a script like this! Oh, that much money? Let's go!'
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348:. As had been predicted, the DYP causes failure in the WAM, suggesting that Wylie's protest was ignored.
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jets, leading Landry to plead that he does not belong in this war, shouting "I'm from
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This article is about the film. For the Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode, see
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Back in 1982, Cooper is contacted by Jeff who tries to obtain the DYP plans. The
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628:"Best Defense Review. Movie Reviews - Film - Time Out London"
673:"Aiming for the zaniness of Catch-22, this comedy misfires"
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to demonstrate the "XM-10 Annihilator," America's latest
722:"1984 7th Hastings Bad Cinema Society Stinkers Awards"
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The movie received negative reviews from critics. On
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654:"My Year Of Flops Case File # 15: Best Defense"
608:"My Year Of Flops Case File # 15: Best Defense"
21:Best Defense (Law & Order: Criminal Intent)
584:"Best Defense (1984) A COMEDY ABOUT MUNITIONS"
317:, is in charge of designing the "DYP-gyro," a
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325:In 1984, Landry's tank comes under fire from
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260:. The original music score was composed by
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979:Films with screenplays by Gloria Katz
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313:Cooper, an engineer for a troubled
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969:Films directed by Willard Huyck
939:American political comedy films
652:Rabin, Nathan (15 March 2007).
606:Rabin, Nathan (15 March 2007).
959:Films based on American novels
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994:Films produced by Gloria Katz
691:"Best Defence (1984) reviews"
630:. Timeout.com. Archived from
464:for Worst Picture, losing to
40:Theatrical release poster by
949:1980s English-language films
934:American action comedy films
909:1980s political comedy films
333:!" at the attacking planes.
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16:1984 film by Willard Huyck
984:American war comedy films
944:American spy comedy films
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727:Stinkers Bad Movie Awards
462:Stinkers Bad Movie Awards
374:as Lieutenant T.M. Landry
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964:Paramount Pictures films
904:1984 action comedy films
499:, y'all would have done
237:$ 19,265,302 (domestic)
160:Eddie Murphy Productions
184:July 20, 1984
919:1980s war comedy films
914:1980s spy comedy films
452:weighted average score
428:as Quirk, Dynatechincs
75:Easy and Hard Ways Out
551:"Best Defense (1984)"
416:as Jeff the KGB Agent
264:. It was released by
158:Cinema Group Ventures
1004:1980s American films
989:Films set in Kuwait
738:on October 17, 2006
509:Saturday Night Live
476:Saturday Night Live
473:When Murphy hosted
402:Peter Michael Goetz
354:air defense rockets
248:is a 1984 American
838:Films directed by
589:The New York Times
315:defense contractor
297:United States Army
266:Paramount Pictures
250:action comedy film
170:Paramount Pictures
929:Films set in 1984
924:Films set in 1982
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732:Los Angeles Times
582:(July 20, 1984).
530:The Pentagon Wars
410:as Frank Holtzman
386:as Steve Loparino
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368:as Wylie Cooper
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787:Best Defense
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740:. Retrieved
736:the original
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704:. Retrieved
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636:. Retrieved
632:the original
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505:Best Defense
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501:Best Defense
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497:Best Defense
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493:Best Defense
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457:Ghostbusters
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414:David Rasche
390:Helen Shaver
378:Kate Capshaw
372:Eddie Murphy
366:Dudley Moore
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258:Eddie Murphy
254:Dudley Moore
245:Best Defense
244:
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229:$ 18 million
201:Running time
177:Release date
111:Kate Capshaw
106:Eddie Murphy
101:Dudley Moore
74:
29:Best Defense
396:Mark Arnott
252:, starring
192: (U.S.)
89:Gloria Katz
86:Produced by
65:Gloria Katz
49:Directed by
899:1984 films
893:Categories
696:Metacritic
660:. AV Club.
638:2009-04-26
560:2009-10-05
537:References
448:Metacritic
433:Production
408:Tom Noonan
234:Box office
205:94 minutes
188:1984-07-20
151:Production
442:Reception
420:Paul Comi
331:Cleveland
319:gyroscope
273:gyroscope
153:companies
130:Edited by
803:AllMovie
742:April 2,
706:April 4,
523:See also
482:48 Hours
295:for the
218:Language
140:Music by
94:Starring
71:Based on
346:gunship
221:English
210:Country
186: (
879:(1986)
871:(1984)
863:(1979)
855:(1973)
301:Kuwait
226:Budget
327:Iraqi
291:on a
781:IMDb
744:2013
708:2020
485:and
467:Dune
360:Cast
293:tank
283:Plot
256:and
801:at
790:at
779:at
338:FBI
78:by
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190:)
23:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
