# Best Defense > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Best_Defense > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Best_Defense.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_Defense > Source revision: 1356440126 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|1984 film by Willard Huyck}} {{about|the film|the Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode|Best Defense (Law & Order: Criminal Intent)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox film | name = Best Defense | image = Bestdefenseposter.jpg | caption = Theatrical release poster by [Steven Chorney](/source/Steven_Chorney) | director = [Willard Huyck](/source/Willard_Huyck) | screenplay = Willard Huyck
[Gloria Katz](/source/Gloria_Katz) | based_on = {{based on|''Easy and Hard Ways Out''|[Robert Grossbach](/source/Robert_Grossbach)}} | producer = Gloria Katz | starring = {{Plainlist| * [Dudley Moore](/source/Dudley_Moore) * [Eddie Murphy](/source/Eddie_Murphy) * [Kate Capshaw](/source/Kate_Capshaw) }} | cinematography = [Donald Peterman](/source/Donald_Peterman) | editing = [Sidney Wolinsky](/source/Sidney_Wolinsky) | music = [Patrick Williams](/source/Patrick_Williams_(composer)) | studio = Cinema Group Ventures | distributor = [Paramount Pictures](/source/Paramount_Pictures) | released = {{Film date|1984|07|20|U.S.}} | runtime = 94 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = $18 million | gross = $19,265,302 (domestic) {{cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=bestdefense.htm |title=Best Defense (1984) |access-date=2009-10-05 |publisher=[Box Office Mojo](/source/Box_Office_Mojo)}} }} '''''Best Defense''''' is a 1984 American [action comedy film](/source/action_comedy_film), starring [Dudley Moore](/source/Dudley_Moore) and [Eddie Murphy](/source/Eddie_Murphy).{{cite web|work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/07/20/movies/a-comedy-about-munitions.html|title=Best Defense (1984) A COMEDY ABOUT MUNITIONS|author-link=Vincent Canby|author=Canby, Vincent|date=July 20, 1984|access-date=May 27, 2026|page=C10}} The original music score was composed by [Patrick Williams](/source/Patrick_Williams_(composer)). It was released by [Paramount Pictures](/source/Paramount_Pictures). The film follows the lives of Wylie Cooper and T.M. Landry, two different characters who never interact. One of the two sub-plots involves Cooper, an engineer who tries to develop a new [gyroscope](/source/gyroscope) for tanks, and eventually uses the design plans of a murdered competitor. The other subplot involves Landry, a tank commander who accidentally wanders into a war zone while trying to navigate a poorly designed tank. The film was released on July 20, 1984, grossing a total of $19 million at the box office, and received negative reviews from critics. ==Plot== The film takes place as two parallel plots separated by a couple of years: In 1982, Wylie Cooper is an engineer developing a [targeting system](/source/Tank) on a [tank](/source/tank) for the [United States Army](/source/United_States_Army). In 1984, US Army tank commander Lt. T.M. Landry is sent to [Kuwait](/source/Kuwait) to demonstrate the "XM-10 Annihilator," America's latest [main battle tank](/source/main_battle_tank), 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. Cooper and Landry never directly interact during the film, but the plot shows how the decisions made by Cooper affect Landry's tank. Cooper, an engineer for a troubled [defense contractor](/source/defense_contractor), is in charge of designing the "DYP-gyro," a [gyroscope](/source/gyroscope) 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 who has also designed a DYP-gyro. Holtzman, fearful of what will 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 later puts Cooper's name on the plans, and when the "new" gyro works, Cooper is hailed for saving the company. In 1984, Landry's tank comes under fire from [Iraqi](/source/Iraqi_Air_Force) jets, leading Landry to plead that he does not belong in this war, shouting "I'm from [Cleveland](/source/Cleveland)!" at the attacking planes. Back in 1982, Cooper is contacted by Jeff who tries to obtain the DYP plans. The [FBI](/source/Federal_Bureau_of_Investigation), 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 Lewis, an attractive co-worker, that he stole the DYP. This triggers an angry response from Clair and also from his wife Laura 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. 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 [gunship](/source/Attack_helicopter). As had been predicted, the DYP causes failure in the WAM, suggesting that Cooper's protest was ignored. 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 [air defense rockets](/source/Surface-to-air_missile) to launch and destroy the Iraqi gunship. The film ends with Cooper and Landry as heroes in their respective jobs. ==Cast== * [Dudley Moore](/source/Dudley_Moore) as Wylie Cooper * [Eddie Murphy](/source/Eddie_Murphy) as Lieutenant T.M. Landry * [Kate Capshaw](/source/Kate_Capshaw) as Laura Cooper * [George Dzundza](/source/George_Dzundza) as Steve Loparino * [Helen Shaver](/source/Helen_Shaver) as Clair Lewis * [Mark Arnott](/source/Mark_Arnott) as Harvey Brank * [Peter Michael Goetz](/source/Peter_Michael_Goetz) as Frank Joyner * [Tom Noonan](/source/Tom_Noonan) as Frank Holtzman * [David Rasche](/source/David_Rasche) as KGB Agent Jeff * [Paul Comi](/source/Paul_Comi) as Chief Agent * [John Hostetter](/source/John_Hostetter) as Quirk ==Production== The film did not originally feature [Eddie Murphy](/source/Eddie_Murphy)'s character T.M. Landry, and was solely a [Dudley Moore](/source/Dudley_Moore) film.{{cite web|url=http://www.avclub.com/article/my-year-of-flops-case-file-15-ibest-defensei-15334|title=My Year Of Flops Case File # 15: Best Defense|first=Nathan|last=Rabin|website=[The A.V. Club](/source/The_A.V._Club)|date=15 March 2007 }} The film's preview screenings were received poorly, and the studio suggested filming a role for Murphy, who was at the peak of his popularity. Murphy's part was almost completely unconnected from the rest of the film, and his character never even comes into contact with any of the main cast.{{cite web |url=http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/67647/Best_Defense.html |title=Best Defense Review. Movie Reviews - Film - Time Out London |publisher=Timeout.com |access-date=2009-04-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090801215348/http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/67647/best_defense.html |archive-date=2009-08-01 }} There had been a scene filmed during the re-shoots which featured Moore and Murphy's characters Wylie Cooper and Landry 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."{{cite web |last1=Rabin |first1=Nathan |title=My Year Of Flops Case File # 15: Best Defense |url=https://www.avclub.com/my-year-of-flops-case-file-15-best-defense-1798210918 |website=[The A.V. Club](/source/The_A.V._Club) |date=15 March 2007 |publisher=AV Club}} ==Reception== The movie received negative reviews from critics. On [Metacritic](/source/Metacritic) the film has a [weighted average score](/source/weighted_mean) of 29 out of 100, based on eight critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/best-defense|title=Best Defence (1984) reviews|work=[Metacritic](/source/Metacritic)|publisher=[CBS Interactive](/source/CBS_Interactive)|access-date= April 4, 2020}} It opened strong at No. 2 behind ''[Ghostbusters](/source/Ghostbusters)'' with $7.8 million but quickly lost steam, and grossed a disappointing $19.2 million. It was nominated for a [1984 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards](/source/1984_Stinkers_Bad_Movie_Awards) for Worst Picture, losing to ''[Dune](/source/Dune_(1984_film))''.{{Cite web|url=http://theenvelope.latimes.com/extras/lostmind/year/1984/1984st.htm |title=1984 7th Hastings Bad Cinema Society Stinkers Awards |access-date=April 2, 2013 |work=[Stinkers Bad Movie Awards](/source/Stinkers_Bad_Movie_Awards) |publisher=[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times) |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061017165110/http://theenvelope.latimes.com/extras/lostmind/year/1984/1984st.htm |archive-date=October 17, 2006 }} Audiences polled by [CinemaScore](/source/CinemaScore) gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale.{{Cite web |title=CinemaScore |url=http://www.cinemascore.com/find_a_movie.epl?id=Best_Defense |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020424052931/http://www.cinemascore.com/find_a_movie.epl?id=Best_Defense |archive-date=2002-04-24 |access-date=2025-09-21 |website=www.cinemascore.com}} The immense losses suffered by theater owners on the film led to the outlawing of blind bidding contracts in Pennsylvania and the overall decline of the practice.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}} When Murphy hosted ''[Saturday Night Live](/source/Saturday_Night_Live)'' 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 ''[48 Hrs.](/source/48_Hrs.)'' and ''[Trading Places](/source/Trading_Places)'', all these scripts started coming from everywhere, and I picked up a script called ''Best Defense''. 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 ''Best Defense'', y'all would have done ''Best Defense'' too, OK? ... I was like, 'What?! How dare you give me a script like this! Oh, that much money? Let's go!' ''Best Defense'' 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 ''Saturday Night Live'', and I go, 'Um, you still got my dressin' room?'"{{cite web |url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/eddie-murphy-best-defense/ |title = 35 Years Ago: Even Eddie Murphy Realizes 'Best Defense' 'Sucked'| date=23 July 2019 |website=Ultimate Classic Rock|last=Lifton|first=Dave}} Footage of [David Rasche](/source/David_Rasche) from this film was successfully used as a screen test for his lead role in the 1986 comedy TV series ''[Sledge Hammer!](/source/Sledge_Hammer!)''{{citation needed|date=May 2025}} ==See also== *''[The Pentagon Wars](/source/The_Pentagon_Wars)'' ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== *{{IMDb title|id=0086955|title=Best Defense}} *{{rotten-tomatoes|1002061-best_defense}} {{Willard Huyck}} Category:1984 films Category:1984 action comedy films Category:1980s political comedy films Category:1980s spy comedy films Category:1980s war comedy films Category:Films set in 1982 Category:Films set in 1984 Category:American action comedy films Category:American political comedy films Category:American spy comedy films Category:1984 English-language films Category:Films scored by Patrick Williams (composer) Category:Films based on American novels Category:Paramount Pictures films Category:Films directed by Willard Huyck Category:Films with screenplays by Willard Huyck Category:Films with screenplays by Gloria Katz Category:American war comedy films Category:Films set in Kuwait Category:Films produced by Gloria Katz Category:Films about the United States Army Category:1984 American films Category:English-language action comedy films Category:English-language war comedy films Category:English-language spy comedy films --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Best Defense](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_Defense) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_Defense?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.