The Guardian

Morally complex telemovie with 2 fine lead performances! Is surprisingly gritty and atmospheric and has a really potent and unpredictable ending. Underrated gem.

I would stay home if they showed quality like this all the time.But

thats asking for a lot.Well acted- dilemma of giving up your

freedom and pride, paying a big price for " big brother" protection a

good analogy of government and citizens.

I've seen this title several times, and I'm still trying to answer the previous question. Louis Gossett Jr. is brilliant in his role as John Mack, the hard to figure out security whiz. This is one of the best made for tv'ers ever made. The kind of stuff that made you run out and get cable after seeing it at a friends house. Unfortunately, they haven't made too many more this good sinse then.

If you can find it, rent it, you'll enjoy it.

I saw it when it first came out and never forgot it. I saw it again some years ago and then again tonight. It hasn't lost anything. Great character studies by two great actors with very different ways of looking at their world. It has political and racial and social subtexts that are rarely if ever handled so directly and the whole thing has a tense realistic vibe. It poses as many questions as it answers, more about who the guardian is, then what he does. This was unusually good for 1984 TV and amazingly better, to me, then the stuff made now. It's an above average movie by any standard.

Alongside DEADLY VOYAGE this is one of the best films ever to have been made for television . THE GUARDIAN stars Sheen as a white bleeding heart liberal and Gossett Jr as a black draconian fascistic security guard and it`s no coincidence that these two people are written this way or that one`s black and one`s white . Indeed it`s central to the subtext and character arcs . Best part is the climax when Sheen - who goes slightly OTT in this scene , and that`s by no means a criticism - realises that he has to " Geddit up " . If you`re wondering why he doesn`t want to " Geddit up " then you`ll just have to watch this great TVM . You won`t be disappointed