I really wanted to like this movie, but in the end couldn't even bear to watch it to the end. The one redeeming feature was Leonard Rossiter and I found myself wondering whether even he would have doubted his sanity in signing up to this when he saw the final rushes. Malcolm McDowell, whom I considered to be a good actor, was reduced to little more than a 'Carry-On' performance. The juxtaposition of farce and horror to me seemed miscalculated. Just dreadful and one I'm trying to forget... Tip: don't watch this whilst consuming food.

I saw this macabre comedy in the early 80's in Stockholm Sweden. Now we experience the revival of prof. Millar - impersonated by the very real and non-fictitious Paolo Macchiarini! But the laughter chokes on you. Thus sending an important message to present and future scientists. The film - at the time - made me sick and if I rated the film then, I would give it a "2". However, now in retrospective, I gave it a "9". Too bad Macchiarini never saw it - obviously. All the main actors performed extremely well, thus bringing to life a most - otherwise - unlikely medical treatments/surgery. The unfortunate Travis (Malcolm McDowell) affected by Millars overambitious actions illustrates the wide range of Malcolm McDowell's art of acting. Graham Crowden's impersonation of Prof. Millar is very convincing and brings forward a frightening scientist - hopefully very unusual in real life. Until Paolo Macchiarini showed up. I recommend "Britannia Hospital" to be included in the education at all medical schools on all levels all over the world. In order to bring a healthy perspective to the students.

It can be anybody's wild guess that most viewers would bring to their minds a sick nation which needs to be urgently cured come what may whenever they hear about a film with a wacky title-"Britannia Hospital". However, one has to bear in mind that "Britannia Hospital" is no ordinary infirmary as it is infested with numerous dubious characters intent on getting their personal agendas furthered at a time when the eponymous health establishment is getting all spruced up to celebrate its 500th anniversary. One can thus watch with customary mirth a scientist determined to produce the best brain in the world, an hospital official who would like to instruct its staff about the right manners in which British queen must be received, a reckless reporter who would like to stealthily film irregularities of an hospital etc. A long time before Romanian director Cristi Puiu burst on international scene with his absurd tale set in a Bucharest hospital, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005), Lindsay Anderson-one of British cinema's greatest auteur had already made one of the best satires in the history of British cinema. Britannia Hospital is so brutal yet frank in its mission to expose horrendous absurdities of an hospital system that comparisons with Samuel Fuller's maverick "Shock Corridor" (1963) would not appear incongruous. Lindsay Anderson's film is a phenomenal treat for all Anglophobes/Britanophobes as he ruthlessly attacks whatever that is either dear to Britain or has a distinct British connection. Upon its release in 1982, a horrible time for Britain, this Lindsay Anderson film was butchered beyond recognition by some vested interests of British press. However, it is high time genuine film admirers make efforts to go beyond the realm of "Carry On" films as "Britannia Hospital" is the only perfect film which would make viewers jump with joy discovering why affordable,decent health care is still a matter of concern for most ordinary Britons.

This is the last entry in The Mick Travis Trilogy (also comprising IF.... [1968] and O LUCKY MAN! [1973], all directed by Anderson, written by David Sherwin and starring Malcolm McDowell as Travis) and the only one I hadn't watched before; ironically, the film made it to DVD before the others which are still M.I.A. (being owned by the majors, Paramount and Warners respectively) though both have been rumored as being "in preparation" for what seems like forever!! As with HELL IS A CITY (1960) and THE CRIMINAL (1960), I had my eyes on the Anchor Bay DVD of this title for the longest time but only now have I finally taken the plunge to acquire it - though, in its case, this had more to do with the fact that the film was largely considered a failure, certainly in comparison with its more highly-regarded predecessors! Actually, it comes off as quite underrated and its satire on British society at large - with the titular hospital serving more or less as a microcosm of all that was not well with the country during the early 80s - is just as harsh, if admittedly somewhat hit-and-miss (the "Frankenstein" scenes, for instance, and the fact that royal representatives are played by a midget and a man in drag are more tasteless than anything else!). The thing is, however, that the film became part of the trilogy by accident and, in fact, McDowell isn't really the lead character - so that it's not quite as focused as IF.... and O LUCKY MAN!, and even borrows elements from both of them (the revolutionary aspect from the former and the bizarre experiments, mentioned above, from the latter) which aren't as successful this time around! Still, it's very funny - for those who can take its unbridled savagery - along the way and the cast is brimming with talented character actors (Leonard Rossiter, Graham Crowden, Joan Plowright, Jill Bennett, Peter Jeffrey, Brian Pettifer, Dandy Nichols, Richard Griffiths, Brian Glover, Robbie Coltrane, uncredited bits by Alan Bates and Arthur Lowe, and even unlikely appearances - in fairly important roles - by Robin Askwith and Mark Hamill!), many of whom had already appeared in the two earlier Mick Travis films. Unfortunately, the score by Alan Price (ex-member of The Animals) - whose O LUCKY MAN! soundtrack, including a number of songs, had been one of its major assets - is underwhelming and, typical of old British films, the dialogue is hard to grasp sometimes due to the limited sound recording and the actors' heavy accents!