Long Good Friday (DVD)

Before Layer Cake, and well before Lock Stock there was a film made by an independent studio called Handmade Films, the film they relased in 1980 that literally became the Daddy of all Gangster films, the film was The Long Good Friday. Set over the course of the Easter break from Good Friday to Bank Holiday Monday, it tells the story of businessman Harold Shand who with a little help from his Mafia counterparts in America is putting together a consortium to rejuvenate the run down Docklands area of East London. On his arrival back in the UK from the States, the Organisation that Shand is head off, slowly begins to get torn apart by various assassination ...  Read the complete review

It's not too often that a gangster flick could be said to have upset an entire Government, but this was the case with this epic 1980 movie "The Long Good Friday" (hereafter ALGF) starring cockney actor Bob Hoskins. That's because it was released at the height of the "Irish Troubles", and Maggie Thatcher's Tory government (and presumably the old Iron Lady herself) didn't like the way it seemed to portray the IRA as invincible. (But more of this later) The plot of this British gangster movie is pretty straightforward. Bob Hoskins plays shady London gangland boss Harold Shand, who runs a violent criminal outfit called the ...  Read the complete review

Either you'll be of an age where you are thinking this is a classic or like me you had never heard of it before. Admittedly I added this to my rental list after reading a review thinking it sounded good and I might find it ok. I knew it was from the late seventies and thought I might find some bits funny just because I could laugh at the hair dos and clothes. However, I was actually surprised at how good this was and this is the main reason I decided to attempt reviewing this. The film opens with what appears to be some dodgy dealings going on. We see men exchanging suitcases with money in it and going back to a house. Then a few men meeting up in a pub and ...  Read the complete review

It?s a tough life being a member of London?s criminal underworld. You know, you live a life that is full of glamour, all posh parties and political influence. Plus of course the fact that you only ever harm your own sort ? you don?t harm anyone who isn?t likely to harm you. Of course I am talking hear as a bystander, not as one of 'the family?. We all know, however, that the days of Ronnie and Reggie are gone, but they aren?t forgotten. Filmmakers have, thankfully, grasped the fact that we don?t actually believe that being a gangster is the ?getting one over on the boys in blue? type from the marvellous Peter Sellers film ?The Wrong Arm of the Law?, and have ...  Read the complete review

Probably one of the finest films that Bob Hoskins has ever made. And that's going some considering his fine pedigree. Made in 1980, this film centres around the life of a London Gangster/Criminal, and the problems faced being in charge of a large and powerful organisation such as his. Harold has a thriving and illegal business which supports his lavish lifestyle. His wife (Helen Mirren) seems to be his only stabilising factor, albeit that she too enjoys the life of being a mobster's wife. A yacht, fast cars, luxury accommodation and (now terribly dated) fancy clothes and the living is easy. Then things start to take a turn for the ...  Read the complete review