Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5779 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-05-29
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 103 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Intense, ferocious and deeply unsettling, I.D. is an excellent examination of Britain's unsavoury contribution to global culture: football hooliganism. Whereas Alan Clarke's The Firm showed the violence that lurked behind a seemingly normal façade, I.D. posits football hooliganism as a feral temptation. Dedicated, ambitious undercover policeman John (Reece Dinsdale) becomes seduced by the violence of an East London gang, ultimately becoming lost from his regular life with his wife (Clare Skinner). Dinsdale delivers a measured performance that sees him spiral from committed, right-minded policeman to shaven-headed, Nazi-saluting monster, revelling in the violent impulses he embraces with glee and, alarmingly, becoming a hero amongst those he is infiltrating. Warren Clarke is absolutely monstrous as the leader of the hooligan gang, a paragon of bigoted hatred and the embodiment of John's future. Often unnervingly realistic, director Phil Davis is adept at creating riotous mob scenes that chillingly accentuate the world into which John is drawn. It could be said that I.D.'s premise is too thin, and that hooliganism is not addressed in an effective manner, but it is without doubt a chilling character study of the temptation of violence and the horrific influences that lurk in the heart of society. --Danny Graydon

Special Features
English
Region 2

Synopsis
Reece Dinsdale stars as John, an undercover cop who finds himself immersed in the world of football hooliganism in this football film that deals entirely with what happens when the players and fans are off the field. Focusing on the fictional East London Shadwell FC club, the film follows as John and three other officers as they attempt to infiltrate the ranks of this club's particularly violent fans, and ascertain the identity of the leaders of the Shadwell hooligans. However, the cops become unexpectedly drawn into the hooligan lifestyle, with John becoming increasingly obsessed with the violence and camaraderie, so much so that he alienates his wife. A gripping and realistic look at the life of a hooligan, I.D. is a hilarious, frightening, and tremendously entertaining film.

Customer Reviews

The best film about football hooliganism
This is by far the best film about football hooligans in my opinion. Although in a lot of parts you don't get to see the actual violence you know whats happening and its the power of the story that grips you. The charactors are really well developed and you feel like you know them by the end of the movie. I'd recommend this movie to anyone.

GREAT FILM, I.D BEATS THE REST
Great film. I.D just works. Can be described as being very different to the modern day likes of football factory and Green Street, I.D begins by introducing you to the 'old bill' that are to go undercover in an attempt to foil the very core of the East London hooligans. You'll enjoy seeing the group intergrate themselves into the dynamics of the gang, and trying to stay there as well. The film gives you more than just hooliganism, although the action is as good as it needs to be, it looks a little dated at times. The ending flows well with the rest of the film, without being boringly predictable. Definately worth a watch, and includes some of Britain's great actors.

Easily the best of the football hooligan films
I.D. is my favourite of all the football hooligan genre films. It's a cut above the rest and also has deep psychological undertones as it systematically maps out how one person (a professional and respected member of the community) can gradually engage with the camaraderie, sense of belonging and sheer thrill of fighting on and off the terracings.

The actual storyline is one of an undercover police unit set up to infiltrate the football hooligan structures and hierarchy associated with a particular club - they take this a bit too far though and end up 'turning injun' as they would have said in the Wild West.

Great lead role by Reece Dinsdale who by the end of the film has completely reinvented himself (for the worse).