Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3913 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-07-09
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 101 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Outlaw is no easy film, with no easy answers. The latest from writer/director Nick Love, previously behind The Football Factory and The Business, it tells the story of a Britain overrun with crime, with no one willing to stand up to it.

Until, that is, a group of people--led by Sean Bean’s Bryant--decide to effectively take matters into their own hands. And so, with each of this group having their own reasons for their actions, they start to exact a form of revenge on the those who have wronged them, laying the scene for an interesting vigilante crime-thriller.

Amidst a fair cavalcade of at-times quite brutal violence, Outlaw has a real feeling and message at the heart of it. But you’d be hard pushed to say that the message is well handled, or that it’s the main reason for watching the film. Instead, the strengths are some of the performances (Bean is joined by the likes of Bob Hoskins, Lennie James and Dannie Dyer) and the increasingly confident direction from Love. At times it’s blistering to watch, no matter how uncomfortable it makes you feel.

Ultimately, though, Outlaw, in spite of its strengths, is a mixed bag, yet one with plenty to recommend it. It’s a well-made, diverting film, albeit not one for the squeamish, and while it’s got its fair share of flaws, you’re unlikely to be disappointed by it. --Jon Foster

Synopsis
A group of disillusioned citizens who have been the victims of crime decide to organise and take the law into their own hands. After returning to England after fighting in Iraq, Bryant (Sean Bean, THE LORD OF THE RINGS – THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING) relocates to London. He finds that the area he has moved to is in the grip of lawlessness. Fellow members of the community who have been subjected to criminal acts approach him and he decides to organise the men into a vigilante gang in order to restore justice to the streets. The gang, which includes Gene Dekker (Danny Dyer, THE FOOTBALL FACTORY) and three other members besides Bryant, are fed information on suitable targets by policeman Walter Lewis (Bob Hoskins, THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY), who has become frustrated at the state of affairs. Director Nick Love (THE BUSINESS) reunites with regular collaborator Danny Dyer to create this tale of urban frustration. Love’s central themes of manliness, rage and camaraderie are again explored here. Whereas previously Love focussed on football hooligans and members of organised crime, this time he attempts to gain greater empathy for his characters by making them the victims of crime. OUTLAW is a violent and brutal film that contains a message about the nature of vigilantism.

DVD Description
There will be no excuses. The guilty will be punished. No one is above Outlaw. A group of people who feel betrayed by their government and let down by their police force form a modern-day posse in order to right what they see as the wrongs of society.

Customer Reviews

Outlaw
'Outlaw' started out looking very promising with a good premise and cast. Sadly by the end it has descended into farce and strayed away from the themes of the film, namely that of a fractured society and a vigilante group fighting back against injustice. If it had stuck to this then this film may well have impressed me more. It moved from a wider dissatisfaction and fighting back against wayward society, to a personal vendetta against one mans criminal activities. Never-the-less it is pretty well acted, shot and directed and it managed to keep my interest for most of the film. The violence is pretty shocking in places but is integral to the themes in the film. Sean Bean is good as you would expect and the other actors hold up their end well. Overall this is a good film, with timely themes and portrayal of modern society (sadly), it's just a shame it wasn't followed through better. A solid 3 stars and still worth a viewing.

low end sludge
complete waste of time this is nothing more than cencor bating drivel and nothing more.im a fan of director nick love and thought this would be worth checking out but this is so bad, its badly shot,the script is all over the place and the acting is also below par

Poor.
This is a film that doesn't know what it is. The vigilante message is confused. The storyline doesn't really make sense in terms of the characters motives and actions, and it really ends up a confused ramble interspersed with random acts of violence. Which is a shame, as the topic of vigilantism is a very relevant one in today's social climate. Unfortunately, just about every GCSE film student in the UK could have expressed the theme better than this.

The performances aren't bad, as you'd expect from accomplished actors, but they are served with pretty thin gruel. For a start, the characters (all of which have suffered at the hands of criminals to varying degrees...except the leader, Sean Bean which is pretty inexplicable!) don't really have an idea of what they want to achieve. Beating people up seems ok, but killing, ooooh, no! There's no method in any of this - they seem to all hold a gangster called Terry Manning responsible for all society's ills...add a few corrupt cops and mix it all up. It's pretty ludicrous, to be honest.

All, in all, it's a decent enough acted film and the camera work is ok, but it is a great example of how NOT to make a film with incisive social commentary! It'll pass the time but won't live very long in the memory.