Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15301 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-09-18
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 110 minutes

DVD Description
In the savage and deadly world of the gangland king, the man at the top is the ruler, but only as long as he controls everything in his territory. For that man, the rewards can be infinite, but so can the dangers.

Harold Shand (Bob Hoskins) is enjoying the height of his power, and he is on the verge of something which would make his current 'arrangements' small fry.

But stronger forces than even he can control have moved in and taken over. Climaxing in one long bloody day of terror, an Easter Good Friday, he is to see his empire begin to crack and crumble.

· Widescreen Presentation (1.78:1) Enhanced for 16x9 TVs

· Audio Commentary with Director John Mackenzie

· Bloody Business: Making The Long Good Friday (50 mins)

· Interview with Director John Mackenzie & Actor Bob Hoskins

· U.K and U.S Theatrical Trailers

· Cockney Slang Glossary

· Poster & Still Gallery

· Biographies

· Film Notes

· Screenplay on DVD-ROM

Synopsis
John Mackenzie's rabidly engaging, complex gangster film concerns the demise of a dominant English racketeer, Harold (Bob Hoskins), who is about to change his image and go straight. While negotiating a deal with an American organized crime organization to develop the barren Docklands section of London, his associates begin to turn up dead, and the tough Cockney businessman realizes that getting out will be more difficult than he had anticipated. This extremely tight British thriller made Hoskins a star.

Customer Reviews

Top British Film
This film, together with Get Carter (the original) are the two finest British crime/gangster films you can get.

Bob Hoskins gives his best ever performance as Harold Shand a cockney gangster whos trying to do a deal with an American over the (as was then) wasteland of docklands. Unfortunately while he's in the states one of his gang has upset some rather nasty people. Upon his return things start to go badly wrong.

This film is full of great scenes - perhaps most memorably when the men Harold suspects are trying to muscle in on him are brought in hanging upsidedown from meathooks - Harold has a quiet word:

"For more than ten years there's been peace - everyone to his own patch. We've all had it sweet. I've done every single one of you favours in the past - I've put money in all your pockets. I've treated you well, even when you was out of order, right? Well now there's been an eruption. It's like f**kin' Belfast on a bad night. One of my closest friends is lyin' out there in the freezer. And believe me, all of you, nobody goes home until I find out who done it, and why".

Its all marvellously done, and the ending is very clever indeed - you will never forget it once you've seen it. The whole film is complimented by excellent music composed by Francis Monkman (who played with Curved Air and Sky).

Helen Mirren gives a great peformance as Harolds wife/girlfriend. The cast includes quite a few familiar faces such as Eddie Constantine and P H Moriarty as 'Razors'. The most noteable is a small role for the as then unknown Pierce Brosnan.

This film is also an interesting piece of British history as you can see docklands as it was before before Canary Wharf existed.

If you haven't already seen this, then you've missed a really cracking film.

A Great Gangester Film.
I have just bought the 25th Anniversary box set of the Long Good Friday and have enjoyed watching every minute of this super 80's London gangester tale. What can you say about Bob Hoskins performance, in a word Outstanding. This Box Set was beautifully packaged, incorporating the main feature and a making of documentary film and interviews with the cast as well as an Audio CD of the theme music from the film all bound in a metal case, excellent value for a must have film for your collection.

Who Lit The Fuse That Tore Harold's World Apart?



"What I'm looking for is someone who can contribute to what England has given to the world: culture, sophistication, genius. A little bit more than an 'ot dog, know what I mean?" Harold

Harold played by Bob Hoskins starts his Good Friday anticipating the day ahead of him. His plans include a large party on his yacht for a group of monied business men and a couple of men from New York. His plan is to tie up a massive real estate deal. The 1988 Olympics are coming to town and he plans to convert all the old docks into land for the Olympics.

Then the entire scheme comes apart when the 'bombings' start. First his chauffeur is bombed in his car, next his casino is blown apart and then one of his best men is killed at a gym. Harold has no enemies that he knows of. The London world of crime has been quiet for a couple of years. Who is his enemy?

Bob Hoskins keeps this film alive with his performance. Instead of retribution, Harold spends this day wondering and looking for clues. His men are spectacular. An interesting point is that real criminals worked on this set. Who knew that criminals would make good actors:-)?

Helen Mirren as Harold's class act wife is low key but she has an important role. Sexy and intelligent, she is the hostess with the mostest and charms those around her. She and Harold share a true love and they depend upon each other. I am viewing all of Helen Mirren's films and this is the start of her career as a leading lady.

When the adversaries become clear, the film shows a let-down. A true to form revenge mission is planned and the ending is not that surprising.
All in all this is a film about character and Bob Hoskins is the kind of boss one would want in the underworld.

"As long as it keeps up the mystery, the film sustains interest. This is due in no little part to Hoskins, just entering his film career after a decade of TV work but already in possession of an authoritative presence that was impossible to ignore." Chris Barsanti

A day and a night in the life of London underworld. A shrewd, intelligent film with some memorable performance by Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren.

Recommended. prisrob 06-21-08

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