Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14690 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-09-25
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 86 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Dating from 1976, The Likely Lads belongs to an often-reviled genre--the feature-length spin-off from the 1970s sitcom. However, these were often a great deal better than TV purists make them out to be. The Dad's Army film, for example, more than measures up to the original series, the first Steptoe and Son movie is as sublime as any 1960s kitchen sink drama and much funnier, while this incarnation of The Likely Lads reaches heights of hilarity not even scaled by the splendid sitcom from which it was derived.

Starring Rodney Bewes as Bob and James Bolam as Terry, this is an aimless but endlessly entertaining saga that takes in a calamitous caravan holiday in drizzly Northumbria, a farcical escapade in a seaside guest house and innumerable minor capers in between. The real business here, however, is in Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais' script and characterisation. Most of their best work involves men in confinement of some sort (Porridge, Auf Wiedersehen Pet) and here it's Bob who finds himself timidly chafing at the clutches of domestic "bliss" as personified by wife Thelma (played magnificently and underratedly by Brigit Forsyth, avoiding all the usual battleaxe clichés). He's jealous of the footloose Terry, even though the latter is clearly frustrated at his rootless existence ("I've learned nothing. Y'know what it'll say on my gravestone? "None the Bloody Wiser"!"). Beyond a mere nostalgia-fest, this is vintage, essential Brit-comedy.

On the DVD: The Likely Lads is presented in widescreen 1.78:1. Unfortunately, this comedic milestone comes only with the original trailer by way of extras. --David Stubbs

Synopsis
The two lads from the much-loved 1960s television programme are back in their own feature film. The years have made Terry (James Bolam) and Bob (Rodney Bewes) more responsible...or have they?

Customer Reviews

A Nice Warm, Cosy Little Film To Mark The End Of An Era.
The Likely Lads film arises from the 1970's practice of adapting popular sitcoms of the day into movies, a very dangerous thing to do for the fans of those particular shows.

The success of half hour sitcoms on television does not necessarily transfer well to film, the movie world is littered with many such failures, fortunately The Likely Lads is one of the better efforts.

It could be a coincidence that my three favourite sitcom -into- film adaptations, The Likely Lads, Porridge and Steptoe and Son Ride Again are all written by their original creators/writers, maybe that's what puts them above the rest.

The Likely Lads film isn't perfect however, it's a little unstructured and it seems to run out of steam about the 70 minute mark and a new plotline is somewhat clumsily tacked on to pad the film out a bit, also no attempt has been made to match the locations and sets to the television series to create the feeling of continuation, but then this is nothing new in feature adaptations.

The film has many good points however such as the always brilliant performances of Rodney Bewes, James Bolam and Brigit Forsyth, the directing is very good and the feeling of nostalgia for the 1970's is everpresent, and of course it marked the end of an era in that it was the last ever instalment of the Likely Lads to be filmed, so is quite historic in that respect. In short it is a warm, cosy little film perfect for those cold drizzly winter nights and for those of us that have 86 minutes to kill, really rather nice in fact.

One of the Best "Spin-offs" EVER
Yes, it's all been said. The Likely Lads First and only big-screen outing stands up well against the series (and what a benchmark to live up to).
It has been said by some that part of the plot does "wander" a bit, and, yes, some aspects of the film don't seem to match the series. But that's nitpicking. Each episode in the series was a story in itself, whereas the film is (by rights) cramming a bit more in. But the magic is still there. Excellent picture quality and a piece of comedy history.
And at Amazon's Current 3GBP (YES! Less than 3 QUID!) It is surely the bargain of the year! Personally I would pay three times as much for this film on DVD, so at the current price, no-one has any excuse! Put your order in today, and get ready for a touch of nostalgia, and a good laugh into the bargain!

Excellent film spin off from top BBC comedy series
For a short period in the early/mid 1970s there was a boom in spin-off cinema features from popular British television series - a tradition which had developed much earlier with radio series such as Inspector Hornleigh before the Second World War. Most of these spin-off films were unfairly maligned by critics at the time (as indeed were the Carry On films). The Likely Lads (from 1964 BBC series The Likely Lads and 1970s sequel Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads) is a prime example of this little celebrated phenomenon. Central to the story is writers Clement and La Frenais' strong and likeable characterisations of Bob and Terry and their bonding with the changing Tyneside landscape - Bob, now an upwardly mobile surveyor, married to Thelma and settling down with a mortgage on the Elm Lodge Housing Estate. By contrast, Terry, divorced, carefree, living in a high-rise council flat chasing after au pair girls.. The one liners crackle thick and fast and the observational commentary, as with the series, is spot on. The characters benefit from the opening out of storyline enabled by the cinema format. Best line from Bob: 'In the chocolate box of life the top layer has already gone and someone's pinched the orange cream from the bottom'. Highly recommended for fans and those that have never seen the series alike.