The Long Good Friday (1980) DVDRip (SiRiUs sHaRe)

The Long Good Friday (1980)



Harold, a prosperous English gangster, is about to close a lucrative new deal when bombs start showing up in very inconvenient places. A mysterious syndicate is trying to muscle in on his action, and Harold wants to know who they are. He finds out soon enough, and bloody mayhem ensues.



Paul Freeman ... Colin

Leo Dolan ... Phil

Kevin McNally ... Irish Youth

Patti Love ... Carol

P.H. Moriarty ... Razors

Derek Thompson ... Jeff

Bryan Marshall ... Harris

Bob Hoskins ... Harold Shand

Helen Mirren ... Victoria

Ruby Head ... Harold's Mother

Charles Cork ... Eric

Olivier Pierre ... Chef

Pierce Brosnan ... 1st Irishman

Daragh O'Malley ... 2nd Irishman

Dave King ... Parky



Director: John Mackenzie



Runtime: 114 mins



http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081070/
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Codecs:



Video : 1.31 GB, 1718 Kbps, 25.0 fps, 720*400 (16:9), XVID = XVID Mpeg-4,

Audio : 149 MB, 192 Kbps, 48000 Hz, 2 channels, 0x2000 = AC3 DVM, CBR,



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The Long Good Friday was and still is a great piece of British Cinema. After watching the film after a good many years it still holds the power to shock, amuse and thrill.



Bob Hoskins pulled off a performance comparable to James Cagney's tour de force in 'White Heat' as the tough London gangster whose empire starts to tumble, as he's trying to seal a massive development deal with the aid of the US Mafia in London's Docklands.



Helen Mirren gives an impressive performance as Hoskin's love interest, who basically calls the shots in Hoskin's organisation almost as much as he does. Her cool, tough performance putting her in good stead for the 'Prime Suspect' mini series which followed in the early nineties in the UK, where she played Lynda Le Plante's tough female detective Jane Tennyson.



The usual seventies film actors who play crooks turn up in this film, as do some fine character actors, including Dave King who plays a bent copper on Hoskin's pay roll and Bryan Marshall as the crooked councillor. One of the most memorable of the support cast is Derek Thompson, who would later go on to play Charlie Fairhead in BBC's long running 'Casualty' drama, who takes the 'Introducing' credit.



Also, look out for the actor who played 'Denzel' in Only fools and Horses, and a mute role for Pierce Brosnan before he went to the States to play Remington Steele.



A fine film, thats quick in pace, and excellently directed by John McKenzie, who will probably be always most remembered for this film.



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A London gangster boss takes a short break abroad and returns to find someone has it in for him.



The film that took Bob Hoskins from minor British actor to Hollywood and the rest of the cast back to mainstream British television. Helen Mirren proves she is one of the few actresses that can play tough and sexy at the same time.



This modest budget film is quite clever. It wears the clothes of a gangster film but is actually a violent whodunit. The setting of London gives it novelty and like all British pictures it has an array of small parts played with gusto by local actors.



The film seems to borrow from real events (at one time the Mafia did want to bring gambling junkets over to London) but is mostly a work of fiction. Also curious is that it seems to give the impression that police corruption is rife which is not true of the late 70's. But this at least helps us understand Hoskins power.



This is not to be missed if you are a fan of gangster films and want a change of scenery. Hoskins performance alone is worth the price of admission and look out for Pierce Brosnan at the end in a non-speaking role.



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Great British film...completely ignored here when it was released in 1980. The British accents ARE hard to follow at times but I was able to keep up with the plot. Also this film is not for everybody--there are some pretty frequent bursts of graphic violence--VERY graphic! I pride myself on being able to sit through a lot but these scenes even had me cringing! Still, it well worth catching--it has a very intricate script with good dialogue. And all the acting is great. Hoskins is just perfect in the lead--you see the confusion, pain, fear and anger in him as his world starts to crumble apart. Also Helen Mirren is excellent as his mistress. Calm, sexy, controlled and VERY intelligent--she's just great. And the final shot of the eyes is chilling. Great electronic music score too. And it's fun to see Pierce Brosnan so young (28) and sexy in an early role.



A really great gangster film which deserves to be rediscovered. My one complaint (and this is minor) is that it goes on a bit too long--it could have been tightened a little. Still, a great film. A must see for crime film fans.



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* Bob Hoskins voice was dubbed over by a Wolverhampton actor, for fear Americans wouldn't understand his London accent. After Hoskins threatened to sue Jack Gill and Lion Gate (the original producers before HandMade bought the rights) the dubbing was removed.



* Handmade Films bought the film rights from Black Lion for £850,000.



* Pierce Brosnan's part was supposed to be completely silent but he improvised one line of dialog.



* Anthony Franciosa was originally cast as the Mafia boss Charlie but left after three days filming, claiming to be annoyed with the script alterations.



* The film was produced by George Harrison's Handmade Films Ltd. After he saw the finished product, he said that he'd never have approved such a violent film.



# SPOILER: The original title was "The Paddy Factor" but this was changed after fears that it would give away too much of the film's plot. After suggesting "Harold's Kingdom", "Havoc" and "Citadel Of Blood" the title "The Long Good Friday" was chosen, due to its similarities to Raymond Chandler's "The Long Goodbye" and the Easter setting.



# SPOILER: Even though it appears that Pierce Brosnan and Bob Hoskins share a car near the end of the movie, neither actor was present when the other was captured in close-up, so Brosnan and Hoskins never did get to actually work with one another throughout the shoot.



# SPOILER: In the car at the film's finale, Bob Hoskins was told that the camera would be on him for five minutes non-stop.