Intricately plotted and smartly paced, this gangster saga clicks as whodunit, social satire and explosive thriller. The piece is crowned by Bob Hoskins' career-making turn as a London mobster courting respectability and Helen Mirren's subtly detailed performance as his upper-crust mistress. Cockney wiseguy Harold Shand is a would-be burgher whose domination of the city's underworld stems from his shrewdness as a mediator and his skill at harnessing political and economic clout. As Easter approaches, he's poised to launch an aggressive real estate development scheme along the depressed Thames waterfront when all hell breaks loose: a trusted lieutenant is brutally murdered, Shand's mother is nearly killed in a car bombing, one of his pubs is blown apart and the visiting American don crucial to the pending deal is quickly growing wary.Barrie Keeffe's original screenplay keeps the viewer a step ahead of Shand, providing us with a telling but teasingly incomplete glimpse of the misstep by his underlings that has set chaos loose. At the same time, Keeffe underlines the bourgeois pretensions of the rough-hewn, barrel-chested Shand, how the elegant Victoria (Mirren) helps serve those ambitions and the myriad parallels between Shand's minions and the local politicians and police only too willing to join in his scheme. Tart, funny dialogue and alternately playful and pungent Eastertide imagery complete Keeffe's shrewd design--two key scenes, in a meat locker and a warehouse, invoke the Crucifixion itself. Even with lesser performances, the script and John Mackenzie's solid direction would make The Long Good Friday a keeper but Hoskins's explosive portrait of Shand and his descent toward brutal revenge elevates the film into the very front rank, earning admiring comparisons to TheGodfather, Scarface, GoodFellas and other classics of that genre. --Sam Sutherland
A precocious 16-year-old girl discovers that she is the princess of a small European country after her mother confesses to a one-night fling with a member of the royal family. As heir to the throne she's pressed into taking princess lessons from her gran.
In the savage and deadly world of the gangland king the man at the top is ruler only for as long as he controls everything in his territory. For that man the rewards can be infinite but so are the dangers. Harold Shand is enjoying the height of his powers and he is on the verge of something that 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 and bloody day of terror an Easter Good Friday he is to see his empire begin to crack and crumble.
Most notable for being the debut feature of 17-year-old Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman BMX Bandits is also one of the best-loved and most fondly remembered children's films of the 1980s and is now available on DVD for the first time in the UK. Packed with amazing BMX action from rad wheelies to awesome airs chases slapstick humour and crazy adventure this madcap caper inspired an entire generation of kids across the world to get out on their bikes and let loose. More
In a rapidly modernising English town, a psychopathic murderer is on the loose terrorising the young women of the local community. Fourteen year old Wynne (Jenny Agutter) begins to suspect that George (Bryan Marshall), her adoptive stepbrother who she's infatuated with, is the perpetrator. But could he really be responsible for such horrific crimes? Presented in a new 2K restoration, David Greene's much soughtafter British thriller is a gripping, cult classic of late1960s cinema and the latest addition to the BFI Flipside collection. Featuring a standout performance from Agutter and contributions from cult icons writer Richard Harris (The Avengers), production designer Brian Eatwell (Walkabout) and composer Basil Kirchin (Primitive London), I Start Counting' is a haunting comingofage tale like no other. Special Features Scanned & restored in 2k from the 35mm interpositive Audio commentary by film historian Samm Deighan A Kickstart: Jenny Agutter Remembers I Start Counting (2020, 20 mins) Loss of Innocence: A Video Essay on I Start Counting by Chris O'Neill (2020, 8 mins) Interview with Jonny Trunk (2021): the writer, broadcaster, DJ and owner of Trunk Records discusses the work of composer Basil Kirchin Original theatrical trailer Other extras TBC **FIRST PRESSING ONLY** Fully illustrated booklet with a new essay on the film by the BFI's Jo Botting and writing on the cast and director by Jon Dear
World War II aviation buffs may quibble with the details of Mosquito Squadron, but they'll love it just the same. It's an average war movie, capably directed by Boris Sagal, who thrived in television before he was tragically killed by a helicopter rotor in 1981. At the peak of his post-Man from UNCLE success, David McCallum plays a melancholy RAF ace, leading his squadron of De Havilland "Mosquito" bombers on low-altitude strikes over Nazi strongholds in Germany and France. His ground-based dilemma involves the grieving wife of his best friend, a fellow pilot presumed dead but later discovered alive with other POWs held at a French chalet where the Nazis are developing advanced V-class bombers. The RAF employs bouncing "highballs" capable of penetrating difficult targets, and the rousing climax doubles as a rescue mission and treacherous bombing run. Explosive action compensates for predictable melodrama, and Rocky Horror fans will enjoy seeing Charles ("the Criminologist") Gray as a stuffy RAF Commodore. --Jeff Shannon
The Forsyte Saga is often cited as the first television miniseries; it wasn't, but there's no question that it was a singular, powerful cultural phenomenon that deservedly got under the skin of European viewers in 1967. Today the 26-episode production, based on several novels and short stories by John Galsworthy, is a more timeless enterprise than many of the protracted British TV dramas that have followed. While it would be wrong to consider The Forsyte Saga high art, it's certainly a mesmerizing and inspired mix of theater, sprawling Victorian narrative, thinking man's soap opera, and some finely tuned, 1960s black-and-white production values that (especially when shot outdoors) are strikingly handsome. Above all, Forsyte is driven by its characters--perhaps to an extreme, though the two-generation storyline makes no apologies for creating compelling people whose capacity for short-sighted blundering, bursts of grace, and slow-brewing redemption make them recognizably human. Eric Porter towers over everything as Soames Forsyte, a humorless attorney whose guiding principles of measurable value cause great heartache but slowly evolve, leaving him a graying, good father, arts patron, and sympathetic repository of memory. From the cast of 150 or so, other standouts include Susan Hampshire as Soames's troubled daughter, Nyree Dawn Porter as the wife of two very different Forsyte men, and Kenneth More as the family's artistic black sheep. --Tom Keogh
Workmen unearth prehistoric skulls while carrying out excavations on the London Underground. Very soon a strange and malevolent force is unleashed.
James Bond (Roger Moore) and the beautiful Soviet Agent Anya Amasova codenamed Triple X (Barbara Bach) team up to investigate missing Allied and Russian atomic submarines following a deadly trail that leads to billionaire shipping magnate Karl Stromberg (Curt Jurgens). Soon Bond and Anya are the world's only hope as they discover a nightmarish scheme of global nuclear Armageddon!
Bodie and Doyle need little by way of introduction but if the series had at all escaped you since its debut in 1977 their boss George Cowley head of CI5 couldn't put it more succinctly than his opening gambit: anarchy acts of terror crimes against the public. To combat it I've got special men – experts from the army the police from every service. These are The Professionals.
Long-awaited, long-overdue: The Professionals as you have never seen them before. Bodie and Doyle need little by way of introduction, but if the series had at all escaped you since its debut in 1977 their boss George Cowley, head of CI5, couldn't put it more succinctly than his opening gambit: anarchy, acts of terror, crimes against the public. To combat it I've got special men experts from the army, the police, from every service. These are The Professionals . Featuring the perfect ensemble cast of Martin Shaw, Gordon Jackson (completely against type here) and the much-missed Lewis Collins, the series ran for 57 action-packed episodes and made an immediate impact on British and then international audiences which has sustained 35 years. But the series has never looked this good. Painstakingly restored from the camera-original negatives the series could have been made yesterday. No matter how many times you have seen The Professionals, this is a new experience, like seeing it for the first time. FEATURES ON THIS NEW EDITION: Brand-new, High Definition restorations of all 13 episodes in series two from the camera-original negatives Brand-new 5.1 tracks from original sound elements Remastered original as-broadcast mono tracks Remastered music-only tracks featuring Laurie Johnson's original scores HD photo galleries featuring hundreds of rare and previously unseen images All episodes are presented in their original production order PDF material featuring scripts and memorabilia Archive footage featuring additional material, advert break bumpers, US sales trailer and more English HOH subtitles
Long-awaited long-overdue: The Professionals as you have never seen them before. Bodie and Doyle need little by way of introduction but if the series had at all escaped you since its debut in 1977 their boss George Cowley head of CI5 couldn't put it more succinctly than his opening gambit: anarchy acts of terror crimes against the public. To combat it I've got special men – experts from the army the police from every service. These are The Professionals. Featuring the perfect ensemble cast of Martin Shaw Gordon Jackson (completely against type here) and the much-missed Lewis Collins the series ran for 57 action-packed episodes and made an immediate impact on British and then international audiences which has sustained 35 years. But the series has never looked this good. Painstakingly restored from the camera-original negatives the series could have been made yesterday. No matter how many times you have seen The Professionals this is a new experience like seeing it for the first time. FEATURES ON THIS NEW EDITION [] Brand-new High Definition restorations of all 13 episodes in series two from the camera-original negatives [] Brand-new 5.1 tracks from original sound elements [] Remastered original as-broadcast mono tracks [] Remastered music-only tracks featuring Laurie Johnson's original scores [] HD photo galleries featuring hundreds of rare and previously unseen images [] Exclusive book of programme notes authored by TV historian Andrew Pixley which documents the complete production history for the 13 episodes in series two [] All episodes are presented in their original production order [] PDF material featuring scripts and memorabilia [] Archive footage featuring additional material advert break bumpers US sales trailer and more [] English HOH subtitles
A BBC adaptation of Thackery's novel which follows the relative changes in fortunes of two friends in the early 19th century...
For his part in a failed bank robbery Frank Ross has served years in prison. Now he's out and looking for the cuplrit responsible for his incarceration...
A struggling motel owner and her daughter are taken hostage by a nearly blind career criminal to be his eyes as he attempts to retrieve his cash package from a crooked cop.
Brand new and sealed Steelbook Edition of the Hammer Horror film based on the original BBC TV series by Nigel Kneale starring Andrew Keir, Barbara Shelley, James Donald, Duncan Lamont and Julian Glover
Despite her parents' disapproval Brianne is determined to marry Clay. At first the marriage is a success but gradually Clay becomes more and more physically and emotionally abusive to his family. One night in a bar a man tries to chat up Brianne and Clay shoots him dead. To try and deceive the authorities Brianne admits to shooting the man by accident. This plan misfires and the couple are both imprisoned for life. When Brianne's father dies Brianne is faced with the possibility of losing custody of their only child Lily. Is her love for Clay strong enough?.. Based on a true story.
Judith (Julie Andrews) an attractive widow is holidaying in Barbados where she meets the charming and handsome Feodor (Omar Sharif) the Russian military attach'' to Paris. A friendship develops but unbeknownst to Judith Feodor uses his position to conceal his role as Second-in-Command of the KGB. In London her Foreign Office employers have heard about their meeting and both Britain and France are alarmed believing this was a pre-arranged rendezvous between two security threats. The couple's fledging romance quickly escalates into international intrigue.
We have met the enemy, and it is us: when a Martian spacecraft with a terrifying link to the origins of humanity is unearthed beneath a London tube station, only the esteemed Professor Bernard Quatermass can save London's suddenly murderous population from itself. One of the most intelligently paranoid science fiction films ever produced, this pessimistic masterpiece functions as a dark flip-side to the relatively optimistic alien-induced evolution theory presented in the later 2001: A Space Odyssey. Nigel Kneale's brilliant script (which posits a surprisingly plausible, otherworldly rationale for the existence of the supernatural) was later appropriated by acknowledged fan John Carpenter for his underrated Prince of Darkness. A must-see for horror and science fiction aficionados. This film is also known as Five Million Years to Earth. --Andrew Wright
Thrown together to join George Cowley's new C15 organisation....Hard men no patience nor time for subtleties. Charged with combating terrorists criminals and corruption wherever they find it. Capable of using any means necessary. The only people they can trust are themselves... Hunter/Hunted: There's trouble for Doyle when the hi-tech sniper rifle he's testing is stolen. Charged with recovering it he's soon to learn that the thief has him in his sights! First Night: When an Israeli minister goes missing in London it falls to CI5 to find him. How can they do this when the only clue is a blurred photograph? The Rack: An incident at CI5 has the authorities believing Doyle has killed a suspect. The department's always had enemies and this is their perfect excuse to have it shut down... Man Without A Past: A bomb in a restaurant kills bystanders and severely injures Bodie's girlfriend. Who was responsible? Bodie and Doyle investigate to find out who was really the target and why...
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