Product Details

• Actors: Tom Hardy, Matt King
• Directors: Nicolas Winding Refn
• Format: AC-3, Blu-ray, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region A/1 (Read more about DVD/Blu-ray formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Magnolia Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: February 9, 2010
• Run Time: 93 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (173 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002XTXFU8
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,838 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Bronson [Blu-ray]" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Tom Hardy's performance in the lead role burns right through Bronson, the somewhat true tale of a real guy who, once the movie finishes, you'll be very glad is still locked up in an English jail. There's no obvious reason why Michael Peterson became what he proudly calls "Britain's most violent prisoner." His upbringing was normal, his parents meek but loving; he was even married with a child when, in 1974, he attempted a robbery that landed him in the slammer for the first time. Peterson saw this as "an opportunity to sharpen my tools" and make a name for himself; and that he did, eagerly taking on half a dozen guards at once and regularly spending time in solitary confinement (at one point for 69 straight days). A stint in "the loony bin," where he killed another patient, followed, as did incarceration in a hospital for the criminally insane, a brief period on the outside (having been "certified sane," he went to live in an uncle's whorehouse, found work as a prizefighter, and fell in love), and then a permanent return to prison, where he decided to change his name to Charlie Bronson (after the American actor) and, improbably, became a pretty decent painter (a climactic scene with his art teacher perversely invokes the Belgian artist René Magritte). Not all of this really happened, but director and cowriter Nicolas Winding Refn's film is hardly a documentary; with its saturated color palette, surreal framing devices (Bronson tells some of his tale to a rapt audience in a large theater), and frequent use of black humor, this is a highly stylized and often strange piece of work. Hardy, who has also been seen in Guy Ritchie's RocknRolla and will be in George Miller's fourth Road Warrior epic, delivers an extreme performance; sporting a shaved head and a John L. Sullivan handlebar mustache, he is a credible if occasionally cartoonish presence, a leering, profane, joyously violent cockney madman. Extras include interviews, a making-of documentary, and a featurette detailing the extremely buff Hardy's training for the role. --Sam Graham

Product Description

BASED ON THE TRUE STORY OF ONE OF THE WORLD S MOST VIOLENT PRISONERS
In 1974, a misguided 19-year-old named Michael Peterson decided he wanted to make a name for himself, and so with a homemade sawn-off shotgun and a head full of dreams, he attempted to rob a post office. Swiftly apprehended and originally sentenced to seven years in jail, Peterson has subsequently been behind bars for 34 years, 30 of which have been spent in solitary confinement. Provocative and stylized, BRONSON follows the metamorphosis of Mickey Peterson, who gave himself the nickname Charles Bronson, from a petty thief into Britain's most dangerous prisoner.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 46 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars If you liked "Chopper", you should REALLY like "Bronson" August 7, 2010

By John S. Harris VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

Charlie Bronson/Michael Peterson is quite a character. I'm told that the events and details in this film stray a little here and there from the truth, but all in all it makes for a quite entertaining look at one of the most violent prisoners in the UK's history. Actor Tom Hardy, who got amazingly buffed-up for this role, brings the right amount of humor, pathos, and dangerous zaniness to the title role.

You can't help but cheer for Charlie Bronson, though you will be glad you are doing it from a safe distance.

Bronson the man has quite a story. "Bronson" the movie is a tour-de-force of bravura and playful acting by Tom Hardy, and deserving of all its accolades. No one I have spoken with who saw this movie failed to be entertained by it.

Buy it, rent it, I don't care. Just watch it. [Big grin]

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars With its middle finger firmly brandished at everything our society holds dear... March 11, 2010

By S. Jones

Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase

To say that lead actor Tom Hardy is gonzo-brilliant is nearly as understating as the complete overlooking of his performance throughout award season. Director Refn's approach here is as viscerally punctuated and artistically daring as anything in his excellent "Pusher Trilogy."

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, humerous, and brutal February 12, 2010

By N. Durham HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Blu-ray

Everyone has heard of Charles Bronson. Well, THAT Charles Bronson anyway, the title character here is definitely a far cry from the hardened film hero of the same name. This Charlie Bronson was originally born Michael Peterson, who despite having a decent upbringing, grew up to be a criminal, and much, much more surprisingly. Known as Britain's most notorious prisoner, Bronson manages to capture the ferocity of the man with tongue-in-cheek humor and sheer unpredictable moments. Tom Hardy, who has been in quite a bit ranging from Star Trek: Nemesis, Layer Cake, and Rocknrolla among others, gives a star-making performance that should be seen to be believed. Besides undergoing a physical transformation in bulking up, Hardy's performance may very well be akin to what Eric Bana managed to do some years ago with Chopper, in which he ironically enough, played famous prisoner Mark "Chopper" Read. All in all, though it definitely isn't for everybody, Bronson is wholeheartedly worth your time, mainly thanks to the ferocious performance of Tom Hardy, whose stardom should most definitely (and deservedly) be on the rise.