Product Details

• Actors: Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren, Dave King, Bryan Marshall, Derek Thompson
• Directors: John Mackenzie
• Writers: Barrie Keeffe
• Producers: Barry Hanson, Chris Griffin, Denis O'Brien, George Harrison
• Format: Color, Original recording reissued, NTSC
• Language: English, French
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
• VHS Release Date: September 10, 1997
• Run Time: 114 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (73 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304080018
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #95,451 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video

Intricately plotted and smartly paced, this gangster saga clicks as whodunit, social satire, and explosive thriller. The piece is crowned by Bob Hoskins's 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 The Godfather, Scarface, GoodFellas, and other classics of that genre. On DVD, Criterion's new digital transfer restores more than just the widescreen aspect ratio--the film has never looked better, even if an occasionally muddy sound mix survives to make the thick Cockney accents a challenge to decipher. --Sam Sutherland

Amazon.com

A very impressive British sleeper, this 1979 film features Bob Hoskins (Mona Lisa, Who Framed Roger Rabbit) as a ruthless gangster caught up in the competitive turf wars of the London underworld. Just when the gangster thinks he's made a deal to insure his financial security and solidify his power, he is targeted for assassination by an unseen enemy and must go to war for his very survival. Hoskins turns in a tightly coiled yet sympathetic portrayal of a man tragically trapped by his own ambition. Featuring a sexy performance by Helen Mirren (White Nights, Prime Suspect) as the mistress he can't quite trust, The Long Good Friday is a moody, evocative thriller and an undiscovered gem of the crime genre. --Robert Lane

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must see high powered and provacative British gangster epic, December 6, 2000

By 

P. Ferrigno "firehouse444" (Melbourne, Victoria Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Long Good Friday (The Criterion Collection) (DVD)

Talented English director John MacKenzie knew that the English gangster genre needed a good shot in the arm...and he delivered the goods with this tightly scripted and brilliantly acted crime drama.

Bob Hoskins is outstanding as London mob boss, Harold Shand...masterminding a major construction development along the river Thames that will nett him, and his American backers, millions of pounds. Shand has everyone on his payroll...politicians, police and enforcers...but then suddenly everything starts to unravel, and Harolds world turns upside down in the space of a day. MacKenzie's film moves with intent and purpose and Barrie O'Keeffe's screenplay keeps the suspense at a finely tuned pitch. A terrific support cast headed by the sulrty Helen Mirren as Harold's wife, Victoria....Derek Thompson as the cowardly, opportunist Jeff....P.H. Moriarty as the aptly named bodyguard "Razors"....and Bryan Marshall as the drunken councillor, Harris, further contribute to the success of this challenging film.

Clever use of authentic London locations and creative cinematography lend a further hand to enhance the claustraphobic atmoshpere closing in upon Harold Shand and his crew...the viewer really feels through Hoskins emotional range, the unnerving pressure that is causing him to come apart at the seams. Excellent transfer to DVD...sound and color both superb...it's a pity that Criterion didn't add a few extra goodies that they usually package with their fine presentations.

A solidly crafted, gripping film with A grade performances by a splendid English cast...and keep your eyes open for a very youthful Pierce Brosnan in a minor role.

FOOTNOTE : MacKenzie also made another powerful movie three years prior in 1979 called "A Sense of Freedom"...based on the true story of Glasgow gangster, Jimmy Boyle, and his life in jail and out. It's a harrowing, gritty prison film that doesn't pull it's punches...unfortunately it's not on video or DVD at present...but hopefully it will return. Another A class crime film !!

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Gangster Flick, December 11, 2001

By 

"jones5000" (Wash., DC (USA)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Long Good Friday (The Criterion Collection) (DVD)

I don't know this for sure, but the Criterion edition of The Long Good Friday is probably the only halfway decent edition of the film available. The story itself is really good, but the DVD leaves a LOT to be desired. First, it is poor quality mono. Second, there are NO subtitles in ANY language. I had much difficulty understanding the mostly "cockney" English, doubly difficult due to significant audio distortion at most all audio levels! If it weren't for the fact that the story is so absorbing, and I am a big fan of Bob Hoskins, I probably would not have been able to sustain an interest to watch the DVD through to the end. But I did! However, I have to watch it at least one more time to catch all the dialogue I missed the first time!!! Also, although the picture quality was mostly decent, the DVD contained many white splotches (original film deterioration?) that most likely could and should have been cleaned up with more attention by Criterion, especially since Criterion provided NO extras (except for a couple of trailers) with this edition. Why are Criterion's prices so high for bare minimum and, in this case, average technical quality DVDs? Objections aside, this is an intriguing ganster flick!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars STILL "EXPLOSIVE" AFTER 24 YEARS!, March 19, 2004

By 

Shashank Tripathi (Gadabout) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Long Good Friday (The Criterion Collection) (DVD)

The second best ever Brit gangster movie is a brilliant energy-filled piece. Ritchie's "Lock, Stock..." is fine if you want a jokey gangster film bailed out by lucky coincidences, but this is the real thing, believable and intelligent.

What really raises this movie into the stratosphere is the bravura performance by Bob 'Oskins. The much-praised ending is riveting. Surely it's the most dazzling display of an actor's craft to hold in close facial shot for a prolonged time showing a variety of emotions cross the features? Hoskins does this to perfection, showing (at least) disbelief, anger, realization, fear, grim amusement and acceptance over a 90 second period, all the while set to pounding soundtrack and flickering lighting from passing streetlamps.

If you haven't seen this, do yourself a favor and buy the excellent DVD which also has some neat features.