That was an excellent one.

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

Years before the flashy show-off antics of LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS came along, The Long Good Friday showed everyone how it was done - this classic movie easily beats GET CARTER into the top spot of "best British gangster movie ever made". Set over the course of a gruelling 48 hours, The Long Good Friday is an often tense, theatrical, and suspenseful thriller with an unusual plot - gangster Harold must turn detective, using his unorthodox methods, to discover who is responsible for a sudden campaign of violence against him. His methods include slashing up a well-known grass, hanging up suspects in an abattoir along with the carcasses, and committing unreasonable violence to all and sundry. The gangster is played by the one and only Bob Hoskins.Now, I know a lot of people will not be convinced by the authenticity of Hoskins - probably best known to American audiences for his role in WHO KILLED ROGER RABBIT? - playing an East End gangster, but his role is a tour de force here and one he has not matched since. Hoskins creates a violent and unpleasant little man, but is never anything less than likable throughout - you come to sympathise with, and care for his character. Hoskins' superb acting - especially the well-remembered ending in the taxi, where he goes through 360 degrees of emotions using his facial expressions only - is something to behold and holds the film together throughout. On top of this, the excellent cast includes Helen Mirren as his long-suffering wife, a good supporting role from Derek Thompson (BBC1's mild-manned "Charlie" in CASUALTY) who is involved in the film's nastiest scene worthy of a video nasty, P.H. Moriarty as the imposing right-hand man Razors, and a cast seemingly populated by actors and actresses that would go on to achieve fame in later years (Gillian Taylforth, Dexter Fletcher, Paul Barber, Pierce Brosnan).The movie has some spectacular set-pieces, usually involving exploding buildings which come as big surprises, as well as my favourite unexpected moment when two men are gunned out of a glass window on to a race track below. For the most part, the film is a detective story with tons of tension as time ticks down, and you can't keep your eyes off the screen. The last half an hour gives the opportunity for Hoskins to become king of the world, but you know it won't be long before it all comes crashing down for the offbeat and daring conclusion. A true classic, worth watching by all and sundry, this has a superb script full of genuinely witty humour, and a story and characters epic enough to make it feel like a Shakespearian tragedy.

This movie is an amazing blend of story and action, and pulls off the amazing feat of having a gangster movie with some real heart and some classic charm that was missing from many similar movies of this period and most movies since. The characters are unforgettable and at the very least relatable, you see them and know their plight as they go through this dark period of time.So what's the bacon? Bob Hoskins plays Harold Shand, a London Gangster who's brought about peace in the Capital's gangster scene. However, on the day he plans to sign a giant East End development project with American investors, his organisation is rocked by the murder of his childhood friend and a bomb blowing up his Rolls Royce. Shand now has the ordeal of tracking down the people attempting to destroy his organisation whilst at the same time keeping it a secret from the Americans.So, the good stuff? All of it if I'm honest. It's got heart, with all the characters being at the very least human, not invincible husks with no personality and no real human traits. Shand isn't invincible, he's simply a man who's built himself up from the gutters of the London slums to become the kingpin of the city, and you can really feel for his emotions and really want him to find a way out all the way through the movie.The story is an absolute cracker, strong, coherent, chocked full of twists and really good fun to sit through. At the same time the film, unlike many of the same period, is surprisingly subtle. There aren't an onslaught of nauseating gun battles, nor is it just continual fist fights with no connection to the plot other than to cram in a load of action. It is a fantastic blend of story and style, which I love to bits!To top it all off as well, the soundtrack, although very simple, is fantastic and absolutely catchy. Bet your bottom dollar that you'll be humming the theme tune to this movie for a week after viewing!What else can I say? The story's great, the characters are great, the music's great, it's grounded, down-to-earth and overall a fantastic movie. One of my all time faves and definitely my favourite gangster flick!

Life is full of mysteries but one of the more perplexing is the stellar reputation of this film, which regularly finds its way onto any list of best British movies. In doing so, it finds itself in the company of every Powell Pressburger film ever made, a couple of Nic Roeg's efforts and The Third Man to name only a few. This is company in which The Long Good Friday does not belong. At its heart, it's a TV movie, elevated by a good idea for a story and a couple of decent performances from two very fine actors. Visually, the film is flat and uninspired and the characters are not much better developed. It's a tribute to Hoskins and Mirren that neither was tempted to try to add value to their roles as written. The story's potentially good and the structure, a single, long day, has potential but neither is handled adroitly. The story unfolds clumsily and never builds real tension and the director sabotages the structure with an opening sequence that lacks the production values of an early seventies "Saint" episode. I'd guess that The Long Good Friday's reputation rests in part at least on its financial success, particularly here on the other side of the pond.

The Long Good Friday is a fantastic film. I've seen it three times now. At first, I thought it was a bit heavy, a bit overly dramatic, but it has really grown on me. The film is riveting and highly watchable. The acting is top-class, especially Hoskins and Mirren, the direction is ace and the music is electric. It's a real quality piece of filmmaking.And like all great films it's full of interesting, thought provoking, relevant ideas, most notably about the state of Britain, and while at first it would seem that the film simply champions the nation upon closer inspection it appears that it is actually trying to raise a question about whether Britain really is the empire it used to be or whether it has fallen by the wayside.