The Long Good Friday (1980/Umbrella Entertainment Region Four/4/PAL DVD)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C+     Extras: C     Film: B-

 

 

PLEASE NOTE: This DVD set can only be operated on machines capable of playing back DVDs that can handle Region Four/4 PAL format software and can be ordered from our friends at Umbrella Entertainment at the website address provided at the end of the review.

 

 

With a remake on the horizon, Umbrella Entertainment is issuing a rather basic DVD of Director John Mackenzie’s most successful film, The Long Good Friday (1980), which we reviewed in a more elaborate U.S. Anchor Bay DVD version you can read more about at this link:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/3644/The+Long+Good+Friday+(Anchor+Bay

 

 

I am not as big a fan of this film as my fellow critic and though it is a key Gangster genre film, is uneven at best.  However, it has its moments, takes itself seriously and is an important entry in the sometimes uneven British Gangster genre.  Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren and Eddie Constantine are good, but the other actors are effective and Pierce Brosnan even shows up.  Worth seeing once so you can judge for yourself, no matter what you walk away with.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image here is a little softer than some other editions I have seen, but this needs some restoration work and a Blu-ray release, so the margin of the quality here is thinly lower than other DVDs.  Though the case says this includes a DTS mix but it is not there and all we get is a not-so-good Dolby Digital 5.1 mix and even weaker Dolby Digital 2.0 mix that both show the age of the film.  Both need more work and restoration.  Extras are not as extensive as the Anchor Bay U.S. edition or any other one we know of, but we get the U.S. & U.K. trailers, plus an on camera interview with Mackenzie and Hoskins.

 

 

As noted above, you can order this PAL DVD import exclusively from Umbrella at:

 

http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo