Genres

Visitors Review

drewucl7 2013-06-16 13:08:08

Bloody Good Show

As someone whose taste in cinema does not usually run to much violence,choice language, or blood (vampires excepted); I really enjoyed thisfilm! No mere fest of foul language, tough guys, hot chicks, dangerousdrugs, big guns, oh, and a Porche for good measure - although it's allthere - "Bonded by Blood" has much more going for it. Cleverly directedby Sacha Bennett, this film has excellent touches of visual humour,some very funny lines, and a number of intense performances. There iseven a Shakespeare reference - but don't let that put you off! TamerHassan as Pat Tate, high on cocaine and drunk on machismo is superblyscary. You have to duck when he starts pumping out the expletives.Altogether a much classier offering than previous efforts in thisgenre.

catstewart07 2013-06-16 06:32:48

Something of an anti-climax.

I was really looking forward to watching this film, having very muchenjoyed Bernard O Mahoney's book of the same name upon which the filmis based.Unfortunately, Craig Fairbrass is conspicuous by his absence; havingnailed the role of Pat Tate in Rise of the Foot Soldier, one would havethought he'd be alongside Terry Stone once more. Instead we have TamerHassan, who snarls and curses his way through the role in a somewhatunconvincing fashion. Stone, who played a blinder as the bullyingTucker in ROTFS, is reduced to a sidekick not dissimilar to Muttleyfrom Wacky Races, in a cheap shiny suit but thankfully minus the mulletwig.Interestingly though, Neil Maskell steals the show in places as CraigRolfe, with an understated dignity and presence; the other Craig Rolfeseen in ROTFS with Roland Manookian in the part was an entirelydifferent character, however Maskell's portrayal was equally convincingand perhaps the best performance of the film. Except for the geniusturn of the girl in the nurse's outfit travelling with Tate later inthe film. (Genuinely funny scene, I actually thought it was CatherineTate in a cameo role.) This film runs at a much slower pace than theslick Rise of the Foot Soldier, and the highly anticipated murder sceneat the end is nowhere near as chilling and atmospheric either-something of an anti climax.

Deano Apstarr 2013-06-15 00:34:56

Not very good

This film is a very inaccurate portrayal of the men. I found itextremely disappointing after anticipating it for a few months. I foundrise of the foot soldiers to be much more realistic and I guess thereis a reason why it is, as ROTFS is a list of events told by anextremely reliable person, an extremely close friend of Tony Tucker andalso someone who knew Pat Tate and Craig Rolfe very well, his name isCarlton Leach.However 'Bonded By Blood' is a film by Terry stone, who has no personalknowledge of the murders or the people involved, and therefore haspainted a more hollywoodised version and transformed the characterscompletely.For instance Darren Nichols was an Essex boy from near Braintree, andnot a rude-boy type who spoke similar to dizzy rascal. He was chubbyand was pretty unintelligent. Jack Whomes was not a tall bodybuilderbut instead average height and plump. The person who really made melaugh was Pat Tates character. I thought Pat Tate was of Irish descentand not Turkish! LOL. Tony Tucker had a strange mullet type haircut,and was not often seen in a suit. Craig Rolfe is also portrayed in thisfilm as a young wise expert in handling guns, and very sharp and ofstrong status within the firm. The reality couldn't be further from thetruth. He was Tony Tuckers little runner, that constantly got shown uppublicly by the firm, he was also rather dim and had no valid opinionin the firm.All I can say is its a good film if you want to watch a snatch / Rollinwith the nines type film, but if you are like me and have read manybooks on the Rettendon murders and then watched this expecting it to bea very accurate story and portrayal of the characters involved then youwill be very disappointed.

2013-06-14 12:12:36

Brilliant Gangster Movie

I got to see this film in the UK. If you like gangster movies like, Lock Stock, Layer Cake and Snatch you will love this film. Amazingly this film is based on a true story. Tamer Hassan's performance is simply outstanding. I strongly recommend.

daworldismine 2013-06-08 10:43:39

a brilliant and brutal true story, a great British gangster movie

i had already seen the firs two movies based on the essex boys and therange rover murders, 'essex boys' was good but wasn't very truthfulland 'rise of the footsoldier' a brilliant movie and one of myfavourites. so i was looking forward to 'bonded by blood' and it didn'tdisappoint, the cast was brilliant in there role's, the story wasaccurate, and the movie was also very funny, terry stone and tamerhassan were great together, and the scenes with tamer hassan andVincent Regan was very tense. the movie looks a lot classier than 'riseof the footsoldier' and 'essex boys' and it's better made, the moviedosen't rely on ultra violence every few minutes unlike 'rise of thefootsoldier' although there is still plenty of violence here, insteadthe movie focuses on the relationship of tamer hassan and VincentRegan's characters 'pat Tate' and 'mickey Steele', and when they fallout, the movie get's very tense. where as 'rise of the footsoldier'took a very realistic almost documentary approach to the material,'bonded by blood' plays out more like a thriller, and if you didn'talready know the story, you would't really know whitch way this wasgonna go, but that aside, the movie sticks to the facts and presentsthem to you, sure there are some things that are left out of the movie,but 'rise of the footsoldier' already showed them, and why repeat thesame thing over again. this is the most cinematic of the three essexboys movie's and probably has the best cast, it's a very nasty andviolent story, and if your familiar with it, then you are gonna have anidea of what your expecting. the movie is quite violent, but toned downfrom 'rise of the footsoldier', more violent than 'essex boys though,and anybody expecting the very realistic and accurate range rovermurders like in 'rise of the footsoldier' will be very disappointed,the murder does happen here, but it's quick, short and to the point,and the movie has a good ending that shows that this whole saga ruinedmany lifes. fans of British gangster movies should definitely check itout, and ignore all the negative feedback from people that wanted anover blown violent romp like 'rise of the footsoldier', and rememberthat is one of my favourite films, but anybody wanting a solid Britishgangster movie, should definitely check this out. there are three othermovies based on the essex boys and the range rover murders namely2000's essex boys, 2007's rise of the footsoldier, and 2013's the fallof the essex boys

daworldismine 2013-06-07 17:54:53

a British classic, forget rise of the footsoldier, bonded by blood is brilliant

i loved rise of the footsoldier, thought it was well done and gritty,here we have bonded by blood another movie about the rettendon rangerover murders and while it does it's own thing, it pretty much sticksto the facts and is a better movie, while it hasn't got all theattention to detail rise of the footsoldier did with it's characters,it is much better done. the directing is a lot better while maintainingit's gritty tone, the movie is also very funny i think funnier thanrise was, and to everybody that worrying about Craig fairbrass notreturning as pat tate cus tamer hassan nails it, and terry stone isgreat again as tony tucker although he's a bit less outragous as inrise of the footsoldier and also Niel maskel did a much better job asCraig Rolfe than Roland manookian. a must see piece of gangster cinema

daworldismine 2013-06-02 16:23:23

a brilliant and brutal true story, a great British gangster movie

i had already seen the firs two movies based on the essex boys and therange rover murders, 'essex boys' was good but wasn't very truthfulland 'rise of the footsoldier' a brilliant movie and one of myfavourites. so i was looking forward to 'bonded by blood' and it didn'tdisappoint, the cast was brilliant in there role's, the story wasaccurate, and the movie was also very funny, terry stone and tamerhassan were great together, and the scenes with tamer hassan andVincent Regan was very tense. the movie looks a lot classier than 'riseof the footsoldier' and 'essex boys' and it's better made, the moviedosen't rely on ultra violence every few minutes unlike 'rise of thefootsoldier' although there is still plenty of violence here, insteadthe movie focuses on the relationship of tamer hassan and VincentRegan's characters 'pat Tate' and 'mickey Steele', and when they fallout, the movie get's very tense. where as 'rise of the footsoldier'took a very realistic almost documentary approach to the material,'bonded by blood' plays out more like a thriller, and if you didn'talready know the story, you would't really know whitch way this wasgonna go, but that aside, the movie sticks to the facts and presentsthem to you, sure there are some things that are left out of the movie,but 'rise of the footsoldier' already showed them, and why repeat thesame thing over again. this is the most cinematic of the three essexboys movie's and probably has the best cast, it's a very nasty andviolent story, and if your familiar with it, then you are gonna have anidea of what your expecting. the movie is quite violent, but toned downfrom 'rise of the footsoldier', more violent than 'essex boys though,and anybody expecting the very realistic and accurate range rovermurders like in 'rise of the footsoldier' will be very disappointed,the murder does happen here, but it's quick, short and to the point,and the movie has a good ending that shows that this whole saga ruinedmany lifes. fans of British gangster movies should definitely check itout, and ignore all the negative feedback from people that wanted anover blown violent romp like 'rise of the footsoldier', and rememberthat is one of my favourite films, but anybody wanting a solid Britishgangster movie, should definitely check this out

2013-06-02 08:16:08

Amazing action film!

This is such an amazing film! Lots of action packed scenes, and great story line. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good action film.

birdman99 2013-05-28 04:00:57

bonded by blood is terrible

I am so disappointed just travelled 65 miles to see this garbage. Themovie has some good actors in it yet none of them show a ounce of anyof they true talent.The story is poorly put together and doesn't reallyfollow a theme or character from start to finish. The main focus issniffing drugs and swearing and believe me there had a good true storyto work on,Tammer Hussein who is a good actor when he puts it on wascrap as pat Tate,Craig fairbrass makes him look like harry potter.Thisfilm makes you cringe at nearly every scene.Overall not worth a 2nd thought.When will someone pull there finger outand give us another ROTFS or the business type film.To be truthful i think never......

jacko07 2013-05-27 15:18:11

A bad film

We have some great actors, screenwriters and directors in the UK. Thisfilm employed none of them and it painfully showed. I picked it up inthe 4 DVDs for a tenner in Blockbuster and still felt I'd been conned.In the bonus features I was astounded as I watched the cast having agreat laugh shouting you 'chants' at each other like dementedschoolboys,not funny unless we were going to see 'Carry on Essex Boys'.I found it crass and unnecessary, a bad idea because if you watched theextras first you were already expecting it would be odds on that thefilm was going to be rubbish..it was. A good Producer and Directorwould have stopped that nonsense, it degraded the cast and the crew toflippancy.We all know that morons swear a lot so leave it there, it was shockingwhen the 'Sex Pistols' did it over thirty years ago, not any moreairheads. I just couldn't take these ham actors seriously after that.After the stupid bonus extras I watched the film...the weak script justcarried it on until it became brain numbing. Right down to the copyingof De Nero's putting the boot in, this lot just looked like cheesyamateurs doing a lot of hammish snorting, shouting and swearing in theguise of telling what was supposed to be a true story. I would thinkthat O'Mahony could have directed it better than Sasha Bennett. At theend after two shots from a cut down 12 bore that would have put ahorse's lights out, we are meant to believe Tate makes a dying hatefilled rant at his assassin. Do us a favour! Talk about writers gettingcarried away..do they think we are all 'chants'. On a brighter note, I thought Vincent Regan and Keirston Wareing weregood and as far as I remember also bright enough to stay out of thecrass bonus stuff, smart thinking. However, Terry Stone is nothing morethan an extra and Tam the Sham and Sasha Bennett would do well to watchthe performances of Ray Winstone, Ian McShane and Sir Ben Kingsley.Spend a couple of weeks watching 'Sexy Beast' on a loop...that isacting, directing and screen writing.

Jnoirnoir1032 2013-05-26 13:19:53

Yawn

How many times will low budget tales about these Essex lads need to betold. The film made no effort to show anything other than the tough guy'gangster' side of Tucker or Tate. They were thoroughly unlikeable, andwhilst Hassan gives a decent performance, I still couldn't care lessabout the fate of his gobby bully. Stone, meanwhile fares less well.Not sure what this guys background is, but he's not a very convincingtough guy. I think he has a slight speech impediment which may havebeen a character choice, but it didn't seem right for the part. Ididn't believe him at all, and he only really seems to have oneemotion. Angry swearing. The direction is competent without ever beingvery imaginative, and the film does seem to have been put togetherquite well, zipping along at a good old pace. It's not a terrible film,it's just not really very interesting. It's been done better, manytimes, before. There is a very clear market for these films, and Iguess whilst this obsession with cockney geezers remains we can expectmore offerings like this one. Shame.

davideo-2 2013-05-26 10:48:43

Unnecessary and undelivering brit gangster flick

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning** Sunday Night * Monday Morning This fundamentally pointless gangster flick (the story has been donetwice before) gives Tamer Hassan the chance to do his typical gurning,foul mouthed cockney gangster thing as Pat Tate, whilst Terry Stoneinexplicably plays the same character he did before, with the likes ofNeil Maskell and Adam Deacon for support in this latest attempt tobring the true life story of the 1995 Rottenden Range Rover murders tothe screen. It lacks the sappy melodrama of the dismal Rise of the FootSoldier, but the same problem I had with that film seems to be presenthere: there seems to be a lack of depth, and the very interesting storyjust feels really hard to get in to. It just would not appear totranslate well to film, surely one it would be better to read about.Great soundtrack, though. **

TomoCillin 2013-05-18 17:52:06

Weak start, poor ending but quite intense mid movie

I'm not too sure what to make of this movie to be honest. Let me juststart by saying, I have a bias for low budget and Independent moviemaking. I want to see them do well and I want to see a freshperspective from the usual Hollywood point of view. Unlike some otherreviewers of this title, i'm not all too concerned about how accuratelythe picture may or may not have represented true events. In fact, Ireally couldn't care less if a script takes massive liberties so longas it delivers a movie that is enjoyable to watch. So what I reviewhere is purely a movie based on its aesthetic qualities and craft. For all its weaknesses, this movie did deliver one or two good pointswhich would make me say it is worth looking up if you enjoy your Britgangster. Firstly, some of the villains were very well depicted,particularly the brutish characters played by Tamer Hassan and TerryStone.Secondly, although the movie has a weak start and a poor ending, itreally managed to draw me in mid-movie. The build up between the twofactions as they prep to go at each other was very engaging and reallymanages to heighten tension. I enjoyed the fact that the movie centredaround just one killing incident and the realities that go into theplanning of such a job rather then glamorising and trivialising thedirty aspects of criminal life.Where the movie fails for me, is with the character Darren Nicholls(Adam Deacon). I don't get why they nade such a weak character narrateevents. I actually felt more sympathy for some of the more brutalcharacters who were honest about who they were, rather then thischaracter who really seems to do nothing for the entire movie exceptcomplain. Nor did I get the point of using flash back as the drivingforce of the movie. I didn't think it added anything to plot orstructure. It seems to me the director was trying to emanate a'Goodfellas' vibe. A weak script in parts really lets the movie down also, which is ashame because the movie did hold promise. There seemed to be a feelingthat characters needed to be portrayed in extremely good light when theaudience was expected to hold sympathy toward them. Again, this is whyI ended up resenting the Nicholls character rather then feeling theintended empathy. It's also seen in the character Mickey Steele(Vincent Regan) where he is played as a compassionate man who takes inthe lover and not really a drug dealer as he is just the 'deliveryman'. He is overly portrayed as the 'honest decent criminal'. Hischaracter becomes totally two dimensional when he suddenly flips frombeing 'Mr. Nice Guy' into 'Mr. Hard Ass'... there was no need to dothis to such extremes and I think the audience's intelligence was takenfor granted. I really do believe that a more honest depiction -showingthe good and the bad- of each character's traits, would have engagedthe audience better. There were also some really hammy lines throwninto the love scene on the pier and else where throughout the movie. But taking the good with the bad, this movie does still throw up somegreat scenes. It fails by patronising the audience with forced feelingsof empathy, but really engages them with some terrific build up. Itmanages to capture beautifully the exhilaration of criminal life,because as high and as quick as they can rise, their moment at thesummit may well just be brief.

beatleblack 2013-05-17 22:59:33

NOT as good as ROTFS! However...

NOT as good as ROTFS! However... If you are interested in the nownotorious story of the so-called Essex Boys, you will want to see thisfor completist reasons.This film presents the relationship between Mickey Steele & PatTate/Tony Tucker with the ultimate build-up to the Range Rover killingin a way that ROTFS missed. That's because the narrative comes from theperspective of the 3rd member of Mickey's gang. This is a perspectivewhich you can't help but doubt having watched Rise & which even thisfilm admits with a post-script is a dubious account.Documentary evidence aside, two questions arise: do we have some moregreat anecdotal evidence of their out-of-control behaviour? And, isthis anywhere near as good a film as Rise?Firstly, yes AND no. Despite the lack of Craig Fairbass there aremoments showing Pat's traits which are memorable but NOTHING like thePizza scene. Secondly, yes AND no. This film felt like a moreartistically professional job but left me feeling less satisfied andentertained than by the gloriously over-the-top Rise.

2013-05-14 11:32:44

great action film

This movie was very intense, action packed, and gripping. It kept me on edge the whole time and the story is based on a real events which is even better!! A MUST SEE!

raveydaveygravey 2013-05-13 22:25:09

Did they do any scene research?

I went to see this film with a couple of friends one of which had readall the books. I had seen Essex Boys but not Return of the Foot Soldierand was quite looking forward to this film.I love gangster films and obviously being a bit of an Essex boy andbeen to the places mentioned in the film in the early nineties wasquite looking forward to this film.However I was absolutely disappointed. Although the acting was justabout OK but not entirely believable the depiction of 90's Essex isnothing short of atrocious.The night club Raquels was a big night club in basildon essex but inthe film it looks like a bar out of Neighbours. The fashions were across between 80's and the noughties. At not one point in the film didI feel I was in the 90's. The fashions were all wrong. Blokes werewearing suits or tucked in shirts (this would have no doubt got you agood seeing too in 90's Essex but was considered normal in the film)and no curtains in sight. The women were wearing heavy 80's makeup,tight tops short skirts and platform stilettos...I don't remember thatin the 90's it was more cover your self up baggy tops, bobbed hair,bell bottoms and clumpy shoes! Even the scenes on Southend Pierincluded modern infrastructure that was never around in the 90's. Overall it was just about watchable but whoever was responsible for thedepiction of 90's Essex should have been taken away in a 'K' reg RangeRover and shot!

ajay699 2013-05-10 06:55:56

great movie

A real well put together movie, i have enjoyed it thoroughly. Somegreat scenes as well as humorous in parts.A must see movie, not one to be missed. All I can say is watch it andjudge for yourself.This is the true story of the essex boys the whole truth and nothingbut the truth.you will have to wait until 26th December 2010 for the DVD release sogo on and treat yourselfyou deserve it, definitely one for the collection , one you can watchover and over again

valleyjohn 2013-05-09 09:27:27

A complete mess

There have been a couple of previous films about the Essex Range Rovermurders. Both were pretty forgettable but neither are anywhere near asbad as Bonded by Blood. It's quite a rare thing to have a film whereevery actor on display is no good. You usually get one stand outperformance but with this movie everyone stinks. Tamer Hussan plays hisusual role as Mokney Cockney Essex wide boy and you wouldn't expect anydifferent from a one trick pony actor like him but it grates on youwhen there are people trying to out " Essex " him on screen. TerryStone and Neil Maskell are so over the top with their acting it'slaughable. I also have problem with the director of this mess. It musthave taken great skill for Sacha Bennett to make a film look such amess.It has no form or structure and events happen with no explanationwhile other threads are dropped and forgotten about. The only goodthing about Bonded by Blood is that the Essex tosser Danny Dyer isn'tin it but that's hardly a reason to watch this trash. Avoid

FlashCallahan 2013-05-02 16:21:49

lots of slaaaags and chaaants.....

In 1995, drug suppliers and career criminals Tony Tucker, Patrick Tateand Craig Rolfe were blasted to death by a shot gun whilst waiting in aRange Rover in Rettendon, Essex. The film charts their rise to become the most prolific dealers andfeared criminals in the south of England. Maintaining the hold on theirempire with fear and violence until their untimely death.There is something comforting about a film starring Tamer Hassan. Youknow you are going to get swearing, and you know that you are not goingto have to concentrate a lot, but you know you will enjoy it in somesort of masochistic way.And when you get the added bonus of it being about gangsters, and alsocompletely 'true', films like this are a must.You can tick all the boxes to any brit gangster film released in thelast lifetime.There is a torture scene.There is a woman crying at a phone box with a kidThere is driving with drugs and a blonde womanThere is a murder at point blank range with a shotgunand there is a man killed at the beginning, and then him narrating thefilm, and then at the end, the same scene at the beginning playedagain.For those who like these kind of films, it's effortless, made at theNick Love movie school for geezers, and wears this on it's sleeve.Not original, not clever, average performances, but worth watching.

a_3 2013-05-02 02:24:39

Disappointing but not absolutely terrible.

Didn't know a third film had been made about this subject but whilststuck indoors waiting on a delivery (DHL late again) I just watchedBonded by Blood. First impressions after having just viewed the filmare that it was not very good. Not totally terrible but only reallyworth watching if you have absolutely nothing better to do and wantsomething to occupy your interest.As has been picked up by one of the better revues of this film on heremy main criticism is that the actor portraying Darren Nicholls (AdamDeacon) is annoying and unconvincing throughout. You spend a lot of themovie wanting to smack the petulant little fake scowl off of his face(the character not the actor) and you certainly don't empathise withhim or indeed anyone else in the film.I also concur that Craig Fairbrass's portrayal of Pat Tate was moreconvincing and accurate than that of Tamer Hassan. Hassan's Tate seemedtoo considered (albeit still a bully, steroid using f##k up) at timeswhen the reality is he was far from that. Not a terrible performancejust not as good as the one that Fairbrass did where he nailed thecharacter in Rise of the Footsoldier.The actresses used all seemed out of their depth if they were calledupon to do more than be giggling fluff. I don't personally have aproblem with that as this is a bloke's film and don't particularly wantit ruined with dialogue about the wife's/girlfriends perspective.Suffice to say though the little acting that was required by any of theactresses was poor to awful. The only actress who was convincing at allwas the "tart" in the nurse's outfit who was passenger in the car crashwith Tate (Hassan). I liked Neil Maskell's performance as Craig Rolfe, and this was a lotcloser to reality than the one portrayed in Rise of the Footsoldier byRoland Manookian, although I don't necessarily think that was down tobad acting by Roland, just that the character was different(inaccurate?) in that script. Terry Stone rocks up once again to play Tony Tucker and although hisfirst attempt in Rise of the Footsoldier was a bit too cartoon thisversion seems a little undecided? To be fair I'm not going to criticisethe fella as he is still learning his game in the acting world and howmany different ways can you portray a one dimensional character likethe fictionalised Tony Tucker? I'm sure the script called for more ofthe same but lose the wig.Finally the Bernard O'Mahoney character played by Johnny Palmieroseemed totally miscast? It's not that it was a terrible performance byPalmiero but that it bore absolutely no resemblance to the real BernardO'Mahoney in accent or stature. I much preferred reading BernardO'Mahoney's books than watching this film. I give the film 4/10. Just my opinion and I suggest you watch ityourself and make your own mind up. If you have the time spare ofcourse.