Genres

Visitors Review

2012-05-21 22:39:14

One of Tom Hardy's at his best.

This review is from: Bronson [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) Bronson is a awesome movie, and Tom Hardy nailed it. The story is great his acting is like no other. This is Tom Hardy's at his best.

Simon Weaving 2012-05-21 03:35:55

Strap yourself in for a jaw-dropping performance from Tom Hardy as he completely inhabits the role of Britain's most notorious prisoner in this highly stylised piece of mischievous cinematic vaudeville.

Paul Walker 2012-05-18 15:32:20

My most favorite repeaters

This has got to be one of my most favorite films of the past couple ofyears if not more. The amount of insanity this film presents isexquisite!. One of the things I love about this film is the importanceof color within the scenery. For example, when Charlie is in prison wesee this extreme vibrancy of color, but when he is moved to the funnyfarm, the color is drained away. With Charlie narrating this film, wecan see this as his emotions toward the facilities. He is at peace andto some extent, in control while in prison, but when he is in the loonybin or out in the real world, everything is lit up and dulled in hueshowing them as grayer times for our little brawler. Don't get mewrong, the color in these scenes are still beautiful, they just switch,for example, from deep blue to baby blue.Another piece of this puzzle I love is Tom Hardy's portrayal of goodole Charlie. To me, Charlie seems like a symbol of anarchy. He doeswhatever he wants at that moment but over all, he has no idea what hewants. This is presented best in the last bit of the film after he'staken Andy Love hostage. When the warden asks what his demands are,Charlie can give him nothing, and when fully confronted with thequestion, he shuts everything off and retaliates. This little piece ofhim helps give Hardy's character some sense of humanity. If it weren'tfor this, Charlie would probably come off as too unimaginable acharacter. It's good to know that, despite his beast like behavior, hestill feels.For me, this is one of those films that I can watch over and over againand never get tired of it. There was one time when I watched "TheRoad." It was one of those films where you felt dead inside afterseeing it, much like the book it is based on (This is not a dis toMcCarthy. I'm sure your a master of the pen). So I watched Bronsonright afterward, and I was filled with a new love of life. It was likeNicolus Winding Refn came into my room, sat atop my bed, brushed thehair away from my face and said, "everything is gonna be alright babybird." I may not know anything about the real Charlie Bronson, but inthis film, Charlie is an artist and a madman which comes together inholy matrimony.

2012-05-17 18:22:47

Shark with teeth, and he bites

This could be called a bio-pic, but it doesn't tell us a life story in a traditional way. The film is directed by the man who gave us the outstanding gangster movie Drive recently, a Dane with a name like a typo: Refn.The life that we learn about is that of a man who has spent 30 years in solitary confinement. The final screen of the movie, which was produced in 2008, tells us that he is still there.Before you build up any sympathy or pity for the poor victim, have a look at this man, Michael Peterson, Britain's most violent prisoner. In the course of his career he raises the moniker to Britain's most expensive prisoner.He is a violent monster with a total lack of normal social behavior. Initially jailed for a post office robbery, he develops a liking for the prison cell, his 'hotel'. He fights with his jailers whenever he can. He is moved to the 'funny house', where he tries to kill a pedophile. In his next institution he gets to start a large scale riot. Released from prison, he starts a new career as a bare-knuckle fighter and changes his name to Charles Bronson. He is incarcerated again after a jewelry store robbery, 69 days after his release.But, as I said, this is not a normal biopic. We are not obliged to believe everything. It is not told like a normal story. It is probably not the full story anyway.Bronson tells us his story himself, or rather, actor Tom Hardy does. He does it, partly, on a stage, with an audience, acting with masks and with pantomime scenes, some quite brilliant. He does it partly sitting in a cell or a cage, often beaten up and bloody, always proud to be a hellhound.The tale is sometimes funny and then tends to dive into nauseating depths of black or yukki humor.The whole arrangement is a bit like a piece of Brechtian theater. Verfremdung is used advantageously and entertainingly. Macky Messer was a choir boy against Bronson.Many of the most brutal scenes are enhanced by operatic music. I am not expert enough in this genre, and I haven't figured out the musical score, but I assume that it uses a lot of Wagner. The music combines opera with techno. It might even be worth watching the film again and pay more attention to identifying the music.

2012-05-08 23:59:45

Bravura Brutality

Tom Hardy magnetizes the screen with his performance as "Britain's Most Violent" criminal, Charlie Bronson. "Bronson" is a semi-true tale about how a man born Michael Peterson decided he needed money to support his wife and new baby, so the 19 year old robbed a post office..and then began his first jail term. Michael discovers his real calling is violence as mantel to fame. Before long, he has a reputation as brawler, a kind of anarchist inmate done up as circus strongman. In the one period he actually gains freedom, Michael heads off to a whorehouse, hooks up with trannies and prostitutes then becomes a prize fighter who gets christened Charlie Bronson by his roguish hustler/manager.Soon after, Bronson commits a crime that sends him back, and he becomes the celebrity Charlie. Hardy burns with the violence of a psychotic carny; he spends parts of the movies telling Bronson's story onstage in stylized characters. The guards are terrified of him, yet he takes all comers with an almost celebratory glee until he is left bloodied and - once again - free to expand on his legend. hardy also took on an amazing training regiment for the movie, gaining almost 42 pounds in bulk by doing 2500 push-ups daily to not only get into physical form, but the mental one."Bronson" seethes with mentality. From the surrealistic asylum dance scene to the narrow cage Bronson is locked into at the film's end, the film applies its excessive violence without much rationale; Charlie acts violently because he just is. There are more than a few comparisons to A Clockwork Orange here (especially in the cross cutting between Bronson's monologues and his history) but this movie, due mainly to Hardy's stunning performance, packs a wallop that few others in the true crime genre can match.

GD Cugham 2012-05-08 19:04:32

A Sense Of The Long Good Rocky Chopper Shrek

'Bronson' is a ninety minute dramatised account of the life of one ofBritain's most notorious prisoners, Michael "Charlie Bronson" Petersen.Originally jailed for armed robbery in the seventies, Bronson's refusalto button down to porridge - and ambition to become a "name" in prison,saw him take hostages, stage protests and fight many prison guards at atime. His resultant extended sentence of a staggering thirty four yearsof prison have seen him spend twenty six years in solitary confinement,a spell in an insane asylum and a total of one hundred and twenty fourdays of parole/freedom. With each small burst of freedom on theoutside, Bronson realised he was ill suited to a world fast outpacinghim - he is a king and a legend in prison, however and one of thestrong messages of the film is that he would rather suffer the slingsand arrows of jail than operate in a world he could not fathom.Bronson, in an awards-magnetising, all consuming performance from 'StarTrek: Nemesis's Tom Hardy, narrates his own life story from aProscenium stage. Bronson's innate comedic and artistic talents areexploited in these linking scenes. He wears Leigh-Bowery style clownmake-up as he addresses the audience - in fact Leigh Bowery's influenceseems a touchstone for the atavistic "war paint" Bronson adopts duringvarious staged battles with his jailers, as well as his own surrealistcartoons.A pastiche of an act popularised by slightly nihilistic Britishcomedian "Freddy Starr" is used inspirationally in Bronson'sdescription of his dealings with an asylum's governors.All in all, this is a rich, highly stylish and convincing account of anempty life and aching soul. Vertigo Pictures appear not to have had adistributor for the film at the screening this writer attended and itwould be a shame if a major international distributor trimmed theviolence, homo-erotic subtexts and surrealism as it would neuter thepiece.In a film that is 'A Sense of Freedom', with the period tone and rawpower, but profound Britishness, of 'The Long, Good Friday' - plus adash of 'The Rocky Horror Show' and 'Shrek' - an anti-hero asimpressive as Eric Bana's 'Chopper' (2000) is born.Although, unlike his Antipodean doppelganger, Bronson don't hit women. A refreshingly different British crime movie. You won't have enough...

truehammer 2012-05-06 19:09:23

Explosive Art

Bronson is a film based on real events about Charlie Bronson whochanged his name to the star of Death Wish during his briefbare-knuckled boxing stint, the notorious British criminal who hasspent all but four of his 36 years in prison so far in solitaryconfinement. Bronson was born Michael Peterson and grew up in Lutonwith lower-middle class parents who rather bizarrely didn't abuse himin any way. If ever a man seemed a natural born monster it's Peterson,there is no rhyme nor reason to his behaviour, he claims his ambitionis to 'be a someone' but sadly he has no talent bar a rock hard bodyand a fearlessness in violent conflict.After an armed robbery on a post office which gained him the incrediblesum of £26.18 in 1974, Bronson aged 22 was given a seven year sentence.Since then Bronson's resume for violence has grown and grown, alongwith his sentence. It includes wounding with intent, wounding, criminaldamage, grievous bodily harm, false imprisonment, blackmail andthreatening to kill although tellingly he has never actually killedanyone, despite trying to strangle a paedophile to death in Broadmoor.Bronson's brief stretch on the outside probably reveals more about himthan any of his time inside. It becomes clear that he simply doesn'tknow how to function in the real world, he becomes confused andfrightened when faced by the difficulties of adult life, the simplicityof prison appeals to him and soon he is back inside after anotherridiculous robbery. Inside he is a living legend and a truly fearedman, he doesn't have to do anything except drawing and fighting, twothings he excels at. Bronson also seems to have masochistic tendencies,he enjoys being punished, often when things are looking up for him hebecomes his most restless and unpredictable. His attacks come quicklyand with no warning, his favourite prison pastime is to kidnap a screwor prisoner, terrify them with his bizarre behaviour and makenonsensical demands to the governor before stripping naked, greasinghimself up and seeing how many guards he can take out before he isbeaten himself and thrown back in solitary.Whether or not Bronson is insane is debatable, he certainly isn't likeother humans but does that make him crazy, who really knows? How anyman can live that kind of existence is baffling. Tom Hardy issensational as Bronson, his best performance so far and has a brightfuture ahead of him, he really captures Bronson's frighteningpersonality, charm and sense of humour as Bronson although terrifyingis a very funny man, perhaps his only redeeming feature. It is anexplosive performance in every sense of the word and with a lesseractor the film might not have been half as good, occasionally Hardydelivers a monologue on stage to a hidden audience (ourselves as hesees us) deluding himself that we are cheering his psychotic rages asif he is a genuine hero.I definitely rate this movie highly but be warned this may be a littleto artsy for your tastes, if you're expecting a beat-em-up action movieyou may walk away disappointed, this delves into the world of somethinga little different than the norm and can be quite disturbing,particularly during the mental hospital scenes and the ending. The filmreminds me of two others in particular: A Clockwork Orange and Chopper.The director clearly takes inspiration from Stanley Kubrick's classicand the style is not dissimilar, both are highly disturbing anddifficult to watch and have vicious protagonists you cannot take youreyes from. The similarity to Chopper is that Bronson and Chopper Readseem to suffer from a similar infliction of character and are both realpeople. These movies are also highly recommended.Finally I have heard people say this this movie glamorises violence,absolute nonsense, if I ever saw a movie that made me want to stay faraway from prison it is Bronson. He is a man to be pitied and feared,not admired and the movie shows just that.8/10

2012-05-06 06:21:49

If you liked "Chopper", you should REALLY like "Bronson"

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]

2012-05-04 16:46:26

Interesting Ride

Reading the synopsis, I didn't really know what to expect...going into the movie.But what I found, was quite a wild ride, but simplistic in nature. And honestly the one question that plagues my mind after watching this.. What did Bronson want? Was it really to gain simple fame? To leave a mark on society as a whole? Because hey a movie was made after him, he has some books out, and is still apparently by this film, in prison. But we all now know of him. At least a good chunk of people.I mean, the only thing he does through out the whole film, is beat people up. Locations change... But all he seems to do, is just beat up prison guards, and get beat up. What's he after? To find that breaking point of his? And later on in the film, the dude gets buck naked. yes, and has a guard rub .. some paste onto him? Its white. And then at a later point, he gets covered in black paint. Which maybe has some sort of...symbolic meaning? The reason I bring this up, hopefully someone will read my review and give me a heads up, is because he is on stage as well several times through out the movie, talking to the audience. I figure the two are connected.And if he liked beating people up so much, why didn't he just get into boxing? At least then he'd been facing people that were his equal match and earning money.One thing I want to mention is the movie isn't your standard fare. It doesn't really have a ending. It just stops. And its an oddball movie in its pacing. (Maybe their was a lot that was cut?) It seems like it should have been a little longer.

Robin Clifford 2012-05-04 08:19:04

...not a great film but garners a strong performance from its star [Tom Hardy].

intelearts 2012-04-29 12:03:59

The Victorian Melodrama Is Alive... But Not That Well

This reminded us most of Victorian melodrama - unlikely you'd think fora biography of Britain's most violent criminal - but it really is adultpantomime.With use of theatrics and eccentrics it is entertainment but it neverreaches that point beyond absurdity that really moves it into being afilm of weight rather than substance.Sure, it is surreal and violent, but the comedy isn't comedic enough,and the performance is too much one shade.Others will love this and see the performance as brilliant - for us itlacked all subtlety, and that perhaps is the point, but we were numbafter 50 minutes and more so after 90.It is unusual and creative, and has that going for it, but a great filmthat deserves awards - we don't think so - it is just the Shock of theNew factor, bathos at its best (And that's never a good thing) coupledwith a performance that is good at its one dimension.I expect to get booed out by the crowd on this one - but we wereunmoved and relatively bored by the whole endeavour.

swAppp 2012-04-29 08:19:51

Weird

Michael Peterson. A boy who was a bully all his life. A story which isridiculous from its backbone, painful for its context and wild for itssavageness.I couldn't tell if this film is bad or good, decent or truly terrible,because it is exceptional. You have to see it and then judge foryourself. Personally, I found "Branson" a weird film. It remembered methat we all are animals, we do not know what we want very often, and ifwe want, we can't get it. For a story about criminal this is more thanenough.For the scenery of "Branson", it is quite realistic. Switching betweenpoints of view and dirty cells made "Branson" quite a pale film, whichit might have intended to be.Charles Bronson. If you ever thought about having an alter-ego, you canwatch this film and see, how terrible alter ego is at some situations,

Laura Clifford 2012-04-27 16:27:30

Nicolas Winding Refn ("The Pusher" trilogy) takes an experimental approach to the biopic, letting his subject guide the way through his life so far as if it were a piece of performance art.

David Hiltbrand 2012-04-27 00:30:40

The tone is surreal, at once visceral and clinical, making Bronson an unsettling experience: savage, disturbing, and yet somehow fascinating.

maatmouse-1 2012-04-26 01:51:20

Tom Hardy in violent biopic of British offender

I have heard much about this film and am surprised, initially, that itwas made. It certainly wouldn't have been made a few years ago.Tom Hardy stars as this pumped up and extremely violent real-lifeBritish criminal whose story seems to baffle the psychologists tryingto work WHY this man was violent. Let's face it, he doesn't come fromthe classic favourite background of the social worker: the broken home.His parents are portrayed as pleasant, hard-working folk. There is nosign of parental abuse or mistreatment and there are no siblings torage against. In short, the entity which eventually became CharlesBronson: notorious prisoner was brought up in as pleasant an image offamily life as was possible in the 1950s and 1960s. The film portrayshim as violent and abusive towards his teacher, at one point, throwinga desk at him. What the film (and possibly non-English audiences) won'tshow you is that a lot of British schools were like this, yet with theteachers more willing to inflict physical punishment than perhaps thisfilm reveals. Then on, it is a fairly typical wander into this man's life. He isshown falling in love and then marrying. Later on, he is shown havingrobbed a post office and ending up in prison. Prison is a verybrutalising experience for him, but he survives nevertheless, spendinglong periods in solitary confinement after episodes of fighting againstprison guards. All this is shown against a backdrop of Wagner operaintermingled with the Pet Shop Boys! Bronson acts as the well-dressednarrator of his turbulent life for a crowd of the well-to-do in angrimy theatre which might well have come out of The Shining or aClockwork Orange. Amidst all of this are attempts by the Establishmentto pigeon-hole Bronson. He seems to do alright in jail, partly becausethere is a routine and the opportunity to vent pent-up anger. At onepoint he is farmed out to Rampton mental facility where he isimprisoned and injected with powerful drugs to curb violent, antisocialtendencies. All this is directed with more than a potent nod toKubrick, although Refn's vision is a lot less colourful and more washedout than Kubrick's. You can actually almost 'feel' the grimy floorsunderfoot as the camera pans over dilapidated buildings and oldfurniture. This vision doesn't vary between prison or Bronson's homelife.This film is as 'real' as its possible to get about British prisonlife. For critics who've argued that Bronson the film glamorisesBronson the man, well, they're talking rubbish. It doesn't. It portrayshim as an offender, a deeply crude, foul-mouthed and quite frighteningman. Even when naked, which frequently happens in this film, Bronsonthe character is frightening. It is a tribute to Tom Hardy's actingthat he can portray such a character without being squeamish about whatthis man is. It is also a tribute to the director that he doesn'tflinch from the violent, unpleasant and often loathsome aspects at workhere. As of writing, Bronson is still inside prison. He will undoubtedly diethere. Perhaps seeing this film will prevent one more angry young manfrom considering the same path.

Steve Billington 2012-04-25 17:28:40

Bronson.....one to watch more than once.

I watched this film with very little knowledge of who the man 'CharlesBronson' was - well, at least what had happened in his life, and how hehad gathered the attention and the title of 'Britain's Most ViolentPrisoner'.So I watched the film, and found that the first time around I could notplace a firm verdict. This is one of those films that simply has to bewatched more than once in order to be appreciated and understood.For me, the best way to understand the film is to watch the film withthe understanding that it is told by Charles Bronson - so the way thefilm is presented is through his view of the world. After all, the filmis presented by 'Charles Bronson' in a theatrical style, and is, attimes, hard to watch, purely because his motives for his actions aresometimes not made clear. But one thing to justify this lack of clarityis that he is supposed to be a psychopath - his actions are justifiedby his craving to be famous in spite the consequences. By the end of the film, you do not really sympathise with thecharacter, you are merely seeing into his world and his art, which isessentially killing or fighting, or acting out against authority in oneform or another. This is why I have given it 7 stars - because youaren't really on Bronson's side at any point.However, Bronson is portrayed fantastically by the lead man, Tom Hardy,who plays the character so convincingly that it is hard to tell he isacting at all at times.Overall this film is well worth watching, and I can see the connectionto the film 'A Clockwork Orange' made in people's minds, but if youwatch the film for what it is, you are sure to enjoy it, as long as youembrace the storytelling of a madman for 90 minutes.

Kimberley Jones 2012-04-23 12:38:01

A figure this luridly fascinating, a personality this ludicrously outsized, warrants something more than your typical biopic.

ajs-10 2012-04-22 20:45:12

Kind of strange, but kind of compelling at the same time...

Most people have heard of the actor Charles Bronson, but few have heardof the notorious violent prisoner of the same name. The film is basedon the true story of the man who has made his name in the Englishprison system as the most violent prisoner in Britain. Now, I haveheard of Charles Bronson, the prisoner, and so was intrigued to seethis film about him.His real name is Michael Peterson; he was born in Luton, just north ofLondon. He didn't have a deprived childhood, he was well loved by hisparents but there was obviously something different about this boy.From fighting with other boys he progressed to assaulting his teachers.He eventually grew old enough to be put in prison for holding up a PostOffice; his sentence, seven years. Once inside he soon establishedhimself as an extremely dangerous man. As such he was moved around fromprison to prison until he eventually ends up in a mental asylum. Herethey can keep him drugged but he still finds a way to fight back.Eventually he is declared sane and released. He goes about making acareer as a bare knuckle prize fighter, which is where he got hisfighting name, Charles Bronson. This, however, is short lived and it'snot long before he's back inside again. But this time there are signshe is starting to reform… or is there? Up to the release of the film hehad spent 34 years in prison, 30 years of which had been in solitaryconfinement. I'll leave you hanging there; don't want to give too muchaway.A film that was obviously made on a small budget, but one that is quiteentertaining in a strange and bizarre way. The story is told fromBronson's point of view and as such has a bit of an art house feelabout it in places. There's a pretty good soundtrack with a few songsthe audience might recognise. A real power-house performance from TomHardy as Charles Bronson/Michael Peterson. I must also give anhonourable mention to Matt King who played Paul.As I've already said, the film has an art house feel to it, lots ofvery short pieces put together in places, but then longer scenes thatgive more narrative. It's a very interesting film to watch, alwaysinteresting, partly because the character of Bronson is sounpredictable. Thanks to the great performance of Tom Hardy and thanksto a great script. At times it is very violent and the language is verystrong in places. Over all, it's kind of bizarre, but I must say,recommended.My score: 7.4/10

Colin Covert 2012-04-17 08:34:25

Part literate black comedy, part surrealistic character study, part horror movie, Bronson is a sophisticated confection, rich and dark, sprinkled with bitter little jokes.

2012-04-16 13:20:25

YUCK!

I H.A.T.E.D. this film, I tried to watch it three days ago, found it boring, then watched it yesterday and found it DREADFULLY GROSS, STUPID, AND OFFENSIVE and a total waste of time.Comparing it to A Clockwork Orange is like comparing Mary Poppins and Madonna, yeah! they are both female. And Bronson and A.C.O. are both movies! That is as close as the two can be compared.A Clockwork Orange is a cult masterpiece and a great example of things going terribly wrong and strangely right, where as Bronson is sick...Period!!!