Search - The Long Good Friday [Criterion Collection] on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Violence, Brief Nudity, Nudity, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Profanity Movie Release: 1980 DVD Release: 11/24/1998 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Edition: Special Collection Audio Tracks: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 54 mins Studio: Criterion Members Wishing: 13 Genres: Crime, Crime Drama, Gangster Film See Also: The Long Good Friday, The Cult Fiction: The Long Good Friday

John Mackenzie's masterfully directed British crime drama features a star-making performance by Bob Hoskins as Harold Shand, a successful London gangster whose world falls apart over the course of one weekend. Shand controls the London docks and is planning a big real estate deal, financed by money from the American mob and given the okay by the London organization. His world is sweet -- he lives in a fancy penthouse, he owns a yacht, and has a sensitive and intelligent mistress. But suddenly a bomb explodes inside his Rolls Royce, another bomb destroys a pub he owns, and a third is found inside his casino. Shand can't understand who would suddenly want him dead, particularly over the Easter weekend, when representatives from the American mafia are coming into town to discuss investing in Shands's real estate project. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Bob Hoskins - Harold Shand
Helen Mirren - Victoria
Eddie Constantine - Charlie
Dave King - Parky
Brian Hall - Alan

For a Criterion Collection DVD, one would expect more from the disc than the film and a few theatrical trailers. But this disc contains nothing more, the film and trailers making up its entire contents. John MacKenzie's The Long Good Friday is a classic British gangster film that made a star out of actor Bob Hoskins. It's been studied in film schools in America and Europe and begs for commentary and essays on the film's exercise in violent restraint. The DVD offers no critical studies beyond the 114-minute film. On the bright side, the disc contains a new digital transfer of the film created from the 35 mm interpositive, presented in a 1:77 aspect ratio rather than the standard 1:85. The image quality is much better than the audio, which is in mono created from the 35 mm magnetic tracks. The disc contains the American and British trailers for the film, which makes for a great comparison, but certainly not enough of a supplement to feel worthy of owning. No language or subtitle options are included. ~ Arthur Borman, All Movie Guide