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 Director
:Guy Ritchie
Starring
: Jason Fleming, Dexter Fletcher, Nick Moran, Jason Statham,
Steven Mackintosh, Vinnie Jones, Sting.
Picture
1.85:1 Anamorphic and 4:3, DD 5.1, Double-Sided, Crystal
Case
Running
Time : 107 mins
The
story:
A
Disgrace to Criminals Everywhere.
When
EastEnd cardshark Eddy (Nick Moran) and his three best mates,
Tom (Jason Fleming), Bacon (Jason Statham) and Soap (Dexter
Fletcher) get stung for £500,000 by underworld boss Hatchet
Harry (P.H. Moriarty), they have just one week to come up
with the remaining £400,000 they still owe. If they don't
produce the money then heads will roll. The pals soon hatch
a plan to steal the money from their drug-dealing neighbours
and pay back Harry. In the meantime Harry's antique guns
go missing and fall into the wrong hands and the local drug
baron finds some clown trying to sell him back his own stolen
drugs!
The
summary:
Lock
Stock has made a big impact since it's release back in 1998
and deservedly so. This is one of the few British productions
that seems to have it all - stylish, charming characters,
plot twists, surprises, bucket-loads of wit and a superb
soundtrack to round it off. Set in London's East End this
film perfectly portrays London's villains and lifestyle..
not surprising really when you consider the Cockneys and
villains amongst the cast! Vinnie Jones is a revelation
as Big Chris - a marvelous debut that shows he has a glittering
acting career ahead of him. The rest of the cast are all
superbly authentic and fit comfortably into their roles.
And not forgetting the late Lenny McLean and his classic
one liners - "he's a fuckin' liability!". Modern
and pacey, Lock Stock initially develops the characters,
then quickly builds up the plot adding various twists and
turns yet never once falling short and pausing the momentum.
As one sub-plot branches out from another, predictability
is certainly not on the agenda here. We were hooked and
eagerly await Mr Ritchie's next offering..
So
far so good - but how does the disc itself fare? Well this
is the usual Polygram DVD - fullscreen on one side and widescreen
on the other. As widescreen is clearly the future here,
this could be deemed a waste of half a disc with the 4:3
version. I'd personally prefer to have it loaded with extras.
This means there's just room for some short interviews and
a trailer. A bit below par really. The picture, with it's
grainy washed out colours, is exactly as the director intended
and suits the style of the film perfectly. The sound, whilst
hardly making good use of the 5:1 soundtrack as it makes
very little use of rear effects (apart from the golf ball..)
is well balanced and punchy throughout. So in a nutshell
- there's no excuses to be found - you have to own this
film!
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Extras:
*
Trailer - The original
theatrical trailer.
*
Interviews - A
short collection of behind the scenes interviews
with the cast. Rather meager at 5 mins and could obviously
have been much bettered by making a proper 'behind the scenes'.
*
Booklet - I know, I
know.. not really an extra, but this is a pretty good 32-page
booklet that's very informative and explains each of the
characters in depth.
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