s-allport Wonderful example of a great British series John Thaw was a fine actor who always brought truth and a high emotional content to the screen,Dennis Waterman is well Dennis Waterman but a capable enough actor to play the sidekick.The film itself is of course a child of its time yes the wallpaper/clothes/cars are all horribly dated as are the simple "moral" attitude's towards women :smoking:drinking etc,but lets remember the "hard men" around in those days were just that "hard men" and they existed on both sides of the fence.Its also got to be remembered that this was a spin off film and that the budget was never going to be high and frankly it did not need to be high as this story does not demand it,perhaps the film does "sag" a little in places and the Malta shoot added very little to the plot,the body count/violence is pushed up but then I guess thats what producers/film makers thought that freed of the shackle's of television you had to go down this path.What the film does have going for it are good to excellent actors who knew there stuff, writers in the shape of the kennedy Martins who also knew how to pitch/sell the police plots in a " tight" structure manner,and the capturing of a time and place IE 70s London which no longer exist.So overlook the pacing the plot holes and the 70s morality and enjoy the snappy patter kipper ties(now you know you had one when you younger) and the Ford motors but above all John Thaw who was one of the uks finest actors in any medium or in Regans way' get your trousers on Tinkerbell your nicked

udar55 Thaw and Waterman return to their famous roles in this theatrical sequel. This time Detectives Regan and Carter are tracking a group of bank robbers who always nab £100,000 and leave any amount over that in the getaway car. Regan is able to crack the case thanks to his Flying Squad team and some help from his corrupt, imprisoned former Chief (Denholm Elliott). This is a lot darker that SWEENEY! but still features some humor (mostly with Regan spouting off on hapless underlings). Like the first film, there are some shockingly violent set pieces. The only odd bit is a 15-minute detour where the boys go to a hotel to disarm a bomb. It is completely pointless, appears midway through, and reeks of something shot afterward to pad out the film's running time.

bob the moo Before he was taking down on corruption charges, Judd had assigned DI Regan the case of a gang of bank robbers. With Judd out of the picture, the Flying Squad keep the case as a mark of respect – just as the robberies become more violent than ever, with the latest getaway leaving a trial of bodies in their wake. With precious few leads, Regan and his team get to work, all too aware that it is only a matter of time before the gang strike again.In a way Life on Mars has helped and hindered The Sweeney for viewers looking back on it with little knowledge of it the first time around. I was far too young for the series when it was aired and never bothered with it when it was repeated later in our multichannel world. Life on Mars has affectionately referenced the world of The Sweeney and this has meant that, although I am now aware of the genre, I'm also less likely to take it as seriously as it was intended. However watching this film it is evident that The Sweeney didn't take itself too seriously either and it appears to be enjoying its 70's excess and tough non-PC characters just as much as Life on Mars did. The air of humour is obvious but it doesn't take away from the tough tone that the majority has to it.Of course this is not to say that the film itself is much cop and personally I didn't think much of it once the fun retro novelty of the film had worn off. The plot is a bit too thin to stretch to the feature-length running time and the strain does show at many points. This also means that it moves too slowly at times and loses the sense of urgency that it has in its better moments. The cast offer little but the touch male of the period. Looking back it is odd to see Thaw, Waterman, Elliott, Hawthorne and others in this type of role but, within the context of this film, they do enough to carry it.Like my fellow reviewer Theo already said though, at least it does seem to be common with the original tone of the series, for better or worse. The novelty value got me into it and the touches of humour and tough style were more or less sufficient to make it entertaining, but regardless it is what it is.

siobhan-rouse This is one of my favourite action films, but I have to admit that it is very disjointed, and I was only able to follow the story after my second viewing of the DVD. I dunno, maybe film-goers back in the Seventies were more attentive or intelligent?! If not, then I can imagine most of them leaving the cinema scratching their heads.Troy Kennedy Martin who wrote many scripts for the TV series seemed to delight in this "elliptical" style of storytelling. I'm sure we've all played the game of imagining how to re-edit a movie to make it better -and in this case I would have put the villains' detailed description of their motives at the beginning as a prologue, rather than at the end when they are all dead ! This might be less sophisticated, but it would also help to maintain interest in the story, which is after all the point of the exercise ! But I come to praise this film, not to bury it. The climax is exciting but not really horrifying - never has blood looked more like red paint. Best to savour the action sequences and fast-forward through the comedy bits.