PTR_theReturn
Well there's not much to say that hasn't already been said about this terrible film, particularly the idiot who ruins the entire film doing the voice over - he attempts to sound 'ard and menacing but ends up SHOUTING EVERY SINGLE WORD and just sounds like a total nob head who cannot act to save his life. The characters were all wrongly cast, and wrongly acted by a bunch of fools, The exception being the guy playing the grass, who should have swerved this movie as he is actually a good actor and deserves better scripts and Co- stars than this pile of crap. 'Rise of the foot soldier' was so so much better in every aspect, better cast, direction and writing. Don't waste time and money on this, watch foot soldier if you haven't already, and leave it at that. I noticed a couple of positive reviews here, don't be fooled, I bet they are from the idiots that had something to do with the making of this film lol *********AVOID THIS MOVIE AT ALL COSTS*******
Karl Self
There are now three movies on the 1995 Rettendon murders, if I have counted correctly. In chronological order: Essex Boys, The Rise Of The Foot Soldier, and now The Fall Of The Essex Boys. The former is a conventional feature movie (starring Sean Bean), the latter two use a documentary-style approach with first-person narrators. The Fall Of The Essex Boys tries to be the hardest of them all, it almost feels as if the narrator is spitting into your ear ("It didn't take long for the near gear to spread frough Essex like an effing virus.") The actors are all trying a bit to hard to appear tough as nails and their overdone Cockney accents quickly begin to grate. At the same time, it does a bad job at recounting at least a semblance of a plot. All three movies revel in machism and violence. If that's your cuppa, I recommend The Rise Of The Footsoldier, to which The Fall Of The Essex Boys has nothing to add (except maybe more plump-breasted birds).The fact that a fairly conventional triple gangland murder still spawns movies twenty years later tells you what a quiet little place Old Blighty really is.
roglowe
I thought, Not another film about the Rettendon Murders. They say it is the best British Gangster film in years since Lock Stock. May as well watch it. Sounds great!. What a let down. At first I wasn't sure how long I could listen to the overacted narration of Darren Nichols. Shouting the story line like he was on speed on a football terrace. Then the awful acting started.Most of the scenes were badly cut and shot and the colour correction and lighting was all over the place. Far too many technical distractions for me to sit and enjoy. Also, what was the casting on? Pat Tate was a mountain of a guy! Lets hope this is the last film made about the "Essex Boys" and that British gangster films see a new breed of quality actors and directors in the future.
its-smid
Not one of the best adaptations of the story. Nothing you haven't seen before in the other versions, apart from the very end (which I won't give away)and the slightly different viewpoint; it almost assumes that you've seen or read the story before and it has the familiar milestones. The acting isn't too bad, but the cutting of the scenes could have been a bit sharper, and the characters could have been introduced better. Again, if you're not familiar with the story, you'll wonder what's happening. It copies some story styles from other movies, but without the same care and finesse. All the versions I've seen and read about portray Tate as a psycho, but they all have the same few stories about him. He was obviously wild, but he doesn't seem to have been prolific in his violence, more of a show-off. It does try to be a quick fire narrative, but it comes across more as a badly edited, amateur production. Disappointing.
AD
