In 1995, drug suppliers and career criminals Tony Tucker, Patrick Tate and Craig Rolfe were blasted to death by a shot gun whilst waiting in a Range Rover in Rettendon, Essex. The film charts their rise to become the most prolific dealers and feared criminals in the south of England, maintaining the hold on their empire with fear and violence until their untimely death.
Reviews
Touches You
To me, this movie is perfection.
The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.
It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film
As someone whose taste in cinema does not usually run to much violence, choice language or blood (vampires excepted); I really enjoyed this film! No mere fest of foul language, tough guys, hot chicks, dangerous drugs, big guns, oh, and a Porche for good measure - although it's all there - "Bonded by Blood" has much more going for it. Cleverly directed by Sacha Bennett, this film has excellent touches of visual humour, some very funny lines, and a number of intense performances. There is even a Shakespeare reference - but don't let that put you off! Tamer Hassan as Pat Tate, high on cocaine and drunk on machismo is superbly scary. You have to duck when he starts pumping out the expletives. Altogether a much classier offering than previous efforts in this genre.
Im not understanding all the bad reviews here. I think to watch this movie for a start you need to have the acquired taste of east-end London cockney slang and gangster culture (drugs, sex and a lot of the word c**t) I was sceptical about this one... i kind of gave up with anything Tamar Hassan is in due to the disappointing movie releases he has had since The Business by Nick Love. I watched the likes of city Rats for example and was shocked he would take part in such a crap movie after the success of the Business. I feel like Tamar Hassan has been trying to get that 'right movie' of the cockney gangster that works well and has failed until this one! I saw this on Netflix so on a rainy day gave it a go with super low expectations expecting to turn off by the quarter way through mark. I was wrong, i was hooked on this one. Had a good few laughs at the raging scenes which are full of colourful language and i thought the storyline was enough to keep me watching. Stunned at all the bad reviews on here.
I was really looking forward to watching this film, having very much enjoyed Bernard O Mahoney's book of the same name upon which the film is based.Unfortunately, Craig Fairbrass is conspicuous by his absence; having nailed the role of Pat Tate in Rise of the Foot Soldier, one would have thought he'd be alongside Terry Stone once more. Instead we have Tamer Hassan, who snarls and curses his way through the role in a somewhat unconvincing fashion. Stone, who played a blinder as the bullying Tucker in ROTFS, is reduced to a sidekick not dissimilar to Muttley from Wacky Races, in a cheap shiny suit but thankfully minus the mullet wig.Interestingly though, Neil Maskell steals the show in places as Craig Rolfe, with an understated dignity and presence; the other Craig Rolfe seen in ROTFS with Roland Manookian in the part was an entirely different character, however Maskell's portrayal was equally convincing and perhaps the best performance of the film. Except for the genius turn of the girl in the nurse's outfit travelling with Tate later in the film. (Genuinely funny scene, I actually thought it was Catherine Tate in a cameo role.) This film runs at a much slower pace than the slick Rise of the Foot Soldier, and the highly anticipated murder scene at the end is nowhere near as chilling and atmospheric either- something of an anti climax.
STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning This fundamentally pointless gangster flick (the story has been done twice before) gives Tamer Hassan the chance to do his typical gurning, foul mouthed cockney gangster thing as Pat Tate, whilst Terry Stone inexplicably plays the same character he did before, with the likes of Neil Maskell and Adam Deacon for support in this latest attempt to bring the true life story of the 1995 Rottenden Range Rover murders to the screen. It lacks the sappy melodrama of the dismal Rise of the Foot Soldier, but the same problem I had with that film seems to be present here: there seems to be a lack of depth, and the very interesting story just feels really hard to get in to. It just would not appear to translate well to film, surely one it would be better to read about. Great soundtrack, though. **
Top Streaming Movies
