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52 out of 64 people found the following review useful: Was it all worth it?...'course it f***ing was!, 29 March 2005 Author: bodiedoyle from Germany
Being German I'm not really into the Hooligan way of life. I'm just fond of the Brit way of making films and this one is just brilliant. Of course you can argue about whether the director Nick Love is showing the life of some football thugs too positive and without the "never do this, kids" attitude, but...this is just a great piece of film. It has terrific acting (especially Frank Harper does a great job), splendid camera and editing and a more than suiting soundtrack. Watched it with some pals and it was just great fun. The scene where Rod tells his girlfriend's parents about his inner thoughts is a highlight. So if you're able to shut out all thoughts of moral and you're just interested in 90 minutes of quality film-making of today...watch this. It's definitely all worth it!
41 out of 57 people found the following review useful: Realistic view of a scary world., 3 December 2004 Author: ieuan_johns
The hooligan culture is and never was a class thing, people from all walks of life participated, from local council flat drug users to people with well paid office and professional jobs to ex-army types on a very nice pension. This film shows that in true fashion.Whilst I never took part in any of that crap I have met, seen and known many who have in my time, most are fairly normal people away from all that, in fact I knew one guy for over a year before I found out that after standing on the terraces with the rest of us on a Saturday afternoon he used to go and get pissed, filled up with E's and go on a rampage with his other mates in other nearby towns looking for Cardiff City supporters.This film is a fairly accurate reflection on the type and mix of people who became hooligans in the first place, especially poignant is the guy who got away from it all, made something half decent of himself and puts it down to simply growing up. Most of the people I have seen in the past are like that, the ones who aren't tend to be those who were put away before they got to that maturing stage, and I'm not talking about end of puberty maturing I'm talking about the day you wake up and think to yourself is this really going to be the rest of my life kind of maturing.Full marks to all involved for not taking the easy way out and producing a sack full of morally correct/incorrect bullcrap and instead giving a realistic insight into a very scary world.Yes the film does not really flow or have a connected plot line, but then it isn't meant to, it is meant to be a film about real life, real life does not have a set up stage, middle bit and happy conclusion. In fact this film could probably loop around for another few years of Tommy's life before he either ends up in jail or shakes himself out into the happy ending scenario that I'm sure many were expecting all along.The film is at times brutal, unsubtle and the language is extremely tasteless, however these are all thing you would have seen in that reality and it is to the credit of the makers and actors that this did not bog the film down at all. Every scene had a purpose no matter how obscure it may have seen at the first watching.At every scene from about 10 minutes in I felt emotionally involved in a way that not many films manage to do to me, I actually had empathy for these people if not sympathy, I could se how they could get pleasure from the things that they do even if they turn my own stomach to think of anyone I really care about being involved in them.Even today in what is a golden age of film making (and don't let any stuck up critic tell you it is not) very few films really make you feel connected to the characters in this way, films like Trainspotting, Twin Town, Human Traffic and now Football Factory are a very unusual thing and seem to be specific to the British film industry right at the moment. Maybe it's just I am personally more able to relate to them having grown up around such cultures, I don't know, I just know that I am glad I bought this film and would recommend anyone watch it if only for a better understanding of the culture at that time, something I am proud to say we have made huge strides to eradicate in this country.
33 out of 45 people found the following review useful: Good movie, 29 January 2005 Author: AKS-6 from Sweden
The Football Factory is movie about football (soccer) fans. Since they seem to be more interested in fighting than in actually watching the games this is certainly no sports film so don't let the title fool you. It's also based upon a novel that I haven't even heard of, but that could perhaps be because I'm in Sweden.The Football Factory is a very episodic movie. Mostly it works, but sometimes I felt like I wanted to spend more time with main character Tommy Johnson or that they should at least had focused on fewer characters. Sometimes I felt that a scene was working really well, but the story quickly focused on other things. As I said, more often than not the episodic feel works fine, but not all the time.As in almost all English movies the acting's great. From minor characters to main characters... they feel real. I especially think the voice over sounds very authentic: it's Tommy speaking, not actor Danny Dryer reading.I think this is a good movie, it's rather violent and upsetting at times, but also funny and entertaining.
36 out of 56 people found the following review useful: Is it Worth Watching? Course it is, love it!!, 17 October 2004 Author: MarcMV12 from Bangor, Northern Ireland
A Fantastic Movie from start to finish, with brilliant acting, script, dialogue, poignancy and laughs. Danny Dyer proves that there is more to young British Actors that Jude "Pretty Boy" Law and Orlando "acts with his eyes" Bloom with a stirring performance as Tommy Johnston. The social critique is as prominent in the film as the football hooliganism, and the bathos that runs throughout is definitely a strong point. The Film is similar to Trainspotting in its feel and story-telling style, and the soundtrack expertly tries to give you the buzz the guys are feeling as they are marching towards a ruck. Scenes to look out for are the Junior Football Match, the 3rd Round Draw, and Rod Meeting his girlfriend's parents. Ultimately the film asks more questions about the society that breeds the need for arranged violence than the actual link to football, and ultimately leaves you on a high note after many lows during the film.I would recommend this to anyone, not just football fans, but anyone who wishes to see a film out heterosexual male relationships, and the state of the British Male mindset in the year 2004.Love It!!
17 out of 24 people found the following review useful: This is reality, folks, 30 January 2006 Author: Phrankster163 from Denmark
Football violence is a horrible thing. Period. What "The football factory" shows us is a bit of reasoning behind why, seemingly normal go out and beat the crap out of each other because of a game with 22 guys and a ball. The truth is, it has nothing to do with the game. How the team actually does really doesn't matter, as long as you get to play your rivals because it's about togetherness and escaping the dreariness of everyday life. In a sick a twisted way of course, but it's the only way for these guys. The movie itself goes by at a million miles an hour and gives us characters that seem both believable and real, and a really touching story of a friendship that has lasted through the ages. The main character Tommy is a really interesting one: He knows he's on the path to destruction and through visions of his own demise, he realizes that it's all going to hell and that he (along with the other hang-arounds) are along for the ride. It's a movie that is definitely worth an hour and a half of your time and you Americans should praise yourself lucky that at least you got one thing right: You know how to behave at sporting events (hell, at NFL games they have barbecues out in the parking lot where fans of the opposing teams eat and hang out together. Just imagine that at a Tottenham-Chelsea or Roma-Lazio game!)
12 out of 16 people found the following review useful: Nick Love's First And Perhaps Last Great Film, 11 November 2007 Author: Theo Robertson from Isle Of Bute, Scotland
An auteur is regarded as a director who has a running theme throughout their resume . For example Robert Aldrich is considered a " sadistic " director and whileis films may be tame compared to the video nasty era the likes of TOO LATE THE HERO and ULZANA'S RAID do still come across as compellingly blood thirsty and violent . The films of Martin Scorsese usually involve protagonists being caught in an existentialist quicksand where the more they try and find their goal in life the more they sink into a problem of their own making . Let's not get too caught up in the auteur theory however because much of it is simply down to movie studios assigning scripts to well suited directors " Hey Marty , we've got a script here featuring a deranged loner wanting to join the mob . Bob and Leonardo have already signed on the dotted line . You interested ? " . Nevertheless it's obvious that Nick Love in the years ahead will be honoured in this fashion if only because his films feature blackly comical stories of working class British males fed up with the state of the nation In terms of style and execution THE FOOTBALL FACTORY isn't a million miles away from the likes of TRAINSPOTTING and TWO SMOKING BARALLS . It's very quirky , rather episodic , fairly violent and oh so bloody entertaining . You could say it contains all the flaws of recent British movies like an overuse of the words " FAHKIN' " and " KANT " but we are talking about the notorious Chelsea headhunters football hooligans and there are admittedly some unlikely coincidences involved such as two of the headhunters burgling a house that belongs to... but unlike Love's later OUTLAW you never feel at how contrived these plot twists are which probably says much of the film's entertainment factor . It could also be that the original source was strong in the first place since I get the feeling that Love totally fails as a screenwriter of original material , certainly the problem with OUTLAW was an underdeveloped script with very underwritten characters who lacked a recognisable motive . Here it's obvious but never overstated that the motivation of becoming a hooligan is to belong to something . And unlike in OUTLAW when something funny happens in THE FOOTBALL FACTORY you genuinely do laugh instead of scratching your head wondering if in fact it's supposed to be funny I have to confess that I've seen the feature films of Love back to front . I saw OUTLAW when it opened in the cinema in March , I saw THE BUSINESS a couple of months after that and saw THE FOOTBALL FACTORY for the first time last week . If Nick Love had released his films in that order then I would have said that here is a film maker who is really hitting his stride as his films just get better and better . Unfortunately what this means in reality is that Love is on a downhill curve and that nothing has come close to matching THE FOOTBALL FACTORY . One can only hope that the big screen remake of THE SWEENEY , a TV show well remembered for its mixture of black comedy and violence , will see a return to form for an underrated auteur
11 out of 16 people found the following review useful: An Honest Film, 15 July 2005 Author: demi god from Australia
Hoologanism in football has been an controversial over past decade or so especially with it is concerned with English fans. This film has presented this dilemma quite well and in style as most British films do these days. Danny Dyer is brilliant, the last film i saw him in was Human Traffic. There is some terrific dialogue in this film... definitely one of the better football films to be released. I never knew Dyer voiced in some GTA games, how interesting. This film takes on no real plot (except for Chelsea's fixture list) which didn't really bother because it reflects a culture not a 'storyline'. British films never cease to amaze me, the acting is brilliant and script are always so clever and hilarious.Although the film was good, it scared the hell out of me at times... the reality of it. Watching and thinking that this really does happen every weekend, I guess that is the intention of Nick Love. As a football fan and someone who has never experienced the full wrath of football hooliganism, i throroughly enjoyed and recommend it to anyone who is wondering whether to watch it or not.
13 out of 20 people found the following review useful: Underinspiring but still interesting., 16 October 2004 Author: jpt27 from Brighton, England
MY VERDICT: **/*****The logic resulting in the production of this film is not hard to follow. The scathing social satire and searingly counter-cultural Trainspotting was a brilliant British film. The flash-talking, fast-plotted, gun-wielding, hard-brawling Lock Stock was a good British film. So why not combine aspects of both? Predictably, the result is a mess, but flashes of good film-making keep the viewer interested for the 1 hour and 20 minutes or so of football 'n' fights.The opening sequence closely follows the Trainspotting format. A narrator, later we discover called Tommy, delivers his criticism on how we live our lives and how he has found excitement and meaning by flying right off the rails. The soundtrack moves from one Brit hit to the next as we are introduced to his gang in some snappy montages. Again, the Trainspotting skool of film-making isn't so much an influence as a screenplay, storyboard and script.Soon, we get to know the gang, and learn that the love of their lives is violence, especially (but not exclusively) surrounding their football team, Chelsea, and particularly focused against their arch-rivals Millwall. I was preparing myself for some gruesome violence as geezers started drinking pints and looking for a fight. And then, the film ... just ... chickens out. A film which is supposedly about football violence should, um, contain some football violence maybe, but Football Factory becomes a film version of one of its thugs - all bluster and intimidation, and no bite. Supposedly hard-hitting action sequences have soap opera-like qualities. Never do we seem to see a fist connect in anger, or teeth shatter, or bones crack. Just some bad pantomime blood and incompetent camera-work. This inadequacy seriously undermines the film's impact - it fails to pump up the audience to the next big fight, and thus has no discernible pace. Just scenes, shots and cuts.Instead, the focus of the film falls (rather disastrously) on the uninteresting, homogenous characters. With a sigh, I realized this wasn't going to get any better, and began to take mental notes of names, story lines etc so I could at least follow the plot. Tommy and Rod are the central duo, the thugs with brains, imagination, and perhaps the insight that will lift them out of this life. Bill is meant to be the ultra-nasty psycho - Robert Carlyle in Trainspotting was clearly what they were trying to emulate - but some unconvincing acting gives him all the terror of a particularly in-your-face door to door salesman. Zebedee is there for exposition on the cocaine-fuelled lifestyle that all youths supposedly lead (is this true? I was a teenager for years, and I never remember being offered cocaine.) There's also an organised violence ringleader, although I don't have to worry about his name because he brings absolutely nothing to the plot at all.In brief, the plot follows the gang on the buildup to a particularly bruising clash - Millwall versus Chelsea, and particularly how Tommy begins to get cold feet about his thuggery and starts considering his options. This isn't helped by some heavy-handedly (almost bludgeoningly) symbolic dream sequences. I quite liked the film-making device of giving no warning or visual clues to as what was a dream and what wasn't. It's not put to an ultimate good use though, much like the rest of the handful or so of original ideas in the film. I like the dope-smoking old men though.So is this worth viewing or not? Certainly, it's got more to chew on than another awful CGI-overkill-marathon like Van Helsing or Catwoman. But don't expect it to truly open your eyes to another world, or indeed, still be with you a month later.
6 out of 8 people found the following review useful: Violent entertainment, 13 October 2005 Author: daniel-497 from Sweden
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
If you want brilliant social commentary or an insight into the psyche of men addicted to adrenalin, look elsewhere. If, however, you want to have a laugh with your mates (presumably, this film attracts about as many female viewers as your average Jenna Jameson flick) and have a taste for "immoral" pastimes, this is quite an enjoyable film.The producers behind The Football Factory are Rockstar Games. Yes, the Rockstar Games who gave the world the PS2 game Grand Theft Auto. This should give you a hint of what the film is about. Just like leading actor Danny Dyer's previous film Human Traffic, Football Factory sets out to exploit a subculture. Both films rely heavily on in-jokes for the initiated about what they do on the weekend, be they clubbers gobbling down ecstasy like candy and dancing, or football lads snorting cocaine and fighting. And, destructive as drug abuse and violence may be, there is no denying that when you're right in the middle of it, it can be fun as hell. If you have ever ran down a city street with a hundred man strong mob chasing the opposition you will understand what I mean, and you will probably love The Football Factory.This being in essence an exploitation film, I can't help but feeling that the recurring nightmares of Dyer's character and the pathetic ending have been added by somebody to take the edge of the exploitation aspect. That part of the film is really poorly and unconvincingly done, in contrast to the "immoral" parts that focus on the joy of drinking, snorting and fighting – they are for most part fun and spot-on.
9 out of 15 people found the following review useful: Confused men looking for a place to fit in, 9 August 2006 Author: calexand-3 from United States
Football Factory does not shamelessly glorify violence like many have said. Violence is obviously a focal part of the movie, but i feel the violence of this movie is shown in a negative light. Through out the movie football hooligans of Chelsea FC are followed in a number of different situations. The turf of other football firms, and the local pubs are where many of the scenes are shot, but despite following the violence of football hooligans, this film is a lot deeper than that. It is about trying to feel a part of something. It is about confused individuals that are looking for something to believe in, and throughout the movie there are internal struggles where the characters battle within their own minds as to what's more important; growing up, or football hooliganism. The violence in this movie isn't gratuitous. It is necessary and factual, and is needed to show the internal struggles of the movies' many confused individuals. Not a bad film, although it is a little rough around the edges.
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