User reviews

It is not too serious and the plot sort of makes sense but has holes in it and could have been improved. The characters have no back story, there is a twist to the prisoner but all the characters never seem to have any emotion other than anger. However it is a bit of fun and if you try to enjoy it for what it is then you will like it up to the ending. The writers clearly felt they had to remain faithful to the Essex boys story, which made for a completely dis satisfactory ending in which all of them die but it doesn't matter because we have no idea who they are, except that they have killed and robbed to get where they are and the slightly engrossing film beforehand just seems like a pointless tale because it leads to nowhere. Overall it is poorly written and needed some character development which had none of. Not to mention there is some suspect acting.

Review: This is your typical East End wannabe gangster movie about 4 drug dealers that mess with the wrong people. It's connected to the famous Range Rover killings, which they have made quite a few English movies about, but it starts off well and then it goes downhill. The acting Is just like all the other English gangster movies that you have seen, and the storyline is full of drugs, sex and violence which we have grown to expect from movies in this genre. I stuck with the movie to find out what was going to happen with the 3 brothers and the drug maker, and there are a couple of twists that make it interesting, but it's nothing amazing. It seemed quite low budget and I couldn't help thinking that the boys should have left the country from the time that they knew that someone was after them or when the cops started to put pressure on them. They didn't even try to hide, which was a bit strange, and they just stayed in there flat when they new that people wanted to murder them. Anyway, it's watchable but not one that you will rewind.

Round-Up: I usually get ticked off when I see the usual faces in these English gangster movies, but this movie really needed some of the old tough nuts that we have seen many times before. Billy Murray is stuck in jail throughout the movie so you hardly see him at all. The 4 main characters just seem like a bunch of kids trying to play a big mans game, and they just get too big for there boots. To be honest, I don't know why they didn't get murdered earlier on in the movie because there not really underworld material.

Budget: $1million Worldwide Gross: N/A

I recommend this movie to people who are into there English gangster movies which are full of sex, drugs & violence. 3/10

When buying online from - er - a certain large online retailer, I often first view the bad product reviews. The content of that 1 star review gives me a chance to judge the relevance of the comment.

It's often a similar story with IMDb. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but shouldn't that opinion be reinforced by some knowledge of the subject?

Judge then yourselves, reviews with phrases such as "I watched 10 minutes of this". Would anyone take a review of The Godfather or Shawshank Redemption seriously if the reviewer had only seen the wedding scene up to Johnny's arrival, or Andy's arrival at the jail?

If you didn't watch, your views are irrelevant.

Anyway, I did watch all of EBR, and yes, it wasn't an epic movie, but the acting of the leads was good, and the story was OK. Billy Murray was as you'd expect (perhaps Alan Ford was unavailable).

I managed to watch about 15 minutes of this rubbish before finally turning it off. Acting is terrible and the storyline seems even worse.

Having watched the original Essex Boys, I was hoping for something similar, but this is just embarrassing.

I don't know whether the 4 main characters had to audition for the part, as there acting is terrible. I was actually cringing watching them trying to act!!

I was looking forward to another Lock Stock type film, or at least a half decent script, but this was truly shocking. Im annoyed that I wasted even 15 minutes of my time watching it.

Absolute rubbish

This film is pathetically awful, the main cast are just terrible actors, and not to mention effing annoying!! to try and sell this film as the "New breed of Essex boy" is just embarrassing, Pat Tate and Tony Tucker had many powerful friends, that would, lets face it rip these annoying kids to pieces if they strutted around like this as the new Top Boys!

Script is terrible, the acting as I mentioned is terrible, the casting is awful, even the scenery was god awful, I felt like I was watching a re-run of the inbetweeners movie where they all became drug dealers and tried selling themselves as feared gangsters...yep I said it, picture Jay and Will holding a gun, selling coke and dropping the C-Bomb like it's a hot potato, yep that's how bad this film is.

My advice is go paint a wall and watch it dry as that would be more entertaining than this film, or in fact stick hot needles in your eyes whilst watching that paint dry!!

I think everyone involved in this film needs to go stand in the corner and think about the errors of their behaviour in bringing this film to any screens!!

Very poor effort, I'm actually giggling to myself again thinking about the three brothers trying to act as Essex boy gangsters haha!

Avoid this film like the plague!!! If you ignore this and watch it, well you've been warned!!!

Having just watched Rise of the Footsoldier, I thought I'd watch this.

Starring thingy, Kyle and Kye somebody, and another guy.

I don't believe that in the real underworld/club land, there would be anyone afraid of these 4 clowns. Like Ever! This film is so tenuously linked to the range rover films it doesn't compare. It's like comparing a Ferrari with a piece of cheese.

I blame the casting department who hired the worst choice actors for this sort of story. It is like hiring Barry from Eastenders to play Vito Corleone. No offence B.

And another thing... Previous reviews have stated 7/8 even 10 stars for this film. I wonder what they gave Goodfellas, shawshank, green mile etc.... 20 out of 10!?

This has to be one of the worst films ever made on British gangsters.

Anyone who gives this a high score must be a friend or family.

Those of you who gave it a 10 please go out and get a life.

Do not watch this film.

0/10

Terrible script, terrible acting. I had to fast forward through large sections. The so called 'actors' are unbelievably bad, honestly they need to get another day job. Applies to main characters and side parts, including the foreign actors who can barely deliver their lines. Do not waste your time, even the current 4.2 rating is pushed up by the cast and crew who have gotten their friends to vote for the film. Real user rating will not be above 1/10. In summary, if you want an action film, a storyline, and do not want to lose an hour and a half of your life to actors who would better serve society and the arts by stacking shelves in a supermarket, please see other films. Life is too short for this drivel.

Having seen all of the previous "Essex Boys" related films, I watched this with a degree of trepidation. Surely there wasn't going to be yet more previously untold material to surface here? Thankfully this is a fictional spin on the infamous story of the Rettendon murders. It packs a punch in parts and contains some humorous moments along the way. Although the acting leaves a lot to be desired in parts it is still worth watching as it contains a few unexpected twists throughout. The four new breed Essex Boys reminded me of the yuppie drug dealers in "Lock Stock....". They are certainly not your typical drug dealers / gangland characters who would instill fear in anyone coming across them as is normally the case in these sorts of films. I found that the film passed quickly and kept my attention throughout. Although it is not the grittiest of films I would still say give it a watch to all those who like British gangland films.

One of the worst films ever made 4 nancy boys acting to be gangsters, its a comedy i laughed its so pathetic seriously rubbish 2 hours of my life il never get back

I was expecting a follow on from Essex Boys or Bonded by Blood but was intrigued to see Bill Murrey telling a story about the new young breed of gangsters. The young lads seemed arrogant and loud, no respect and was surprised that being drug dealers,they had no "muscle" to back them up when it got on top. The acting was a bit wooden after the earlier excitement of the Bank robbery. I wanted more action from their opposition and couldn't believe the copper was so bent? As the film progressed i actually wanted them to die. Good twist in the end but i think i will stick with Rise of the Footsoldier as my favourite gangster/ Hooligan film.

Almost everything about this movie is bad. The script is appalling but this is overshadowed by the fact that it's acted out as though this was the first time the cast had ever stepped in front of a camera. Not one character is believable largely because of these two failings.

Borrowing loosely from the 'Essex Boys' history of drug dealing and violence that followed it the attempt is made to bring the scene up to date with a crew of brothers taking the position of the 'new boys'. The back story is delivered by the Bill Murray of TV's The Bill who you would think could add some weight to the film sadly this isn't the case. He instead offers a performance that is cruising along at best.

Reading the other reviews I can only imagine that the writers were friends and family of the director or they have set their bar very low for what they expect from a movie.

Wow, i am in shock at how bad this movie is, the original Essex Boys movie was quite good and i was looking forward to watching this follow-up. I do not often write reviews on IMDb but i found this movie so horrendous, that i just have to warn people, this movie is a joke.

The 4 main characters are supposed to be gangsters, but they are skinny, short, and barely older than teenagers. Anyway, these 4 poorly chosen actors are supposed to be playing the parts of underworld gangsters, so they have to act aggressive and intimidating, and that's where the problems start, none of them are scary, none of them can act, and when they start shouting and acting hard, you just don't believe them. If you was out in a club, pub, or anywhere, and you heard one of these characters shouting there head off and trying to act tough, everyone would point at them and LAUGH.

So to sum it all up, if your looking for a good gangster movie, this is not it, you would be better off watching Casino or Goodfellas, again.

This film is so badly acted and cast. These guys are supposed to be Scary gangsters but its more the the cast of the in betweeners deciding To sell drugs. Complete over acting to the extent that there just a bunch of daft cockney lads. The link which you find out at the end, to the landrover killings is Just ridiculous and the acting at that point goes from really bad to To just silly silly silly and then a huge chunk of extra silly. I wonder if these people Have ever acted before?. Perhaps the director just grabbed a camera and suddenly Turned round to his friends and said let make a movie today.

This film is absolute Brit trash. If you secretly have a grudge against some one you could them back (get your retribution) by befriending them, inviting them round to you your house, put this film on and lock them in the room . How ever you d have to make sure your TV is in some kind Of protective cabinet or else they will simply smash your TV.

Maybe Im being a bit harsh. Making films is not easy as you think but the again this is simply dreadful. One of the reviews above gave this film 10 out of 10. Im presuming that is some kind of typing mistake.

This is poorly written, directed and acted. The cast seem to have been assembled down the local amateur dramatic club. The fictional story probably was written by a twelve year old, on the sole of his shoe. I don't understand why this sort of dross even gets made. Pity that I couldn't give it 0 out of 10.

Another awful British gangster movie!

Ever since Football factory was released we have been bombarded with crap like this for people trying to make a quick buck.

Don't get me wrong Rise Of the Foot Soldier was a brilliant movie and very dark and gritty with real believable characters and good acting unlike the mugs in this film!

And thats the point of it really the total unrealism of it all, Its supposed to be set in today which makes it silly as you just wouldn't get four average looking English blokes as gangsters and bank robbers.

The current underworld in London is mainly Russians and Albanians with the Asians running the heroin trade So when is someone going to make a realistic modern gangster movie other than this clichéd cockney hardman rubbish that died years ago?

In a summary don't waste 82 minutes of your life.

Soooooo, there's some awful acting, backed up by a truly risible script and a plot that has more holes in it than a badly repaired fishing net.

I am still watching this film in the hope that all of the main characters die horrible deaths. I am hoping this as their murders will be a stand in for someone grabbing the script and acting, tying them to a chair and slowly slicing them to pieces with rusty spoons.

Oh, I am a huge fan of swearing, but sometimes, when you're watching a film where a character says c**t over and over and over again, you begin to think that the writer has mistaken the use of swearing for character development. Whether 'gangsters' actually struggle with self expression in the same way as this character clearly does is a moot point. C**t man is a work of fiction and should have a character whose rough roots are revealed through rich dialogue, or at least exposition. Just getting him to say c**t a lot is just really tiring.

In fact none of the dialogue is convincing. The whole cocker-nee schtick is crafted in a way that makes it seem like the writer once read a book like 'The Little Book of Cockerney Profanity' and has just copied bits of that out rather than think about how real humans actually speak.

I recommend this film for people who want to write and direct a film, but are worried that they might not have the talent to do so. Watch this to see just how low the bar is actually set. Even if you've only employed a chimps as your writers and crew, you will have a fair shot at out doing this.

The second in what is now a trilogy of a third retelling (Cus ow, ar, us farmhands like a bit of Essex glamour, bah) of a gang hit eighteen years ago from the date of Retribution's production and i'm bored already. Why the hell was this made!

Nonetheless, that comparatively prolific production company Press on Features did it again. Another TV movie masquerading as a feature existing only for that sweet, sweet tax break son.

The best thing about this by the numbers Essexploitation is the plot, which is the closest any of Press On's output has gotten to psychotronic. I thought when i first saw the, yeah, decent cover on my local Asda shelf that no, seriously? A sequel for a film that based (and prided) itself explicitly on a true story, no false names or nah'ing? Yes son, they even have in this one of the convicted for the murder played AGAIN by Billy Murray (Rise of the Footsoldier AND Fall of the Essex Boys, playing same REAL guy) and he's the narrative spine!

What were they playing at? A plea for parole? An awkward fix to get just that bit more of Murray's Kray inheritance pumped into this vanilla? I'm not going into more detail about this character's role because I'm not risking the ire of the keyboard warriors of the frappe table for something as non-existent as this... this. But in safely short, Murray's character's role in this is the most WTF element of the whole film and is the only thing worth seeing it for, unambiguously exploiting real life murder and turning it into some kind of brand recognition boll*cks. Christ, only in South-East. At least up north with efforts such as crime/found footage joint Diary of a Bad Lad (2010), they have had the common courtesy of creating a fictional story with fictional characters and left the oh so "USP" realism at just the aesthetics. Not down 'ere, we want bloody autopsy photos.

So what's the point me harking on about the morally dubious story? Well because everything else is just a TV pilot with swears and a bit of the ol' ultra violence. Was there sex in this? I can't be asked to remember, i honestly can't. But if there wasn't, another star down.

What really gets me about this arena of filmmaking is when these clowns get the idea that audience satisfaction is not the end all goal. Sure, ambition, go for it. But it's no social taboo why these films have any rightful claim to popularity at all. It's the violence, it's the sex, it's the drugs. With hooligan films, maybe add a sprinkling of hawkishness and machismo to the mix, but still, DELIVER! Deliver us from reality! All reality! Not just drop us off at that ruff pate a tane and have us wait around for last orders!

Concerning the film's content, there are a gang of four who just look liked they graduated from J Wills U, oh and one of them, or all of them, are computer genius', and of course all this is somehow linked to the Rettendon murders (You remember, the real murders that has inspired this dead on arrival sub-genre). There are some cops who want to take em 'dain, cat and mouse, there's a decently improvised and edited interrogation scene, some torture, some killing, oh my, blink and you miss it, ah and that's it i think. Crap.

Gentlemen filmmakers wanting to make such efforts (and ladies, but who am i kidding), the scenes of carnage and sex/filth/debauchery/lasciviousness/whatever the fu*k you wanna call it are all. Build your story around them, cause these UK armchair critics might scoff at these efforts, but when they say "expected descent drama/acting/direction" (please loveys, you fooling no one), but are actually saying is "no blood, no t*ts, no service". CARNAGE PLEASE! WHERE'S MY VIOLENT PRAGMATISM? Might as well watch mock the bloody week! Got more of a chance seeing t*ts and dramatic tension there then you do in A f**king Paul Tanter Film.

Fair dos to Tanter and all involved, as much as i want to one star such a redundant and passion impoverished film, i can't comrades. Socialism is dead. Stop pretending you're a wizard and get back to work! Brexit ain't gonna work by it's... well it ain't gonna work, but u still look bloody stupid in ya sandals. Why daunt u wear sneakers and beat your children like a real man an all dat. Where was i?

Retribution is not a bad film, but just a very unremarkable one. Moment's of cinema sleepwalk in and out as the great British gangster film wanders the care home hallways like as in most contemporary efforts. A good delivery here, a spiffy line there, some good shots even, minus the stock that wasn't shipped over from the first film. But none of it's enough to save this film from just being no more original than the seven hundred entries into it's genre before it and technically being no more dynamic than a TV pilot. All this with the consideration of the aggro an independent feature production brings and you have grim faces all around.

Cheap nothingness.

From up and coming Brit Director Paul Tanner comes this story about what happened after the Essex Boys murders. Fictional as it may be, it is funny, harrowing and violent. The four guys just don't care, run rings around the Police and carry on even though they are major suspects. Top actor Billy Murray provides the background whilst in jail for assassinating Tate, Tucker and Rolfe. With so many Essex Boys movies out there, most of them from the Jonathan Sothcott production company, this is quite a new take and welcoming. I liked it.

It has a good story with elements of humour throughout showcasing the fact that the new Essex boys are young and reckless. Perfectly cast, good script and dialogue which has great continuity and is fast paced. It makes the film even more genuine. Good bit of British cinema.

Well worth a watch. One of the better Essex boys movies.

All the actors did not look the part. The 4 main characters looked like a bunch of anorak trainspotters. The music was over the top. About time the left this story alone.