Sweeney!

An excellent spinoff off from the popular TV series. The story is bigger but has all the grittiness and natural interaction of the characters that made the series so good. It's of it's time and anyone watching it today should remember that the language isn't tame and will offend some. Oh dear, never mind. It's genuine and that's what makes it believable.

The only let down is the lack of supporting characters carried over from TV. Many didn't have big roles but were familiar faces in the background. Haskins was especially missed.

If you remember The Sweeney from the first time around or just like gritty seventies British movies, then this is a great watch.

A great film adaptation of the legendary tv series. 'Sweeney!' was a milestone for all 'Brit' Gangster' movies that followed (two decades later). See vintage 'Jags' and Ford Granada's, tearing up the streets of London; plus with an increase in violence, to give it a more brutal reality. The complicated plot was criticized for slowing the action but the 'Sweeney!', remains a great sign-of-the-times piece. Sort of dated but in the most endearing of ways.

Just watched this for the first time, and it's definitely a different animal from the TV series.

Quite slow moving, with just a couple of exciting interludes, and possibly one of worst miscastings ever committed to film, Barry Foster as McQueen. Was the budget that limited they couldn't afford an American to play the part?

Nice to see 70's London streets, and the usual 70's furnishings and fashions.

It's a passable 97minutes or so, but don't expect non stop excitement.

A big shout out for the Network blu ray which is how I watched it, picture quality is absolutely superb, and the sound is as clear as a bell.

Looking forward to watching the sequel tonight, which by all accounts is a little more in the traditional vein of the TV series.

This ropey old seventies schlock turns up as a late nighter ever so often. In an attempt to open up the series for the 'big' (snigger) screen, the makers involved Regan and Carter in a 'big' plot involving government MP's and big business, namely oil barons who will stop at nothing, even dodgy hitmen, to achieve their sinister aims. The result is uncomfortable and frequently risible viewing. The film making is curiously sloppy. Regan and Carter start the film off with a bang by plunging headfirst into self parody by waking up late and drunk with air hostesses draped all over their couch (not that they live together, they're not like THAT). These men are macho, right? They abuse their positions by diverting police vehicles to give their girlfriends lifts to work and have no qualms about drink driving, so SHUT IT! After rolling around the pavements with bear guts and clothes awry, they arrive at Scotland Yard just in time for a bit of far fetched gratuitous violence against a bunch of blaggers (armed robbers, for our cousins across the pond).

The funniest performance comes from Barry Foster who, replete with outrageously bogus American accent, plays a blackmailing personal secretary to a government minister who is also into extortion, prostituition and murder. You know, the usual CV. He spends the entire film trying to keep a low profile with his involvement in OPEC dealings in high places by drawing as little attention to himself as possible. He achieves this by sending out two of the most hilariously conspicuous hitmen you've ever seen who run around London with a submachine and bombs wearing a series of very obvious disguises, not least the highly risky impersonation of police officers. A text book discreet hit? How about machine gunning three villains to death in broad daylight in a scrap yard. One of the villains, who suspects a conspiracy behind his girlfriends murder, we are led to believe was not even slightly suspicious of two maniacal police officers holding a machine gun in a plastic bag making unlikely enquiries. You could excuse this heavy handed slaughter as an attempt to make the murders look like a gangland execution. Trouble is, they maintain the same gobsmacking "hello-BANG!-here we are" strategy for the rest of the film. Later on one of the hitmen poses as a window cleaner to plant a bomb in the office of a newspaper reporter. He is seen very obviously handling a suspicious package practically under the nose of actor Colin Weiland (the hitmen are coming! The hitmen are coming!) and then takes out the detonator box while still walking across an office filled with secretaries. Yup, call in the professionals. Not surprisingly he is nearly busted. Later, in another subtle attempt not to draw attention to themselves, the hitmen load a submachine gun on the fire escape of a hotel in broad daylight and then fill a room with lead. In the ensuing chase to kill Regan and actress Dianne Keen (curiously miscast as a call girl) they then shoot dead a bobby on the beat so as not to create a stir in the tv and press. Unsurprisingly, with help like this Barry Foster is doomed to a sticky end which Carter blames his boss Regan for, in a would-be controversial freeze frame ending. LEAVE IT OUT George, those hitman almost shot you to death in a fracas outside your apartment block...so SHUT IT!

The budget on this film seems no higher than the series and affords a few cheesy and tacky kipper tie laughs if you're in the mood for some nostalgia. If not, then I'LL give you a RIGHT SPANKING!

'' Sweeney'', made in 1977 is a spinoff from the hugely popular and acclaimed drama which ran from ( 1975-1978), and starred John Thaw, Dennis waterman as two gruff and world weary policeman in the fast paced world of 1970s London in the department of the Police known as ' the flying squad'.

It was customary at the time for British Sitcoms if they were popular to get the big screen treatment. The sweeney was one of the few dramas which got the opportunity the film takes a different creative approach than the series and is more on the level of James Bond and the Professionals than anything else.

The plot: after a call girl played by the late Linda Bellingham is found dead in a hotel room after an supposed overdose, an old associate of Jack Regan's asks him to investigate the circumstances of her death his investigation leads him into a murky world of corruption and unpleasantness against an almost unstoppable criminal organisation with more than its fair share of double dealings.

The film Isn't as quite as good as the series but it's professional and competent piece of work in the quality of storytelling which isn't a routine cops and robbers story but the slant of political intrigue is a nice breath of fresh air.

The performances are decent the film is a showcase for the late John Thaw as Regan who is brilliant in the film, Dennis waterman is left on the sidelines in this film and doesn't have a lot of screentime with Thaw but otherwise turns in a fine performance. Barry Foster from the tv series ' Vander Faulk' is a credible villain if a bit over the top and pantomime at times his American accent isn't very good but otherwise he does alright.

Diane Keen from the BBC one sitcom: ' the cuckoo waltz', starring with another pre famed action hunk named Lewis Collins from the professionals is a good counter argument to thaw's gruff streetwise performer as a local lady of the night caught up in political intrigue.

Garfield Morgan who played John and Dennis' superintendent ' Frank Haskins', was absent from the film because he asked for a bigger salary than the producers could accommodate him for so his role was taken by Morris perry who was quite lacklustre but a satisfactory replacement.

Overall: ' Sweeney Is a decent spinoff of the popular 1970s drama, whilst not quite as good it benefits from intricate storytelling, a tour de force performance by John Thaw as Jack Regan which keeps the film balanced and script is a sharp and witty as ever.

Highly recommended if you're a fan of the series.