The Firm

Distributed by Second Sight

Cert:

Cat.no: 2NDVD 3010

Running time: 67 minutes

Year: 1988

Pressing: 2000

Region(s): 2, PAL

Chapters: 20

Sound: Dolby Pro Logic (Dolby Digital 2.0)

Languages: English

Subtitles: None

Fullscreen: 4:3

16:9-Enhanced: No

Macrovision: Yes

Disc Format: DVD 5

Price: £15.99

Extras: None

Director:

Alan Clarke (The Firm, Made in Britain, Rits Sue and Bob Too, Scum)

Producer:

David Thompson

Screenplay:

Al Hunter Ashton

Cast:

Bex: Gary Oldman
Sue: Lesley Manville
Yeti: Philip Davis
Oboe: Andrew Wilde
Trigg: Charles Lawson
Aitch: William Vanderpuye
Yusef: Terry Sue Patt
Billy: Steve McFadden
J.T.: Steve Sweeney
Lomax: Kevin Allen

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With a wife - Sue (Lesley Manville) - and child to support, you'd think a family man would know better, but it doesn't stop him and his clan, including Trigg (Corrie's Jim McDonald, Charles Lawson), Yusef (Grange Hill's Terry Sue Patt) and Billy (Eastenders' Phil Mitchell, Steve McFadden) going against the rival gangs led by Yeti (Philip Davis) and Oboe (Andrew Wilde) as cars get torched, houses get burgled and - the most distressing part - Bex's child doing a spot of internal cavity work with a stanley knife.

The Firm is a very entertaining film, but, even for a BBC drama, an incredibly short one and still doesn't displace Made in Britain as my favourite Alan Clarke film, although Gary Oldman puts in his usual excellent performance and there's a roll-call for many a well-known face, most who've become famous after this film's release.

For a drama made in 1987 in standard 4:3 fullscreen, that's exactly how it's been presented. It's nothing spectacular to look at but gets the film across as bleakly as the style in which it's made. The average bitrate is a high 8.6Mb/s, often hovering around that mark.

The box states stereo sound. My Sony STR-DB930 amp states Dolby Pro Logic, but it may as well be mono for all the difference it makes. Dialogue is clear though.

Extras :

Nothing. Nada. Nichts. Sweet Football Association. That's what you get here. Not a trailer, no moving or scored menus and no subtitles.

There are 20 chapters spread across the 67-minute running time which is a kind of bonus, but not one that scores any points in this section.

One for the Clarke completists, but surely something could have been found in the way of extras?