Football Factory (Special Edition) [2004]

Customer Reviews:

football factory love it.......2008-02-03

i bought the football factory as i had already seen green street and this is much better danny dyer was born to play the role of tommy johnson come to think of it they all were

this is a perfectly cast and well executed film of what britain is at the moment

also see nick loves other films outlaw goodbye charlie bright the business

Rank.......2007-11-27

This film was just terrible, lacking any depth or real plot line; it just follows a bunch of hooligans as they fight, drink, do drugs, and fight some more. It sometimes touches on social issues like class and racism, but these just seem to have been added as afterthoughts.

This is a film for wannabe hoolie teenage boys and men in their early 20s who basically like a spot of kicking and shoving. Crap.

Mediocre and violent brit-flick.......2007-11-18

The Football Factory is based on John Kings novel of the same name, focusing on a thuggish bunch of Chelsea fans who live for the weekend when they can beat rival fans up and smoke bomb pubs etc. etc.

The subject of football violence is definately an interesting one and there are hundreds of books written by former hooligans who grew up on the terraces in the 1970's. The trouble is, no-one seems to be able to make a truly good film about it. ID is so so and Green Street is a poor effort at making that Hobbit from Lord of the Rings look like a hard man. I was hoping The Football Factory would break the mould but sadly it's another mediocre effort. The film just seems too similar to Trainspotting for me. It's as if a thousand film directors used Trainspotting as a template for nearly every brit-flick that has come after it. The Football Factory has the central character questioning his direction in life and providing narration, a very similar pumping soundtrack, similar grim looking pubs and council housing and the same casual violence. What it doesn't have is the originality, the script or the charisma in it's characters. Danny Dyer seems to only be able to play loutish cockney lads and everyone else in this film is utterly horrible. The only nice touch is the sub story of the two war heroes moving to Australia to escape a country going to the dogs. All that said, the film is reasonably entertaining and there is some decent bits of humour and plenty of action. One to watch with the lads probably as I can't imagine women enjoying a single thing about it.

Like this? Try: ID

BALLS........2007-10-13

I watched (or should that be endured?) this movie last night and quite frankly it beggars belief. THE FOOTBALL FACTORY is a hotch potch of Brit-flick cliches!

We have a soundtrack packed with the usual suspects - Oasis, Leftfield, more Oasis, Sham 69 and...erm...ARVO PART.

We have the obligatory voice-over from the ubiquitous Danny Dyer, riddled with irritating Mockney-isms such as "West 'am at Upton Park - Laarve it!!"

Hmmm.

The "plot", needless to say, is more predictable than an episode of "My Family". Basically, it goes like this:- Footie hooligan lives for his exhilirating weekend rucks, drinks and takes drugs then starts to question his lifestyle choices. YAWN.

This film would have been far more effective and entertaining as a Brit-Flick satire. As it is, THE FOOTBALL FACTORY is largely devoid of humour and patronising to its audience. As I watched it last evening, I just shook my head and thought: "Making this flick was a waste of MONEY."

THE FOOTBALL FACTORY is a 1 star movie. I have awarded it 2 stars because it does serve a small purpose :- You can sit through it and pick holes in it to your heart's content.

And picking holes in things can often be cathartic.

Superbly successful exercise in cynical marketing to the moronic.......2007-09-10

Here's a film that reflects several of the worst traits in human nature and then wallows obscenely in them for cheap thrills.
It is either horrendously ill-judged (my hope) or an appallingly nasty attempt to benefit financially from the naive and execrable underclass who slavishly inhabit the world of football (which is, unfortunately, my suspicion).

After watching it I struggled to find anything about it that was redeeming in any way. I couldn't believe such a serious subject had been handled so irresponsibly. I checked with friends, in case I'd missed the point, but it seems that this really was "all there is".
Certainly in some ways Danny Dyer gets his (un-repentant) come-uppance but there is a fine line between telling things "as they are" and endorsing them. Football factory teeters on that line then stumbles over it, purely because of the very last scene. Sadly this film sends out the message that it's ok to be a violent thug with no remorse and no intention of changing because that makes you a cheeky "mockney", rogue.

This nasty little turd of a movie was a limited theatrical release which then slithered it's way into the mass conciousness as a cynical, seasonal DVD release spreading like a nasty cold over the Christmas period. Most of it's sales were directly targetted by the industry to be a "stocking-filler" bought for football fans.

No redemtion , no depth and little or no value.

A plague upon all your houses, to be honest :(

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