Bronson - The most violent convict in the UK

Advantages: Excellent performances and some good fights
Disadvantages: Very violent and strong male nudity may not be to everyone's taste

...Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, Bronson is a violent prison drama which takes the viewer through the life and times of Michael Peterson, who later renamed himself Charles (Charlie) Bronson. Violent from a young age, Michael Peterson was imprisoned in 1974 for robbing a Post Office when he was 19 years old. Initially sentenced to 7 years in jail, he saw his prison cell as a hotel room, and prison offered him an opportunity to hone his skills. Getting into numerous fights with the prison staff, he spends most of his time in solitary confinement. To most, solitary on a long term basis would lead to unbearable boredom and many would crack-up. Not Bronson. He spends his time honing himself, training in his cell or cage, (he spends time in both), performing strenuous workouts and shadow boxing. You learn early on that he has no respect...

snt74 21.08.2009 · Read review
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Review of Bronson (DVD)

FREE DVDs

Advantages: Free trial, large choice, post included,new realeases
Disadvantages: see review

...I like movies and I like freebies, so when you get offered both in one swoop you?re bound to accept! I used my two week free trial with this company and remained with them for a couple of monthsbefore moving on to try many other companies free trials (and winning a new DVD player on Tesco DVD rental site on their free trial offer). I then had an email from DVDs 365 asking me to go back, and offering me a free DVD if I did so. I had just left Tesco (with my new DVD player) so I chose to go back with them. ∆◊◊ THE SERVICE THEY OFFER ∆◊◊ Basically it?s like going to a video shop and hiring films on DVD, except you don?t pay for each film you chose ? rather a monthly fee for which you can watch as many movies as you can fit in, for us this is usually around 8 a month (2 a week usually weekends...

dabmim 15.11.2004 · Read review
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Review of dvds365.com

Surprising Picture Quality - Panasonic DVD-S54

Advantages: Incredible picture quality when compared to my old non-upscaling player with a scart lead
Disadvantages: Sometimes disc drive can be really noisy when DVD's initially load.

...At first I wasn't convinced by up-scaling DVD player technology but was persuaded after reading an article in "What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision" magazine. Unable to afford a Blu-Ray player my sister and I bought the Panasonic DVD-S54 to match our parents brand new Panasonic TX-32LZD80 LCD television as their Christmas 2008 present. Admittedly it was a slightly selfish purchase as we both live at home and wanted to watch DVDs on the big new TV ourselves! We bought the player from the electrical retailer Comet for about £100 just before Christmas so there were no discounts applied. On Christmas day when opened we found a relatively small box tightly packed with the player in polystyrene packaging. All the components such as cables, remote and manuals were well presented in their own protective plastic bags, to keep them protected. The player...

bobbacon985 12.02.2009 · Read review
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Review of Panasonic DVD-S54

Boot Polish Slap

Advantages: Great Lead Performance, Interesting
Disadvantages: Bronson's life has nothing of note to make an involving story

...Michael Petersen is Britain's most infamous prisoner, however you probably know him as Charles Bronson, the broad moustached man of muscle who played a large part in the Broadmoor riots of the eighties. Interest in the criminal underbelly of Britain is probably the driving force in the British film industry. But this is not a crime film a'la Lock Stock etc. I would compare this more to the Australian film Chopper, both are abstract profiles of men who's criminal celebrity is only large in their own minds. The blurb on the DVD box compares this to Kubrick's Clockwork Orange, in all honesty it's nowhere near the genius of that film which has a message even more relevant in recent times. Michael Petersen was brought up in a normal family lifestyle, the film portrays that there were no life changing incidents in his youth that set him...

utero 30.07.2009 · Read review
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Review of Bronson (DVD)

Britain's most violent and expensive inmate!

Advantages: Tom Hardy
Disadvantages: Surreality, and confusion over what's true and what isn't

...Despite it having a rather strange method of presentation, I couldn't help myself being absolutely enthralled by this film. Based on the true story of Britain's (supposedly) most violent and costly inmate, Bronson follows the life of Mickey Peterson, who adopted the name Charles Bronson as a fighting names following a suggestion by a fellow inmate. As we follow Bronson's life, we get narration from the man himself, on a stage as if his life has been a bit of play, with him playing a role within it, as opposed to it being about him in the first place. I found this a bit surreal, in many ways, and in fact, the whole film is quite surreal. Were it not for the outstanding performance from Tom Hardy in the title role, I may have turned off, because it wasn't the story that interested me, it was the person, the character of Bronson. How...

pmcds 18.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of Bronson (DVD)

Prison Cell or Hotel Room?

Advantages: Fantastic acting, Great character study
Disadvantages: (Arguably) Glamorises violence, Not entirely factual, Lack of characters

..."Bronson" is the controversial biopic of our "most dangerous prisoner" Charles Bronson directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and starring Tom Hardy. I hadn't actually heard about the prisoner, Bronson until a round on Have I Got News where Boris Johnson called him a "greased piglet". Maybe I should just watch more news and less comedy panel shows. The film has the caged Bronson narrating his life which is played through flashbacks in his tough guy demeanor via a sort of prison interview sans interviewer. It is also inter-spliced with surreal scenes of him covered in face paint on a stage in front of a large audience attempting to entertain them with anecdotes of his life. These are never actually explained, although I assume they serve some sort of metaphorical purpose, perhaps suggesting his craving for fame. There is only one character...

SmilingBuddha 18.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of Bronson (DVD)

"Prison was an opportunity..........."

Advantages: Great photography, acting and direction.....
Disadvantages: Need to be able to watch graphic violence.

..."Bronson" tells the story of the man who is allegedly Britain's most violent prisoner. Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and starring the brilliant Tom Hardy in the lead role as Michael Peterson the film recounts the events that have led to this man serving more than 34 years behind bars. Michael Peterson is bored. He's bored with his schooling. This leads to confrontation. Confrontation with his peers. Confrontation with his teachers. He is then bored with his job in a fish and chip shop. He's bored by his first marriage. "Irene and I got hitched. It was alright...we didn't have it bad for a couple from the chippy". But Michael feels that he is cut out for greater things. He believes that he is destined for more than this. So he saws the end from a shotgun and robs the Post Office. Sentenced to 7 years his mother shouts to him in...

WoodsM_UK 24.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of Bronson (DVD)

British gangster flick with a pirates of the caribbean twist

Advantages: different
Disadvantages: violent

...Charlie Bronson is known as Britain's most dangerous prisoner. You may have seen pictures of him - he's bald with a moustache a lot of the time, although more recently has a huge beard. He has spent most of his life in prison, is totally institutionalised, and has a cult following. I've read his autobiography, and now came to watch the film. Bronson is a film based on his life. It stars the very impressive Matt King as the man himself, who does a stellar job of creating a complex character. I've never come across King before, but he's definitely one to look out for. Anyway, this film was not what I was expecting; it's very artistic. Theatrical music throughout, fractured editing, pausing the shot before playing it, and the narration from Bronson dressed up as a clown creates a manic film. Of course, this is what they were going...

bruffyboy 16.06.2009 · Read review
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Review of Bronson (DVD)

YAMAHA DVD-S 557 this is THE DVD player of all time.

Advantages: Brilliant DVD player, perfect quality
Disadvantages: cant think of any

......

plainpaul 22.02.2009 · Read review
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Review of Yamaha DVD-S 557

DEATH WISH, CHARLES BRONSON, MICHAEL WINNER, 1974.

Advantages: CLASSIC 1970'S THRILLER.
Disadvantages: VIOLENCE MAY OFFEND SOME.

...I thought I'd be the first to review this classic vigilante film "Death Wish" starring Charles Bronson as I noticed it has not been reviewed on Ciao yet. INTRO Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) is a successful architect who turns vigilante after his wife and daughter are ferociously attacked by a gang of violent thugs in their New York city apartment. Set in the mean streets of New York city, Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) plays a man completely overcome by the horrific assault on his family,with that his comfortable professional life comes to an abrupt end. When the police are slow to respond, Paul Kersey (Bronson) takes the law into his own hands and sets out seeking revenge by himself with a revolver, prowling for muggers on the crime ridden mean city streets at night. It's not long before he becomes a well known vigilante in...

donovan74 05.09.2007 · Read review
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Review of Death Wish (DVD)