georgewilliamnoble
Like another reviewer i found this film at a charity shop and paid a few pence. Now Michael Caine, for me has always had star quality though i admit his choice of work has been suspect rather to often, but then to the working class hard work is a reward in its self and a virtue.Here Caine plays a hardened criminal who knows all the ropes and will casually commit murder as a simply necessity but is undone by his unwillingness to exterminate a young put a pone public school boy bullied at his highbrow posh Oxford like school.While i admit this film has a very average TV look to its visuals and a cast of TV faces, Caine a part, the basic crime plot has strength though the pace is lethargic and the characters a little card board the plight of the young lad at the posh school who finds a role life model in the frame of Caine's career criminal has its interesting points. In the end, this a TV movie that entertains more than not on the personality of its star Michael Caine, who can do gangster very well.Remember "Get Carter" from 1971, the director of that Brit classic is the only movie industry personality i have every actually met. By the way he was a very nice man indeed, a gentleman in fact.As for "Shadow Run" no classic but far better than most of its revues would have you believe.
delfranklin1969
Oh dear. No wonder most reviewers are agreed this really is a bad film. One can only assume Sir Michael was in need of a fast buck. Although can't imagine he was too well paid for his efforts. For one of the finest actors of his generation he's done an awful lot of turkeys. This sure as hell is one of them.The plot is messy. The inclusion of a bunch of seemingly untrained kids adds nothing to the story. Well the fat kid who gets bullied inexplicably gets involved in the story of hardened gangster Haskell (Caine) putting together a team of unconvincing criminals (two of whom seem unable to talk) together for a security van hijack job. Haskell murders for the flimsiest of reasons, two characters are discarded by what must be his favourite method - strangulation. Though it wouldn't be exactly politically correct to murder the fat kid who knows all, it's somewhat surprising Haskell lets him go, chucking in a gift in the bargain.I rented this out because I like a good British thriller and the cast were, on paper at least, appealing. There is some good interplay between Caine and Leslie Grantham (playing Dirty Den yet again but he does it pretty well) but everyone is just going through the motions.There's not really a lot to recommend this, it just ploughs on and is mind numbingly boring. The sub plots completely unnecessary and whilst the acting bearable, the script is a complete let down. As for the hijacking itself, well let's just say it isn't convincing.Some nice shots of middle England but all in all a disappointing mess of epic proportion.
paulgfry
Having just finished watching this film and staring at the TV screen in bewilderment, I wondered whether it had been made as some sort of sick joke. I immediately checked this brilliant website out to see if there had been any comments posted, and was so relieved to see so many others shocked, dismayed, depressed and utterly gobsmacked at the appalling plot and well known actors performances. I, like most other contributors, had bought this film for 99p merely because Michael Caine was in it, and then I read that someone else paid only 97 pence, I was indeed robbed! Most of the screen and script blunders have been covered, especially about the unconvincing 'security' van, but the scene where James Fox fires his shotgun at Caine's Mercedes back window, leaving a neat hole and managing to hit Caine's head???? Excuse me, have they redesigned shotguns, then, the back window would have been blown clean out or shattered, most of the shot would have lodged in the glass, surely? A cellphone signal blocked by one sheet of metal suspended from a crane, ummmhh, who was their technical consultant? The opening scenes feature a radio shack(what was Tandy in Europe)microphone dangling from an amusingly long piece of connecting cable. If this high security load was as important as it was made out to be, why use a radio shack microphone? Professional communications equipment would have been used like Motorola, Yaesu, Icom, etc. The screen readout supposedly showing them which routes to use was just a few coloured lines on a plain screen, no background grid, and utterly amateurish. Come to think of it, where did all the plug and jack equipment come from, why was it there, it was clearly obsolete, even for 1998 when the film is said to have been made. Mine is dated 2006, which hurts even more. All the equipment necessary for communications between the van and its base would have been an encrypted duplex fm transceiver, or a small microprocessor controlled cell phone. The strangulation of the equally unconvincing escort girl took place in his car, with her almost looking at him. Now I am no strangulation expert, but I thought the general idea was to be behind the victim so as to make it almost impossible for the victim to stop being strangled, the death occurring by compressing the Adam's apple into the throat - anyway, it just did not look convincing to me. I am utterly, no, totally bemused as to why Michael Caine, (is it Sir Michael now?) allowed himself to be duped into making this. Its his name that is selling the movie (or was it just a very long trailer?)Was he that short of money? One of my favourite films of his is Fourth Protocol, where he acts superbly, but of course The Italian Job takes some beating. I guess actors like this don't get much work these days, so they have to accept what they are offered, in fear of it being their last, its a great pity. I believe in years to come this film will be very valuable and rare because so many people would have thrown it away in disgust, and it will reach record prices on ebay, I am keeping mine just in case.
paul-bishop-1
Like a previous poster, I availed of this film in Woolworths in Blackpool while on a trip and pretty flush for cash. I still feel aggrieved. Truly, the worst film I have ever witnessed. The plot is ridiculous, in particular the killing of the prostitute. Why? It really is an embarrassment to film making. Unbelievably dire. What was Caine thinking? Indeed what was Leslie Grantham thinking. This was his worst decision prior to the web cam episode. The kid is only likable because he is fat and ugly, and you cant help but feel that he's the type to be bullied. The choir aspect is pointless, and I struggle to recall a worse film ever! Well maybe American Dreamz.
