Harrigan

The story about sargant 'arrigan in the northeast england in the poor early 70's are a story about a bit crazed but fair policeman returning from the far east,there batteling the hong kong mobsters, and bringing bakc the same procedures and violence used there,to the mill of street crimes in his hometown.

its a tv-movie quality flick, with loads of slang and swearing,the acting are at best average, but mostly stiff and read out of the script,that arent that fascinating. though the revenge is darn sweet in the end, you really feel the toothless force of the police,and how they hide their heads in the muddy pitch of newcastle, never dearing the lawless.

its a one watch in a lifetime flick,no more than that thinks the grumpy old man

Dark and gritty. Absolutely loved it - gripping story and a bit different from your typical gangster film. Really like the setting. Would love to see more like this!

The film Harrigan is set in the difficult times of the early 1970's, and in the midst of a struggling economy and the industrial decline that hit the North East with devastating effects.

The dark, intense, gritty and violent scenes within the film are representative of the pressures and issues - providing a dramatic yet truthful account of criminal activity and general unrest in the region during this time.

Written by an ex policeman, Harrigan addresses stories based on real crimes and real situations. The credibility of the script is further supported by the work of the actors, especially lead actor Stephen Tompkinson.

The film certainly doesn't disappoint,it has a good pace, is gripping and creates fantastic characters for you to like - or loathe.

The creators have done a fantastic job considering it was done on a low budget (which you would never expect). Fantastic direction, a film I would recommend and regard as a classic.

I was impressed with Tompkinson in the lead role and think he carried the film almost single- handedly, although I would also give a special mention to the Acting Chief of police character. It was a shame he didn't have more scenes because he and Tompkinson worked well together.I found the script overly clichéd. Also, it felt like it was missing half an hour's worth of introduction -the allusions of histories between the characters was far too esoteric, to the point that I hardly cared and just had to accept that 'something happened'. Not that it's necessarily a bad thing, but the production had more of the feel of a play rather than a film. If I were to dwell on the nine-foot man's second appearance (those of you who have seen it will know what I'm referring to) then I'd probably knock off another star.

Much exaggeration, and appears to be quite politically biased. I don't remember any of this in the seventies, surely it would have made the media even in those non internet days?..