North v South

If anyone is considering going to see British gangster flick 'North v South' in the hope that Elliott Tittensor will do a nude scene like he used to back in the good old 'Shameless' days, let me save you some money: he doesn't (although there are a couple of compensatory shirtless scenes). Having cleared that up, is the film worth seeing anyway? Well, fans of the genre will probably like it: it has lots of guns, oodles of mindless violence, a dangerous woman, a transsexual assassin, copious amounts of swearing and people who have been shot or burned with a flame-thrower recovering for a final bit of gunplay. To be fair, though, there are a couple of surprises: a little girl as a trainee assassin, and not one single scene set in a sleazy strip club.

Attempts by southern gangsters (led by Steven Berkoff and Keith Allen) and their northern rivals (Bernard Hill and Oliver Cotton) to reach a truce are derailed when a southern lieutenant slits the throat of Hill's best friend. The predictable gang war ensues, complicated by a Romeo and Juliet-style problem: northern lieutenant Terry (Tittensor) and Berkoff's insipid daughter Willow (Charlotte Hope) are secretly in love.

Berkoff is in full psycho scenery-chewing mode, while Hill delivers a more measured performance as far as the script allows. Tittensor doesn't do badly, but Hope is less impressive - although, given she has to burble lines like "Terry was my god" and "I'm nothing without you" that's hardly surprising. 'Doctor Who' fans will not be disappointed by Freema Agyeman as the tough-but-sexy female gangster.

Very average British gangster film. Concept good executed so so. Not a bad watch, not the best.

I normally avoid these straight to DVD British gangster movies because they are generally crap. This one took my eye because it had a half decent cast with actors such as Bernard Hill , Steven Berkoff and Keith Allen and while this isn't as bad as most of the usual rubbish , even these actors , despite giving solid performances , can't make this a film that I can really recommend. The story is about two rival gangs from either ends of the country who are tying to and a feud but behind the scenes there is a romance that will never be tolerated , especially when one gang member is hell bent on destruction. I enjoyed the first half hour , especially the performance of Brad Moore but the film soon falls apart when the story seems to go pear shaped and in the end I didn't really care what happened to anyone

I have just wasted an afternoon off watching this tripe. Poor acting. Abismal plot. Shocking in every way. Please do not watch

I would rate it 0/10

From the first scene the movie throws a bunch of gangster antics with strangely abrupt moments of general shootouts. It's hectic to say the least, and while there might be one or two developments that work decently, the majority is convoluted banters. There's simply too much bravado and subplots to create any solid connection to the characters.

Like the title suggests, this is a story of two gangs vying for dominance. It has a lot of embellished characters shouting profanities and some betrayal schemes or whatnot. The issue with this cumbersome build-up is they are posing for what seems to a promo of wrestling events, for so many of the pressures feel overly theatrical. They large cast doesn't help either since they are divided by the typical brutish enforcer or old godfather role.

Many of them will not be memorable, in exception for a couple of the subplots, even those are rather conspicuous and forced. Its crime thriller aspect simply done in excess and honestly not that engaging, however if one comes for action there might be something here. It delivers occasional shootouts and fights, although the choreography is passable at best.

For all for the machismo displayed, the movie feels uninteresting and superficial.