La brigade volante

A great film adaptation of the legendary tv series. 'Sweeney!' was a milestone for all 'Brit' Gangster' movies that followed (two decades later). See vintage 'Jags' and Ford Granada's, tearing up the streets of London; plus with an increase in violence, to give it a more brutal reality. The complicated plot was criticized for slowing the action but the 'Sweeney!', remains a great sign-of-the-times piece. Sort of dated but in the most endearing of ways.

A no frills film in keeping with the series, the genre and the time.

This is a film about edgy London police in an edgy London in the edgy 70's. You could of course substitute "edgy" for "dodgy" in the above sentence and it would still be true...

For those of us around in the 70's it, like the series, is fantastically atmospheric. The hair, the clobber (look out for Regan's green anorak), the boozers, the motors, the women.

The plot is far less important than the characters who are all superb, and a particular mention for the young (and very beautiful) Diane Keen, and to a lesser extent Linda Bellingham - whose nudity makes you look at those OXO adverts very differently (or it would if they were still on) The film also gives some extra scope to the relationship between Regan & Carter, and there are some edgy moments between the 2, starting with their morning-after-the-night-before and culminating in the dramatic ending and indeed the film's last words. One of the many things I liked about the Sweeney was its realism and how it didn't portray its main characters as heroes but showed their dark sides and their failures.

I loved the TV Sweeney, for me John Thaw's (God rest his soul) Regan is one of, if not the, best TV characters of all time and this is an appropriate and very satisfying movie length "episode" Hollywood it ain't guv'nor, and for me thats what makes it the boll***s.

Yikes but there's some shocking acting in this film adaptation of the popular television series. It seems that one of Her Majesty's ministers - "Baker" (Ian Bannen) might be a little too close to the oil industry as a major announcement on pool pricing is due to be made in London. The Flying Squad's finest "Regan" (John Thaw) and sidekick "Carter" (Dennis Waterman) are soon embroiled, but as the body count starts to mount up the former is suspended from duty. Undeterred, he faces the wrath of not just his own bosses but also of some blokes who're marauding round the city with machine guns. His searching leads him to high-class hooker "Bianca" (Diane Keen) and all of this is going on whilst we the just sense that adviser "McQueen" (Barry Foster) is up to no good. Thaw does try, a bit too hard I reckon, but the rest of this is pretty sloppy stuff. Keen dreadfully over-acts, Foster seems to pick up an accent that vacillates wildly from scene to scene and Waterman doesn't really feature enough to make much difference to this pretty predictable cop drama where the rules are meant for someone else. Gritty? Possibly - but I just figured that in the end, they all pretty much deserved each other. Of it's time, I'd say - and that day has long gone.

When one of his informants is murdered, Detective Inspector Jack Regan is drawn into a deadly political game. He is soon a marked man and, after being framed, is suspended from duty. This doesn't stop him searching for the murderers and the truth.

A full-length movie spin-off of the popular TV show The Sweeney (1974-78). The movie includes the two main characters of the show, DI Jack Regan (played by John Thaw) and DS George Carter (Dennis Waterman) as well as a few other characters.

The result is a great mix of police investigation, intriguing conspiracy at the highest level and enthralling action scenes. The dynamic between Regan and Carter also provides some great lighter moments.

Not perfect - the plot does feel a bit holey at times and the ending is a bit odd - but it's still very intriguing and entertaining.

Detectives Regan & Carter investigate the suspected murder of a prostitute and find that there is major corruption, blackmail and murder bubbling under the surface.

Sweeney! is a TV spin-off that further pushes the grit and grime that had been established in the hugely popular series. Boasting call girls, blood, automatic weapon carnage, more blood and lots of shouting, it does in short have most things fans of the series could want. It also serves as a interesting snap-shot of mid to late 70s London as various sequences operate in and around the old smoke. Yet in spite of its guts and gusto and nicely woven plot {incorporating the oil slant}, it ultimately sags too often and criminally under uses Dennis Waterman's Carter. This is really about John Thaw's Reagan. Fine for fans of the always excellent Thaw, but this was a dynamite duo, and somewhere along the way somebody made a poor decision to focus on one part of the team.

The cast is filled out with notable British actors as the story unfolds. Barry Foster {Frenzy}, Ian Bannen {Too Late the Hero}, Colin Welland {Straw Dogs}, Brian Glover {Kes} and Diane Keen; who was a star of many a British TV production. It's pretty much one for fans only, because you get the feeling that newcomers, although sure to be impressed with its toughness, will wonder just what all the fuss was about back in the sweary Sweeney 70s. 6/10