The Krays (1990) Online

The violence, loyalty, fear, blood and traditions are all present and correct. The Kemp bros., especially Gary, give superbly sinister and dangerous portrayals of the twins. You can't fault it's accuracy on who the twins were or how they grew up. However, the events shown are lacking in relevance to how they really happened and are taken from the point of view of Gang members who so obviously lied during their trial. The film also lacks on the other gang members, no member is named as being Tony Lambrianou or Freddie Foreman, for example. Although this is secondary to the twins themselves, for people who know the real story it does make it a little less enjoyable.

I happened to be present at the end of one of the Krays Old Bailey trials.this was one where the case collapsed due to witness intimidation.Finally,thankfully,the law caught up with them.Pity this film didn't make clear why instead of glamourising the Krays and violence.No mention was made of the main way they made their money,the protection racket.Far too much time was spent on the twins with their mum.Also we saw snippets of their early life but it didn't add up to very much.Some much of what was shown regarding the 2 crucial murders was confused and confusing.The reasons for the murders were far more complex than shown in this film.All in all a pretty poor effort.

I saw this British crime biography in the cinema 20 years ago, on its release. I'd not seen it since, until getting it on DVD.

It was striking then how perfectly cast the Kemp brothers were, as the violent twins. Core members of the 1980's pop group Spandau Ballet, it was an eye-opener that they had another string to their bow and in contrast to their fresh pop image.

The film's aged well. Martin Kemp (Reggie Kray) kept up his acting career with popular soap operas (Eastenders) though I'm not sure what Gary (Ronnie Kray) has done since. They both have a slimy sort of adhesion as blood brothers and as the gangsters they both compel - and appal.

Billie Whitelaw's performance as their strong, iron-lady of a mother, Violet, who held the family together through the blitz and rationing, was always held in high esteem. The Kray men of that era come across as weak, ducking active war service and work, which embittered Violet, her mother and her sisters.

Thus, she had such high hopes for her twin boys. Bearing comparison to Margaret Wycherly's 'Ma' in the 1949 James Cagney crime thriller, 'White Heat' the bond becomes above all else. The apron strings are bullet proof, it would seem. Having somewhat grown up myself in the interim between viewings, I saw more into Kate Hardie's character who played Reggie's wife, Frances. Cast under a long shadow, below the 'Firm', Reggie's brother and certainly far below Violet, poor Frances, who annoyed me twenty years ago with her frightened whimpering excels at going from pretty girl-next-door, to trophy wife and then to tragic doormat.

Ronnie Kray's homosexuality, understandably back in the early-mid 1960's (and illegal) was cause of much of the ridicule and angst they endured from their enemies. Even back in 1990, it seemed daringly fresh to have this as part of the storyline, with scenes to match.

The film's direction and look cannot fail to be compared these days to Martin Scorsese, or, how he would have done it. This looks British; that grey-brown that these days would be digitally sourced. The acres of dull patterned wallpaper in front living rooms. The big Jaguar cars. The sun never shines in the East London street scenes, those streets seemingly familiar to Brits everywhere.

The dialogue at times seems naff and obvious, other times spot-on. Violence, when it comes is near-graphic, but maybe not up there with the barely watchable scenes of say, Scorsese's Goodfellas. I'd like to have seen more action - adding to its 115 minutes with more of the 'everyday' crime and racketeering and how they held down their much feared reputation. We do get a couple of brilliantly played nasty guys - Stephen Berkoff and Tom Bell are as despicable as any - and who have vengeance played upon them by the twins. We get no tip-offs and thus, no raids and no police. Some chase scenes might have been nice!

As a drama that reads more like a psychological profile than a straight crime thriller, then it's rarely been bettered, on either side of the Atlantic. Had it been made in the mould of the latter, then it might be better known and better remembered. I still like it, as it is, as much as I did twenty years ago.

How "The Krays" fails would take a book, and that tome would example the way nearly every sincere effort at reproducing real live people on film comes to a bad end. First, the real Krays apparently had script approval based on comments in IMDb. Mark Twain said it, everyone's autobiography puts forth it's author as hero. The Krays is no different. Two hard-boiled gangster-killers are shown largely through their mother's eyes, as youths led astray, and their evil deeds were committed against equally foul creatures, therefore weren't really crimes but efforts at achieving equilibrium. The "suffering woman" viewpoint portrayed throughout, mirrored by not one single admirable male, operated as negation to the entire society. Therefore crimes weren't really crimes, they were strikes against the apathetic construct of British life. The Spandau Ballet boys were singers, not actors, so they can't really be blamed for their acting failings. But they did fail in scene after scene to strike any tone of true commiseration with their characters, and with that the movie lost any hope of success. Billie Whitelaw's powerful and supreme statement of motherhood only served to contrast the weakness of their efforts. She was wonderful, though, I remember her performance in a long ago TV movie, where she played a whore opposite Jack Palance in Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde. She was good in that, if quite a bit younger. To sum up, this isn't a good movie, it might be interesting to those who know something about the Krays, and Whitelaw is worth seeing for her performance. Other than that, it is a pass.

This looked like a promising film: a portrait of Britain's most feared gangsters with great performances and some stylish,but graphic violence.

How wrong I was.

True, the violence was graphic etc but the film was let down by a script which ignores facts and skims over certain characters eg Teddy Smith, Inspector ''Nipper'' Reid.

Also, most of the film was focused on the family. True, the Kray brothers were mummy's boys, but we got the point in the first ten minutes. The film sticks with this and does not paint a portrait of the terror they created and an authentic picture of British gangland. Plus,the acting wasn't the best, except for Gary Kemp as Ronnie.

Watch Gangster No.1 . That was how this film should have been.

Peter Medak directed this film from the screenplay of Philip Ridley. Both have done great films like Romeo Is Bleeding (Medak) and Passion of Darkly Noon (Ridley) and The Krays is not an exception. It tells the story of real life Kray twins gangsters (Gary and Martin Kemp from Spandau Ballet) that kept England in horror in the middle of 1900's. They were born to normal family where their mother (Billie Whitelaw), a very strong female character, brought them up among a world that was filled with "useless men" and females that fought in difficult circumstances during war and poverty. When the twin brothers grew, they began to get power and finally they become very powerful and strong gangsters, who finally met their destiny.

This film is a depiction of power, greed and money and how it corrupts. "When people are afraid of you, you can do anything" says Ronnie Kray to his brother Reggie. The greediness and other forms of corruption - like revenge - become so strong that they finally destroy everything the brothers have reached. The theme is pretty much the same as in DePalma's Scarface and many other similar depictions of power and money. The last scene in The Krays is very powerful and important as it crystallizes the whole message of the film.

The film also tells about females and love. Love is also destroyed because other things become more important for Reggie, who has found a girlfriend. This film has also very powerful female characters, mainly the mother of brothers. She is very feminine and all the female characters seem to hate males in this movie, but that is perhaps all some males deserve in the film since all they seem to be able to do is getting drunk and fight and not help the females in any way.

Technically The Krays is a proof of Medak's talent as the photography is great and the film is very powerful in its elements. The part when mother Kray realizes what her boys do "for living" is very powerful and told with the very effective tools of cinema. Music is often effective and violence is off putting, as the attitudes and values of the movie's characters are, too. This film is very powerful as the aforementioned last scene is very sad and though provoking, and really underlines the final message of the film. I think the characters are somewhat too shallow occasionally and their acts are not fully explained all the time. That is also the case in another film written by Philip Ridley, The Passion of Darkly Noon. Mostly I'm irritated how Reggie treats his wife since there seems to be believable emotional relationship between the two. Also, the girl who plays Reggie's wife over-acts little in some scenes and it is irritating to watch as it is not as realistic and natural as possible. If the characters were little more natural and believable, this would be even greater piece of cinema.

The Krays is important piece of 90's cinema and very powerful depiction of different kinds of corruption that finally lead to destruction and death of dreams. I give this 8/10 and the film is recommended for those who appreciate films like Romeo is Bleeding and Scarface, for instance.

This was an impressive movie: stylish, well played and atmospheric.

The greatest revelation was the talent of the Kemp Brothers (ex-Spandau Ballet) who were absolutely marvelous as the notorious Kray Twins. They portrayed the mixture of glamour, ruthlessness and family loyalty of these two brothers with much conviction.

The storyline seemed a little vague at times, and glossed over one or two episodes, but this was probably due to the compression of facts and didn't mar the feel of the movie as a whole. Quite frankly, it probably would have taken a mini-series to document all the things the real Twins were up to.

Billie Whitelaw was a standout as Violet Kray. Steven Berkoff over-acted as usual. Tom Bell was wonderful as always.

Not to be taken as absolute fact but is interestingly done and certainly gives an idea of the story behind these two well known villains.

I would like to start by saying i am a big fan of Gangster Movies and the British Gangster history and i don't believe this film was good enough,they missed out to much,what happened to the early days working the race courses with Jack spot?the early gang fights with rival gangs, the origin of the firm and its members like Freddie Foreman,Ian Barrie,Jack Dickson,George Dickson,Albert Donahue,Ronnie hart,Tony lambrianou,Alfie gerrard and many others were either missed out or not properly introduced to the plot. There is also a major crime missing here which was that of Frank Mitchell who the twins sprung from prison and had to dispose of when he got to troublesome,the film maker even led us to believe the Mcvitie murder and the Cornell murder happened on the same night not true,they were a year apart. Where were the Richardson gang?this was a force to be reckoned with its members were hard men who had a shoot-out at Mr Smiths club with members of the Firm and the Hayward gang a key event in British gangland history it involved the kray twins cousin getting killed but is left completely from the story. I believe this had the potential to be a great film,it could have been Britains answer to the Godfather epic,there is enough history and complexity in the story and its characters that it could run into three or even four films,Think about it'Filmed in black & White in the style of the De Niro Classic Raging Bull. thanks.

Not bad entertainment but not good enough for a classic. Some people have mentioned that the Krays gave their approval to the script. This was a bad thing. Now they are both dead. The Kray story should be done again, probably on TV as a mini series of about 6 hours to give the whole thing justice. We could then include more details of their life of crime, their arrests and trial. The Kemp brothers do not look alike at all but the Krays also looked different as they got older. Martin Kemp would pass for Reggie if he was a bit stockier but Gary Kemp is nothing like Big Ronnie. The overall impression of the film was that they were the leaders of a gang of teddy boys rather than the biggest gangsters in London. If the story is retold we need better casting for the twins and they need not necessarily be brothers.

The Kray twins were arrogant vicious bullying thugs who thought they were untouchable.Their criminal associates were arrogant vicious bullying thugs who thought they were untouchable.They pedalled protection" to shopkeepers,publicans,small businessmen and club owners who were unfortunate enough to have premises in what they considered was their manor.An inducement to pay was often offered in the form of a tyre iron inserted into the rectum which tended to concentrate the mind wonderfully.They and their cohorts strutted round the Vallance Road Triangle as if it was the mean streets of The Bronx. They fantasised about joining up with the Mafia,but the Mob considered the Twins to be Toytown Gangsters and the alliance never materialised. Their sphere of influence was proscribed by other equally violent London criminals,but within its limits they killed and killed again.They had that total absence of restraint that characterises the seriously flawed personality and strikes fear in everybody else.But their overweening arrogance was the cause of their downfall.Celebrating their acquittal at the Old Bailey on a charge of demanding money with menaces,they sent a bottle of champagne to a table in the restaurant where,by coincidence,a detective was having a rare night out with his wife.His name was Leonard Reed,known throughout the Met as "Nipper".Outraged by their behaviour he went to his boss's office the next morning and proposed the setting - up of a Task Force to bring down the Krays for good.Within 3 years the twins were starting 30 year sentences. Those are the facts,but they must never be allowed to get in the way of a good story so the Urban Myths began to circulate.Today unless you either lived or worked within their area of influence your only access to the twisted world of the Krays is via the bandwagon jumpers who have been milking their sordid fame for nearly forty years. Forget the stories of "Respect".To the Old Bill and to their fellow cons they were known as Gert and Daisy. The film version of their lives is mostly a nonsense.The use of the Kemp brothers can only be considered as a gimmick,and an unsuccessful one at that.They have all the menace of a couple of day - old chicks. Andrew Rigeley and George Michael would have been more convincing. Miss B.Whitelaw does her best with the cockney accent but it isn't as easy as she obviously thinks it is.If,as popular legend would have it,Mrs Kray totally dominated her sons,I cannot for the life of me understand how she didn't give them a good slap when they first went out thieving.Her generation were great believers in "Spare the rod and spoil the child".If she had,Jack the Hat,George Cornell and Frank Mitchell might all be alive now - and one or two others they kept a bit more quiet about.I must make special mention of Mr S.Berkoff who sneers and snarls away to his heart's content as the man who picked a bad time to pop into "The Blind Beggar" for a swift half. Mr T.Bell plays the twins' older brother Charlie whose wife once bravely provided an alibi for a rival gangster up on a murder charge.She stated that she was in bed with him at the time of the alleged offence - a revelation that can't have offered her husband too much comfort. Charlie in later life claimed he was a victim of the Kray legend,blaming it for his subsequent conviction and heavy dose of bird for drug trafficking. They were clearly what would now be referred to as a dysfunctional family and a team of Social Workers would fearfully follow their Burberry'd progress through ASBOs to the Old Bailey. But Reg and Ron in their slick Italian suits and with their showbiz "friends" who in fact hardly knew their names had grandiose dreams and they didn't include doing bird.Even the briefest study of the works of Robert Burns might have given the pause for thought.

I watched the film in the context of a historical study into London and its underworld from the 18th to 20th centuries, so I apologise in advance if this review seems overly academic.

The Krays were a fascinating pair, and this film shows the continuing interest in their lives and crimes, which has continued past their deaths. The film accurately shows the individual quirks and fascinations of the brothers while remaining a drama, rather than a documentary (and there are quite a few about).

The enormous presence of the Krays in London history is proven by the Monty Python sketch on the Pirhana Brothers, Doug and Dinsdale - made a single year after the Krays were imprisoned. If you don't know it, it's worth a look-see.

Martin and Gary Kemp, seasoned performers themselves were chillingly well-cast as the twins, who used the media themselves to promote their place as "Diamond Geezers" in East End London. The Krays themselves served as advisors on the film, with the Kemps visiting them in prison to meet and learn about their role from them.

From what I've read about them, I think the Krays would have liked this film about them, especially that proper brothers - twins, in fact - were playing them.

• - -

By the way, the copy of the film I borrowed had a special cover which had a pocket over the name "The Krays" with 'blood' (red fluid) in it. It suited the film and subject matter well - one up for the designers.

The Krays tells the story of the notorious London East End gangsters Ronnie (Gary Kemp) & Reggie Kray (Martin Kemp) from their humble upbringing to the top of post-war London gangland with some seriously nasty antics. They ruled through fear, intimidation & sadistic brutally until they were convicted of murder & sentenced to life...

This English production was directed by Peter Medak & I have to confess I didn't think too much of it, what it comes down to is whether you can enjoy a film that lasts for two hours populated with seriously unlikable people. Personally I can't to any great degree. The script by Philip Ridley is rather slow going, it's half an hour before the grown up twins appear & even then the Krays criminal activity isn't actually given that much screen time or emphasis. This is a biopic that tries to get into the psyche's of the Krays, the fact that they were nothing more than thugs & mommies boys seems to be the overriding message here. I am not old enough to remember them first time around & I only know what I have read & been told but I was surprised to learn that Ronnie was gay & that he was the truly psychotic one. The Krays just isn't a very likable or enjoyable film, it's unrelentingly depressing with sadistic gangland violence, suicide, death & poverty stricken misery. Does that really sound like an enjoyable escapist film? I also feel large chunks of the Krays lives have been ignored, their trial & sentencing is one such omission as is their initial rise up the criminal underworld ladder.

Like other comments on the IMDb have mentioned I am uneasy with the Krays getting their own film & almost being glamorised as 'honourable' villains to look up to or aspire to. They were vicious scum who hurt, killed & intimidated a lot of people for their own selfish ends. I'm sorry but I don't really want to see a film where they come across as sympathetic or fair as it's not true, they were scumbag villains who seemingly took great pleasure in hurting people & enjoyed living off the dubious rewards. The line 'If people are afraid of you, you can do anything' sums up their mentality as callous self serving scum who should have hanged. One thing I noticed watching this is that it was sometimes difficult to tell the two twins apart since the Kemp brothers are identical & as I started to lose interest in the film it became more of a problem.

Technically the film is alright, it's not exactly brimming with style & director Medak keeps his camera fairly static in a standard point-and-shoot policy. Filmed on location out in London the period production design is strangely bland & very forgettable, then again I suppose that's how it looked back then. Those watching The Krays expecting bags of violence had better forget it, there's the infamous sword slash moment as Ronnie slices a guy's lips open, the same sword gets stuck through someones hand, there's some fights & little else. The acting is alright but I didn't think anyone was brilliant, I thought the Kemp twins (maybe better known as 80's pop band Spandau Ballet?) were actually quite wooden at times.

The Krays is a film based on true events (although how true it is is anyone's guess, I mean the people featured were hardly upstanding trustworthy pillars of the community were they?) & as such is a rather bland viewing experience. Large eras from the Krays life are ignored & overall I just couldn't enjoy it as a film or what it was trying to do.

Do I detect that Steven Berkoff was slightly put out at appearing in this ? He must have since he tends to ruin THE KRAYS with some of the hammiest acting ever seen on film . For each and every scene he appears in he goes so over the top that he`s in danger of going out of orbit. Witness the scene in the scrapyard : " These Krays are getting on my T***. Wot`d I want you to do ? Get a gun . Bang bang end off . Shoot the F****** B******* they`re just a pair of nancy boys , all they care about is wot they look like " . Possibly the worst ham acting in history . Abysmal . If Berkoff was upset at playing a mere supporting character in a low budget Brit flick then he should have turned the part down instead of showing off like that .

But apart from Berkoff - Whose hysterical performance is very funny for all the wrong reasons - THE KRAYS still isn`t very good as far as gangster films go . The real life Ronnnie and Reggie were totally feared in the East End of London , but this film doesn`t tell us much about them. Worse than that the film falls into the trap of glorifying them both . Even today people who knew them still defend them with the old cliches " They was cruel but fair. They stuck to their own. They didn`t hurt woman or kids " . Yeah yeah whatever . There`s also some subtext about sisterhood with the Krays mother and aunt but it`s so vague it`s just confusing

" Goodnight girls "

(Contains spoilers)

This film is one of those films that only fully reveals itself once it is all over. When it finished, I must admit that I found myself thinking that the ending seemed to come rather suddenly, without much explanation. And then I found that I couldn't get it out of my head.

When going into the film, I expected it to show more of the Krays' rise to power, as well as their capture in 1969. Instead the focus is the Krays as children, growing into the monsters of the underworld as the years pass. The intelligence of this film is that is plays out the Krays' undying love for their mother and family, the effect their infamy has on others, and their closeness as brothers. The part the audience know the most in their lives is largely left out by the film, instead commenting on it through a shot of the Krays returning home after two vicious murders, before fading to their mother's funeral after their arrest many years later.

The surprising poetry and grace this film contained, with scenes such as Violet Kray's 'dream' both at the beginning when the twins are born, and at the end when we see her funeral, and the gentle panning shot of the funeral itself, revealing the Krays to be in police custody while standing at the grave, elevated this film to something more than a 'down and out' gangster movie.

The scenes of violence certainly made me squirm, even though the focus was more on what was being inferred that what was actually shown.

Martin and Gary Kemp here, and perhaps with some shock, were perfectly cast as the boys in their adult life. Gary Kemp as Ronnie Kray carried off, with a certain ease, the slowly more violent character, while Martin Kemp built up a more subtle, but equally as impressive performance as Reggie.

Bille Whitelaw was perfect as the mother of the twins - Violet Kray, and her lines (such as "Mummy loves you") always seemed in place. Her gentle aging throughout the film was also carried off in time with the character.

A very honorable mention goes to Susan Fleetwood, who played Aunt Rose admirably.

Michael Kamen and Chris Rea came up with music with commented on the action, and brought a genuine sense of unease to the picture.

And so, after all all this, the film is still on my mind.

8/10

I preferred Hale and Pace as "The Management". This film is episodic, and slow. Some scenes are like tableaux in which nothing much happens. It was made in the 80s, so tribute had to be paid to feminism with plonking speeches about the war being much harder on women, and Violet's part being padded. Her dialogue is embarrassingly poetic and grammatical - she talks nothing like an East Ender. Also she and her mates/family never have ordinary conversations. Much more could have been made of the way she served tea and biscuits to violent gangsters. Kate Hardie is very good as Reggie's wife Frances - but in reality the marriage only lasted a few weeks. The clothes and settings, though, are brilliant, getting the look of the 50s/60s absolutely right. I rather fancy Violet's "trees" wallpaper and multicoloured teacosy. Many episodes of the Krays' life are left out, and where are their famous friends? Surely they could have got someone to play Diana Dors?

A straightforward biopic of the infamous Kray twins, a pair of gangsters who ruled London's East End in the 1950s and 1960s. For a film made in 1990, THE KRAYS is certainly a grisly tale in places, with unflinching depictions of the kind of psychotic violence that the brothers were known for.

It's also solidly made, a decent biopic that attempts to flesh out the characters and their milieu in detail without an extra-long running time. I think the biggest coup was in casting pop star duo Gary and Martin Kemp as the titular characters; their acting is perfectly adequate for the role and it's hard to imagine who else would have fit the bill quite so well. Billie Whitelaw (TWISTED NERVE) also gives an impressive turn as their crazed mother.

The script is strong and realistic, depicting the passing of the years in pre and post-WW2 London with skill, and the casting director has a keen eye for finding memorable actors. The sub-plot, involving Reggie's wife Frances, is particularly well handled with unlikely sensibility. My only issue is that the film runs out of time at the end, not even depicting the crucial arrests that led to the brothers' downfall; an extra 20 minutes at the climax would have made all the difference.

This is a well-acted, powerful crime film about the Kray Twins, real- life gang leaders who were powerful in the East End of London in the 1960s.

The acting is great and shows their rise to power, their family, enemies, crimes etc.

"The Krays" isn't really about the famous London twin brothers who were gangsters. It's a feminist movie, about the plight of women during the Blitz in London, and particularly the collective trauma the wives of soldiers lived with when the war was over.

In one astonishing scene, the Krays' aunt gives a monologue about delivering a baby in the subway tunnels while German bombs rained down above. She had to kill the baby to protect the mother, but the mother died anyway. She imagines that if the subway tunnels are ever excavated, they'll be filled with dead babies - babies and bullets, signs of the true casualties of the war.

The women who lived through it, of course, are the only living remnants of it, and the trauma has forged a bond between them that is strong as iron. Interestingly, when one of the Krays leaves his girlfriend alone with his family, she is visibly uncomfortable. This particular sisterhood does not extend to her.

We are left wondering if this atmosphere of walking wounded produced the evil and violent Kray twins. The movie doesn't really make the connection. We see that the girlfriend, who then becomes the wife, is so unhappy in her life as a piece of property belonging to Reg Kray that she kills herself. She isn't treated as a human being by her husband, or his family. It's an easier conclusion to draw that the Krays were led to this objectifying attitude toward women by their doting, overbearing mother and ineffective father.

A problem with the movie is that wives suicide and mothers and aunts die, leaving us with... what? It's not about gangsters. It's about the war, and what the war did to its survivors, particularly the women. Without women in the picture, its purpose is removed, and the Kemps don't make that convincing gangsters.

The movie needed to be about what it was about, and only about that. There isn't enough of a connection drawn between it's major themes and the titular gangsters, for it to continue without that centre. It begins with astonishment and ends with confusion.

This is the 'true-life' movie about the rise, and subsequent fall, of England's best known gangsters, who were also identical twins. It was made whist Reg & Ron Kray were still alive, so the viewer must remember that the movie probably does not paint the entire picture of events in the 1950s & 1960s, as certain things that were not wanted to be included by the the Krays themselves, were therefore not included. Although the movie does glamorise it's two main characters, I believe it has done much to add to the myth and folklore that surrounds the Krays, which can only increase as time passes.

People young and old, and from all spectrum's of society, are drawn towards the Kray twins, and books have been written exploring this. Old-timers claim that the streets were safe to walk when the twins ruled London's East End, unlike now, and that the Krays 'only killed there own'. If you had a problem, say with a neighbour, you didn't go to the police, you went to the twins, who would have a quiet word in the right ear.

This is without a doubt the Kemp brothers best work outside Spandau Ballet. I understand that Martin Kemp did not want to meet the imprisoned twin he played (Reg), to avoid a playing a caricaturization of him. Although he did visit Ron in a mental hospital. Billie Whitlaw as the twins' mother Violet, was the best choice for the role, and Kate Hardie as Reg's wife was brilliant. My vote though, goes to the late Susan Fleetwood as the twins' Aunt Violet, whose haunting tale of the lake in Victoria Park is my all-time favourite.

I have discussed this movie at length with Reg Kray's son, even watching it with him, and he gives it his seal of approval.

... Unfortunately it isn't. By no means was I expecting genteel scenes of crocheting when I watched this (in-fact, it would've been a disservice to history if it HADN'T been violent), but I was hoping for more than the cardboard stereotypes that serve as characterisation throughout the entire film; ruffians who love their mum, guys getting irked at the invasion of their 'patch', etc. Actually this lazy patchwork of legend inadvertently provides a useful denouement for the audience - it shows the Krays up to have been little more than thugs who don't deserve the revisionism that's often cast back in their direction, nor a decent movie based on their lives. Still, a try would've been nice, at least...

With every other element of the story missing, it's only the scenes containing violence that ever once threaten to come alive. This adds precious little overall though, as anyone who didn't know that these guys were brutal BEFORE watching the film probably regretted their decision to see it in any case afterwards! Such British people (if indeed they exist at all) should perhaps return to cave-dwelling...

The Kemp brothers do OK, I suppose, but their greatest plus is indeed the fact that they ARE siblings. Hardly a stretch, is it?

I hadn't seen the ratings on IMDb until after watching the movie itself. I have to say, that is some harsh reviews there. The whole film was indeed enjoyable, it portrayed the Krays and London gang-lands as a whole, very well. There were moments in the film where it became very boring and quite monotonous, in the sense that it seemed as if it were never going to end, but the last thirty minutes really makes the film worth watching. After seeing Goodfellas and hearing that it was a lot like that but a little less funny and, of course, a lot more English-based, I expected quite a lot. Nevertheless, this film still surprised me and maintained to keep me on edge throughout the entirety of its showing. If I could give it any rating, I'd give it around 7.6, but I'd have to round this to 8. It's a brilliant film and it doesn't merely deserve 6.6 overall.

The only people who complain about this movie on this comment board are

people who have some idea about what the Krays were really like and they

dislike the movie because it does parrot back at them ideas they already

hold. Well, I'd never heard of the Krays before I saw this movie and

I've never heard them mentioned in any other context since I saw this

movie, so ultimately, it really doesn't matter at all what the real

Krays were really like. To call this wondeful, creepy, scary,

entertaining and well observed movie "rubbish" is to fundamentally

misunderstand how movies work or what they are supposed to do. Stick to

the History Channel if all you want is history. And stick to

eavesdropping at Starbucks if you want to hear how people really talk.

If you want a dazzling exploration of psychic violence passed through

generations, and the creeping horror of living side-by-side with

homicidal maniacs who are strangely beloved by a hero-starved populace,

the watch The Kra

Anyone with the slightest bit of knowledge of the Krays and the east end of London will notice the glaring problems with this film. When I first watched this movie I thought it was great but having watched it a few times since, (I own it on DVD) it just gets worse with every view.

Some of the acting is suspect and the locations are nowhere near accurate. There are so many missing chapters in the twins life that the film will just leave you wanting more.

Definitely the worst aspect though is the completely inane ramblings of Violet Kray, the twins mother. This was included to add a little drama but you can't help thinking that the film maker's could have included a little more on the police investigations, the disappearance of a few east end villains etc. surely the twins actions could have created enough drama of their own..

In a departure from the normal "rise and fall" format, this fact-based movie focuses on the personal lives of the legendary London gangsters and attempts to show how their upbringing moulded them into the notorious villains that they eventually became. The relationships that they had with their mother and each other were undoubtedly the most significant factors in determining how they conducted themselves as individuals but a key meeting with an inmate that they encountered in a military prison is also portrayed as being pivotal to the direction that their criminal careers ultimately took.

Born in 1933, identical twins, Ronnie (Gary Kemp) and Reggie Kray (Martin Kemp) were brought up in a female dominated, working-class milieu in London's East End and from the very beginning were doted on by their overprotective mother Violet (Billie Whitelaw) who taught them to be fiercely loyal to each other. Their father, Charlie (Alfred Lynch) was a draft dodger and gambler who lived under the thumb of Violet and her female coterie and like men in general, was consistently berated by these women. As children, the twins became obsessed with crocodiles and snakes and became school bullies. When Ronnie was hospitalized with diphtheria and Violet didn't believe that he was getting the treatment he needed, she and her sisters etc. forcefully discharged him from hospital after abusing his doctor both verbally and physically.

After being conscripted into National Service, the recalcitrant brothers soon showed their unwillingness to conform to Army discipline by assaulting their sergeant and this led to a period in a military prison where a meeting with another inmate convinced them that their power to instil fear into other people would make it easy for them to achieve whatever they wanted. This inspired them to launch the very successful protection racket that became the foundation for the major criminal enterprise that they subsequently built and their acquisition of some nightclubs soon brought them into contact with numerous celebrities, aristocrats and MPs and provided them with a veneer of respectability, in the early 1960s.

As adults, the brothers remained devoted and obedient to their mother and visibly glowed at the compliments she gave them on their success and the Savile Row suits that made them "look like proper little gentlemen". As brothers, their extraordinary closeness manifested in them dreaming the same dreams and having the capacity to finish each other's sentences. Ronnie was a brutal psychopath and as the dominant twin, was always a strong influence on Reggie. A problem arose one night in one of their clubs when Ronnie saw Reggie chatting up a young woman called Frances (Kate Hardie) and on feeling intensely jealous, turned his anger on a random customer, who had the misfortune to be standing close to him and after some threatening verbal exchanges, in an act of gross brutality, took him outside and used a sword to give him "a permanent smile".

Reggie later married Frances but their happiness was short-lived because she couldn't adjust to his lifestyle or being constrained from even buying her own clothes and after suffering a breakdown, she tragically committed suicide.

The Krays' story is fascinating but some of the violent scenes in this movie are grotesque and deeply unpleasant to watch. Martin and Gary Kemp of "Spandau Ballet" fame are surprisingly convincing as the twin bothers and Billie Whitelaw is superb as their mother. The supporting cast is uniformly good with Jimmy Jewel standing out as the twins' larger-than-life grandfather who inspired their interest in boxing, regaled them with colourful accounts of "Jack The Ripper's" exploits and even throws in an enthusiastic performance of "Balling The Jack" for good measure. Overall, this is a very worthwhile movie that entertains and informs but also generates interest to learn more about these kings of organised crime who seemed to be able to carry on their criminal activities for a very long time before eventually being brought to justice in March 1969.

This fact-based drama about the notorious East London gangsters is worthy of praise for how it focused on character but it also descended into shock and titillation and gratuitous violence which drowns out the character development in the second and third acts. There is a mismatch too - we go from angelic boys to very graphic violence portrayed by The Kemp Brothers which failed to give us the chilling and frightning nature to the two men, a trait which was the subject of so many articles in the British newspapers over the preceding 25 years. The domineering mother features heavily and her immediate family as outcasts, sticking together in an "us vs the world" defiance. It also features the jealousy leading to hyperviolent bloodletting, the homosexuality of one brother, and it avoids the glamour of gangster lifestyle that would be the mainstay of many other London gangster films of the late 1990s.