Snatch (DVD 2001)

Guy Ritchie strikes again with another cockney crime caper with a hilariously twisted plot, very much in the same vein as the fantastic Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels. The main difference here is that everything is bigger, better and faster; the budget, the stars, the locations, the editing, the endlessly quotable dialogue and the music. The ball starts rolling when Franky Four Fingers (Benico Del Toro) steals a huge priceless diamond from Antwerp and brings it to London on route to New York. Cue murder, betrayl, mayhem, strong language, thievery and a dog that'll eat just about anything. Endlessly watchable and entertaining. The best British film in years. Where else are you going to see Brad Pitt and Frank Butcher in the same feature?
The DVD is a corker too. Boasting many fantastic features including a commentary, deleted scenes, a documentary, interviews, trailers, TV spots, storyboard comparrisons, photo library and some absolutely hilarious hidden features.

Having converted most of my old video collection to DVD I was thrilled to find this film gem in digital format. If you watch this in widescreen format, it really does the battle scene great justice; coupled with surround sound, you'll be gripped by the amazing cinematography. I would recommend the director's cut that includes scenes about the relationship between the lead character and his estranged wife and helps you to understand the motivation behind his decision. The run time is 183 minutes for the directors cut and 120 minutes for the cinema version. I was, however, disappointed by the lack of extras, which any fan of this classic would expect to be included. There's only a 20-minute interview with the director and other shot "making-of" vignettes.

great.Having converted most of my old video collection to DVD I was thrilled to find this film gem in digital format. If you watch this in widescreen format, it really does the battle scene great justice; coupled with surround sound, you'll be gripped by the amazing cinematography. I would recommend the director's cut that includes scenes about the relationship between the lead character and his estranged wife and helps you to understand the motivation behind his decision. The run time is 183 minutes for the directors cut and 120 minutes for the cinema version. I was, however, disappointed by the lack of extras, which any fan of this classic would expect to be included. There's only a 20-minute interview

I was never really too keen on "Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels". All my friends constantly quoted it, raved and ranted, and then when "Snatch" came out, everyone made an even bigger deal of that. I watched Lock Stock, and though I did like it, it didn't really tickle my fancy. But Snatch, that's a completely different story all together.

When I saw Snatch at the cinemas, I was shocked to see a couple leave only fifteen minutes into the film. As they left, you could hear their intellectually deficient comments; "this movie is so boring". I couldn't believe it! I'd recommend this movie to ANYONE, The Pope even!

There are hundreds of thousands of reasons for anyone to see this movie; each word of the script being a reason.

Snatch is possibly one of THE best written movies I've seen. It's smart, witty, funny and has just the right touches of dark humour. With characters like Turkish, Mickey, Tommy, Brick Top, Bullet Tooth Tony and Cousin Avi; their witty repartee will have your personal quotes list full for months after watching it. The camera work and editing complement each other to keep the film's pace on its toes, much like the boxers at the center of the character's stories.

Jason Statham has some of THE best lines in the movie, constantly slamming anything even slightly intelligent his partner Tommy has to say. Brad Pitt turns out an excellent performance as the Irish-Gypsy-Pykie Mickey; his accent is hilarious.

Even though the story line is only a simple one (following a massive Diamond through England's criminal underworld), it is the connections each character has to the diamond and each other that really makes this film stand out from all the usual jewel-heist films.

Another 5 / 5 from me on this one, it's just a pity the follow up to Snatch was a "collaborative effort" from Mr. Richie and his um.......wife.

Folowing on from the very enjoyable and original low budget Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, this could almost be considered Lock, Stock part II as it reunites most of the cast and crew and it's another gangster movie set in London. However, although the stories are similar there are enough differences and new twists to allow this movie to be considered as a good and original movie in its own right.
Snatch starts with some jocular credits, and the robbery of an Antwerp diamond merchant's office by four thieves disguised as Hasidic Jews. Initially appear in black and white on a succession of CCTV screens, then when they reach their target, they're in colour as they grab the guns concealed on the chest of their leader. Seizing an 86-carat, size of your fist, diamond the robbers head to London to sell the stone and of course this is where the fun starts as all types of cockney and foreign misfits then become involved in the theft and counter-theft and attempted sale of said diamond.

Among the colourful array of characters on parade this time are jewish jewellers (Mike Reid and Dennis Farina), cockney hardman Bullet Tooth Tony (Vinnie Jones), a truly disgusting underground fight promoter by the unlikely name of Brick Top (Alan Ford), a Russian hitman - Boris the blade (Rade Serbedzija), a fight manager - Turkish (Jason Statham), and Irish traveller Mickey O'Neill (Brad Pitt). Ultimately the surprisingly excellent Brad Pitt steals the movie as the boxing 'yardy' nobody can understand but veteran British actor Alan Ford as the disgusting 'Brick Top' runs him close for best performance kudos.

Like its predecessor Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch is full of twists and turns and plenty of black humour but unlike its predecessor it's a bit more violent and the language is even stronger. It will probably still be unfairly compared to Tarantino but its still a clever and fun movie. My only criticism of Guy Ritchie would be that he needs to learn that less is sometimes more; the movie doesn't need as many twists and it doesn't need so many alternative showy camera angles and film styles. Don't get me wrong, they're good, just a couple too many. This is a four star movie that could have been five.

Pretty much the whole world knows Guy Ritchie's name now. Sadly most people rather insultingly and condescendingly know him as Mr Madonna but just like her first husband cruelly christened Mr Madonna, Sean Penn, Guy Ritchie is a great talent in his own right. However, the acid test of Guy Ritchie's talent will come with his next movie starring 'er indoors (as they say in cockney vernacular), the so far allergic to anything resembling believable acting Madonna. If he can get a decent performance out of Mrs Ritchie he truly will be hailed as a genius.