LONDON HEIST is a low rent action vehicle for gruff hardman Craig Fairbrass, here playing the usual thick-skinned gangster type who goes gunning for revenge when criminals torture and murder his dad, played by a cameoing Steven Berkoff. Although low budget, this film has a decent pace and is generally pretty enjoyable, certainly more so than your usual Danny Dyer or - god forbid - Simon Phillips production. The violence is harsh and gritty and there's some action to give it energy and drive. Fairbrass remains likeable and is well supported by a reliable James Cosmo and Nick Moran, the latter appearing after seeming to be off our screens for a couple of decades.
25 Reviews
London Heist
uzach7 October 2019
Always been a huge gangster movie fan and even more so British gangster movies but like the horror genre it has become very hard to find a good one,
Kept seeing this pop up on Netflix but didn't know anything about it other than it starred a couple of good British actors so thought I'd give it ago,
Right from the start I was into it, it had all the DNA to make a great movie and to be honest it's a really good solid movie and I'd recommend it to any crime movie fan,
Craig Fairbrass and Nick Moran nailed it for me, Fairbrass pulling off the hard-man role he has nailed so many times in the past and Nick Moran returning to he's character in Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels only this time he is an old school dodgy looking police officer.
Kept seeing this pop up on Netflix but didn't know anything about it other than it starred a couple of good British actors so thought I'd give it ago,
Right from the start I was into it, it had all the DNA to make a great movie and to be honest it's a really good solid movie and I'd recommend it to any crime movie fan,
Craig Fairbrass and Nick Moran nailed it for me, Fairbrass pulling off the hard-man role he has nailed so many times in the past and Nick Moran returning to he's character in Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels only this time he is an old school dodgy looking police officer.
Was hoping for a good heist movie, but was disappointed all around.
matthew-615-80982414 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers
I like heist movies, in general... they're good fun, even if they're sorta stupid like "Oceans 11". "Heat" was good. Even "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels".
This was boring. It was like someone had seen Heat and Lock Stock, and maybe Star Wars, and tried to mix them all together, including all of their "just One Last Job" clichés, but forgot to include either the clever dialogue or twisty plot, or some intense drama.
As others have said, the acting was pretty bad. Not all of it (Craig himself was fine) but there were enough wooden performances to overshadow the rest of it.
*spoilers below* And the writing just didn't make any sense. For instance, at the Club, near the end, our hero has his sorta-nemesis at gunpoint, and the dude starts laughing at him, saying "Oh, you don't have the balls to shoot me!" He literally had just shot him twice, and killed two guys on the way in. There was NO way that is an appropriate response, given the circumstances.
The ending was horribly unsatisfying. Not just the fact that everyone was dead. How was it that Alfie ended up in the hands of gangsters in the garage? He wouldn't have gone to meet them somewhere, unless he planned to kill them. And why would anybody have known that he had found out the truth about the family? How would they know that Holley told him? And he had JUST gotten the letter in the mail himself. What a mess.
This was boring. It was like someone had seen Heat and Lock Stock, and maybe Star Wars, and tried to mix them all together, including all of their "just One Last Job" clichés, but forgot to include either the clever dialogue or twisty plot, or some intense drama.
As others have said, the acting was pretty bad. Not all of it (Craig himself was fine) but there were enough wooden performances to overshadow the rest of it.
*spoilers below* And the writing just didn't make any sense. For instance, at the Club, near the end, our hero has his sorta-nemesis at gunpoint, and the dude starts laughing at him, saying "Oh, you don't have the balls to shoot me!" He literally had just shot him twice, and killed two guys on the way in. There was NO way that is an appropriate response, given the circumstances.
The ending was horribly unsatisfying. Not just the fact that everyone was dead. How was it that Alfie ended up in the hands of gangsters in the garage? He wouldn't have gone to meet them somewhere, unless he planned to kill them. And why would anybody have known that he had found out the truth about the family? How would they know that Holley told him? And he had JUST gotten the letter in the mail himself. What a mess.
Boring
Patricia892 September 2018
The name and picture from the movie gave me the feeling it had to be a great action movie. Sadly its not, the story is bad and predictible and a lack of action. Even the ending was horrible. I think it was a waste of time to watch.
Awful!
Florin_Varna22 July 2017
What an utter waste of time. The script is right down atrocious, the acting is wooden, even from veteran actors, cinematography is non-existent. What can I say more? Stay away from this cheap shot at British gangster genre. The cast got a free holiday shooting in Spain, I guess...
Hugh Peters
rajitecture11 June 2021
Anyone else catch the name on the main character's fake passport??? Aside from that gem, the movie still has enough to keep me watching, but barely. I probably wouldn't recommend it to anyone that is looking for a movie night. Too many better movies out there to throw 2 hrs down the drain. If you're really into heist movies...OK, go for it.
Stare at the wall for 90 minutes, you'll be better off.
daveylang17 July 2017
Warning: Spoilers
I am not sure who put up the money for this, but he would have been better off drinking it. Lame plot, wooden acting, and a total non-ending sum it up. Holes in the plot, timings and action out of sync, and the clichéd London hard man spiel is worn out. Not good overall. A waste of time.
Underated Brit Crime Movie
alanlamont-3415417 April 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Not a big fan of the factory that churns out a succession of mostly " low budget " Gangster movies but Craig Fairbrass has been in a few pretty damn good ones and it's surprising to see that lesser " Brit " talents have made it bigger in the USA , or in some notable cases , sheer crap , while the two main protagonists are very good and compatible with much bigger budget Hollywood , or indeed , established " Brit Studios " . Having said that , some of the casting was rather " suspect " shall we say ( given the family connections to the makers and a certain cliche or loyalty to local actors ) . LENNY the rival gangster did a reasonable impersonation of the more deranged Kray brother and managed a certain amount of menace as opposed to his so called " gang " who looked more like a boy band , but the worst MISCASTING AS OPPOSED TO WORST ACTING , was the two main police officers , who looked more like a pimp and a virgin . The pimp claimed to have been chasing the firm for FIFTEEN YEARS and assuming it took him 5 years service to even get into CID then at least a further five years to be in charge of MAJOR CRIME = and he still manages to be completely unconvincing and too young for the character he is playing . The reviewer who mentioned that this is a rip off , is either very young or hasn't watched many movies ..
Cliche British Crime Film Hits A Wall.
william-grant-13 February 2019
Okay, so i'm not going to describe the film like some others have, that's not a review.
What i can say is that this particular film is a poor mismatch of other films that seems to have been cut short.
The cast is made up of actors whom have all been in other gangster type realeases who have obviously been type cast now & this is the best job offer they can get.
The way the Police has been depicted is laughable ! A major crime in progress & we see one van & an unmarked car responding ? Totally ridiculous.
James Cosmo, the SCOTTISH actor is laughable, he is struggling so badly with the London accent his delivery just fails, his tone & manner is totally off, this is also the case for the rival villian, just totally unbelievable.
Overall the film is garbage, not gritty just cliche.
Action packed fun U.K. flick
Top_Dawg_Critic17 July 2017
This was Mark McQueen's second major film he directed, and he did an amazing job once again. This is an action packed low budget U.K. flick with great cinematography and editing. It's nothing great, but it is fun.
Writer and lead actor Craig Fairbrass kicks some as* in both his screenplay and his acting.
Sure the story has been done before many times, but I can never get bored of this type of U.K. action flick, especially as a low budget entry into this genre.
Rating this film on its merits and as a B-type low budget film, it's a fun 8/10 from me.
Writer and lead actor Craig Fairbrass kicks some as* in both his screenplay and his acting.
Sure the story has been done before many times, but I can never get bored of this type of U.K. action flick, especially as a low budget entry into this genre.
Rating this film on its merits and as a B-type low budget film, it's a fun 8/10 from me.
Bought the DVD just last night.
xpat-551925 September 2018
Very disappointing: As a Brit, I found this to be a fairly boring formulaic gangster story. The brittle story starts off as fairly ho-hum and quickly degenerated into a what struck me as being an inexperienced writer's mid-script malaise, and, quite frankly, closes with a finale that sadly occurs as being a hastily-contrived stopgap afterthought.
Just don't expect or compare to masterpieces like "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels".
Call me.
nogodnomasters25 July 2017
Warning: Spoilers
The film opens and ends with Jack (Craig Fairbrass) on the beach bleeding out with a bag of money. The film goes back in time 2 weeks and shows us Jack and his gang robbing a bank and getting away with it as they celebrate their last job. However, things don't go as planned and Jack's life is turned upside down as he follows the clues on a cell phone.
This is another improbable high action film with inept cops unable to catch a man who kills in public with a witness. Jack robs and kills people and is our bad guy protagonist as we all wish him well trying to take money that doesn't belong to him, kill people along the way and retire in Spain with a pretty lady. I felt I have seen it before.
Guide: F-word. No sex. Stripper nudity.
This is another improbable high action film with inept cops unable to catch a man who kills in public with a witness. Jack robs and kills people and is our bad guy protagonist as we all wish him well trying to take money that doesn't belong to him, kill people along the way and retire in Spain with a pretty lady. I felt I have seen it before.
Guide: F-word. No sex. Stripper nudity.
Tiresome
marklaw-3780612 August 2020
I usually love heist movies...
dabigplanet-9610219 April 2021
But this is not good. I was desperate to see a good heist movie. It's my favorite genre. I don't know what this is. Someone sat behind a computer and compiled every single cliche they could and emailed it to a studio. Voila! Crappy movie.
Not as bad as people are making out.
davebrown-617635 August 2017
I quite enjoyed this Brit gangster flick, some well known actors and a believable story line. I get the feeling that some people out there won't like a film unless it has a bond like budget and all celebrity A listers. This film hits the mark and is worth a rental or purchase, story line was good, twists and turns kept you guessing; I've seen a lot worse. Give it a go, you won't be disappointed!
True good gangster film from UK.
searchanddestroy-116 September 2018
The overall scheme reminds me Antonia Bird's FACE, from 1997, another gangster flick from UK involving armes robbers, very Professional ones, who pull a major heist in a security complex facility, a sort of money depot destined to armored trucks, as here. A heist which is the prelude to a blood bath between hoodlums. And this one doesn't look like another Guy Ritchie like crap with plenty of black humour or crazy characters or situations. I am sick of this kind of garbage stuff. I crave for brutal, nasty, disturbing noir tales. You also have a kind of HEAT influence, an important one on several scenes between the police and gangsters. And the final part too, very close to Michael Mann's masterpiece. I don't understand the negative comments about this movie. Really. I have seen many amateurish UK crimes movies since a couple of years, corny, bleak, cheesy features, FAR FAR worse than this one, believe me. Craig Fairbass gives here a powerful performance as a rough professional hoodlum; Vinnie Jones - whom I always confound with Craig Fairbrass - too is a new British typical actor for villains or at least badass characters. The same kind of character which Ray Winstone had done ten years earlier in similar topics. But speaking of Guy Ritchie above, this comment is updated now in 2023, and Ritchie has precisely made a crime drama since, in the meantime, starring Jason Statham, and taking place in a security complex - which I denied in 2018, saying Ritchie stuff from which the early 2000's was miles away.... This very brutal, worth fikm is WRATH OF A MAN. So please forgive me Guy...OK?
Classic Craig Fairbrass
paulwalters-887001 March 2020
GUN-SMOKED
Richie-67-4858528 January 2021
This is what we love i.e. heist movies with elite teams, lots of money and the old favorite lead-up with "will they get away with it? How much did they get? Shoot-outs? Ammo? Getaway cars? Police pursuit, betrayal and finally how does it end? We are talking about money to last a good life time too. Smooth action delivered by the lead actor with good supporting cast makes this a nice, tense, well-spent use of your time. Now to reality. A crooks life is phony from start to finish and in between. Why? They try to live like normal people with their ill-gotten gains but that is impossible to do? Why? They triggered the Universal law of "you reap what you sow" which is non-negotiable. Another violation of the Universal law is is "whatever you get into gets into you" thus making us responsible for our actions earning our judgment. The end result is a conscience that is never at rest, appetites that cannot be quenched and one huge never-ending unrest. The only remedy is repentance which means "change" in the Greek. Even so, it is a misspent life. We all want the money but another Universal law kicks in i.e. "it is not what you have but how you have come to have it" catches up with you. Temptation says to go for it! I say pass on it and have peace. Enjoy this with a sandwich and snack and of course a tasty drink.
Low Budget UK Action Flick - That Proves Crime Comes At A High Cost
whitegandalf20 July 2017
Starts off with the lead character speeding off covered in blood in a suped up car with a bag full of money. Then the movie cuts back two weeks and you begin the tale of how being the part of a Heist sin't all what it's cracked up to be.
But it's not always plain sailing in the life of major gangland crime and heists... even more so when you have a seasoned cop hell bent on catching the lifelong robber and criminal who just wants his next job to be his last.
I always seem to enjoy Craig Fairbass in these type of roles.. give credit it is a low budget movie and another reviewer said it was not so good. I've seen a lot worse with better ratings and since it gives a different look at major crimes, quite a few action scenes and plot turns I rate it 8/10. It might be one I come back to as well.
But it's not always plain sailing in the life of major gangland crime and heists... even more so when you have a seasoned cop hell bent on catching the lifelong robber and criminal who just wants his next job to be his last.
I always seem to enjoy Craig Fairbass in these type of roles.. give credit it is a low budget movie and another reviewer said it was not so good. I've seen a lot worse with better ratings and since it gives a different look at major crimes, quite a few action scenes and plot turns I rate it 8/10. It might be one I come back to as well.
Fairbrass at his best
iainsmith-1806118 December 2020
Awesome
fukasanjay20 August 2017
This film served as great entertainment with its colorful cast and numerous plot twists. Nolan used actors that had either appeared in previous Batman films or in his blockbuster hit Inception, and all of them shone in their respective roles: Tom Hardy was almost unrecognizable in his Bane costume, while Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard were both excellent—and obviously comfortable with Nolan's directing style and the film's dramatic tone.
Really enjoyable
MrMacauw11 January 2022
what happened to the money?
ksf-224 April 2021
London Heist, aka Gunned Down. So much blood and guts. Jack Cregan has continued the family business - professional robbery. Just like the old man. But where did all the money go? Jack wants to find it, but runs into roadblocks from all sides as he starts getting in peoples' faces. And now he's got assassins coming after him. And his family. And he doesn't even know if he can trust the old family friends he thought were on his side. Can he find his enemies before they find him? It's good. Directed by Mark McQueen. Has only directed a couple films. Does mostly television. Original story by Craig Fairbrass, Frank Harper, Simon Eldon-Edington.
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