SYNOPSICS
Red Mercury (2005) is a English movie. Roy Battersby has directed this movie. David Bradley,Stockard Channing,Pete Postlethwaite,Ron Silver are the starring of this movie. It was released in 2005. Red Mercury (2005) is considered one of the best Crime,Drama,Thriller movie in India and around the world.
Three young Muslim men, part of a terror cell, are making a bomb in a London flat, when they get a call to vacate immediately with their gear. The Police have been alerted and they are under suspicion. Asif (Navin Chowdhry), Shahid (San Shella), and Mushtaq (Alex Caan) grab suitcases, the computer, and a cardboard box containing bomb-making equipment and bolt out the door. Shahid's getaway car is clamped, so the three are forced to escape on foot from the pursuing Police. Cornered, they dive into a restaurant on a busy city street. It is the Olympus Grill and dinner is being served to its well-heeled clientele. With the Police outside, Asif, Shahid, and Mushtaq have nowhere to go. Mushtaq, thinking quickly, declares that they will hold the restaurant goers hostage. The diners are forced to get up from their tables. They are lined up against a wall. Electra (Amanda Ryan), the young waitress, is also forced to stand in line. Her mother, who is the restaurant owner, comes out from the ...
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Red Mercury (2005) Reviews
A Mature, Intelligent and Ambitious Thriller Let Down by Uninspired Direction and Terrible Production Values
With a cast of great TV actors, Stockard Channing, Pete Postlethwaite, Juliet Stevenson, to name but a few, and an excellent script from the writer Farrukh Dhondy, I was definitely interested to see the film when it was listed on satellite TV. What other films with the subject nature of terrorism fail on is insight into character. As a long standing British Asian writer and educator, Dhondy has a clear insight into the three dimensional Asian terrorists he has created (all well played by young, little known actors). These are people he understands intimately, and represent the patchwork nature of British Islamism. Further, Dhondy does not flinch from telling harsh truths, both about Muslims and Non-Muslims. It is a must for all who want an insight into the roots of British Islamism. Moreover, Dhondy's gifts as a storyteller also shine through and his script is intelligent, funny and gripping, a rare combination. His only fault is in trying to pack too many characters and plot-lines in. I can understand he was trying to create a climate around the theme of generation gap and cultural degeneration, but the tapestry feeling seemed a little contrived. What lets the film down is its clearly pathetic budget. In a small, low-key drama, this hardly matters. However, in an upmarket, 'big' thriller such as this, the cheap production jars in the eye of the viewer. This doesn't matter so much when dealing with the holed-up terrorists and their hostages, but on the parallel plot following the police, it really shows. The police seem to have the resources not of the entire Met, but of a village police station. Related to this, the direction, while competent, is also uninspired, making it look very much like another piece of unoriginal TV, and there is one truly howling continuity error, for which the editor should be shot (figuratively, of course). Red Mercury certainly would have been better off as a Channel 4 Mini Series, instead of the childish, unimformed Britz (a major Channel 4 mini series of 2007- even stranger when you consider that Dhondy himself was a senior Channel 4 Executive for many years). It is also a real shame that this film was made in 2005, clearly just before the London Bombings, as its ultimately upbeat message was obliterated by the actions of real 'home-grown' terrorists. This must have been one of the reasons for its commercial collapse when it was finally released.
Timely, British thriller
Had a chance to catch this film at the Montreal World Film Festival. The screenwriter was there to introduce the film, and some interesting behind-the-scenes anecdotes. This movie was released just before the London bombings, so the timing was eerie. The movie tries to cover a lot of ground, as it reveals some back story of the terrorists, as well as the hostages. Some high powered British movie stars play in this movie, including Stockard Channing. Ron Silver is in it as well. When I think back to it, the movie plays a bit like "24". The movie has a good pace to it, not too slow. I expect this movie will be released in the U.S. as well; worth watching.
Has the look and feel of a made for TV drama
First the positive The movie opens like a real thriller, with some good action shots with a pace and score that that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The cast all do a good job with their roles, the dialog and story line are credible for the most part. The score moves along well with the scenes. On the down side the overall look and feel of this movie puts it squarely in the made for TV drama category. There are no real surprises. The action is quickly toned down to family prime viewing level and the drama level increases proportionately. This, IMO, is not a bad movie but it doesn't offer the kind of entertainment value you would expect from a big screen film. It will do well on TV on both sides of the pond.
Very tense well written thriller
Three Muslim men making a bomb are tipped off that the police are after them and run out of their flat as the police arrive, thinking on their feet they go into the nearest open building, a Greek restaurant, and hold the staff and patrons hostage while they try to figure out a way to complete their plan. The script is well written and the acting is very good throughout, the tension is kept up well and you do end up understanding why some of the men think the way they do. The police are shown as very clever and quick thinking, which makes a nice change as often they are portrayed as foolish,and the film seems very realistic with the obligatory dramatic finale of course. Overall a decent, interesting film which I doubt many would be bored by and one worth a look if you're bored or just fancy a good thriller. SPOILER: While the film is tense and dramatic most of the time there is one scene that made me laugh out loud and provided a touch of light relief to the tension. Stockard Channings character intervenes in the process of making demands with a request concerning the Elgin Marbles. As the police and MI5 read the list of demands they pause, look confused and then we find out what was added....
Should've been better
Good cast, promising storyline, mediocre film. It started off alright, then kind of shot itself in the foot. There was some blatantly bad science in the form of a computer hard disk being added to the bomb. It was without its cover. Hard disks do not operate in the open, they must have clean-room conditions. What else wrecked it was all the side-tracks and sub-plots such as the druggie daughter. These added nothing to the story and were added presumably as filler. All it did was make the production look even more TV-ish. Anyway, it's got some good one-liners and a few funny bits that might make it worth a watch.