Seven years on, Guy Ritchie’s gangster caper has lost little of its lustre. It’s still a big heap of fun and, while it’s now apparent that there’s little here that’s entirely original, the sheer bravado of the production maintains the impact it created upon release in 1998. Restored footage in this new Director’s Cut adds a new opening scene about the rules of Three-Card Brag, leading nicely into the tale of four hapless friends accidentally in debt to the local hardnut to the tune of half-a-million.
DVD Extras:
Given that this is the `Shotgun' edition, you'd expect the extras to provide more bang for your buck, et voila, seven featurettes provide further insight into the making of the movie (even if the absence of key contributors leaves them a little lacking). A brace of games and vintage publicity material fills out the package nicely, but the absence of a commentary track from writer-director Ritchie seems like something of a sizeable oversight.
