Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #64366 in DVD
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Running time: 119 minutes

Amazon.com
Director Peter Medak's gritty voyage into the world of organized crime in 1960s London is a disturbing character study of the two most frightening and influential gangsters to ever come out of England, Ronnie and Reggie Kray. The ingenious casting of former pop icons Gary and Martin Kemp (of Spandau Ballet) as the powerful Kray brothers works well, establishing an eerie, unspoken connection between the two that is unsettling and extremely daunting.

One scene in particular epitomizes that bond: Ronnie and Reggie come face to face in a boxing ring, each daring the other through snarls and psychopathic grins to knock the other down. Ringside spectators can't really understand the brothers' confrontation, but in the Krays' eyes we can see their power and unspoken resolve, as well as their sense of themselves as existing in an upper echelon of strength and sheer will that clearly separates them from the onlookers.

It's this intense self-confidence that enables the Krays to rise from working-class obscurity to the highest ranks of organized crime. The Kemp boys also do a splendid job in portraying the inherent instability associated with the Krays. This true story follows the brothers from childhood through their rise and then fall from grace, as their personal lives and violent natures culminate in two murder charges, resulting in 30 years of imprisonment. Beyond its folkloric power, The Krays also captures a post-World War II London still recovering from the war's devastation, dismissing the mythos of the Swinging '60s people so fervently relate to this period. --Jeremy Storey

Customer Reviews

Stylized vision of violence
I have 80% of my VHS and DVD collection at my workplace; coworkers are free to sign out a video. No one, except me, likes "The Krays." I love it. The style, the color, the pacing (especially the pacing), make this movie strong and gripping. I love that the Kray "bruvvas" (brothers) are played by real-life brothers, the Kemps; they have a chemistry. Watch how the one brother's wife falls apart over time: I could identify with her; it is an implosion, not an explosion. At one point you see the lower-class street filled with the black Rolls-Royces of crime colleagues, followed by tea and cookies served by the Kray brothers' mother (look at your own mother and feel free to judge): a touch of biological family and neighborly values mixed with neighborhood cultural leadership through violence and greed. This film is useful for its documentary value, for viewers who know nothing about the Krays; it is worth seeing by any viewer for its beauty and style. I can only guess, regarding my coworkers who dislike it, that their dislike comes from its non-Hollywood feel.

If only on dvd
Why isnt this movie on dvd in the USA? Its one of the best movies about gangsters Ive ever seen.

Criminal Twins: A Volatile Combination
Great casting coup by having brothers Gary and Martin Kemp portray real-life English criminals Reggie and Ronald Kray. I agree that the boxing scene between the two could not have been more realistic if the actors had not been siblings. Although a "contest" between the two, it is this warning to others who may cross either of the guys' paths: WATCH OUT! WE ARE TROUBLE!

Both Kemps are excellent and are matched in performing by the always magnificent Billie Whitelaw as their overprotective but well-meaning mother. Due to the family's economic situation and her less-than-perfect marriage, Whitelaw's Violet is a most intriguing character.

Although it contains some acts of disturbing violence, the story itself keeps the viewer engrossed as it reveals a seedier side of the "proper" English. It shows that America doesn't have a monopoly on gangsters.