The Football Factory Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

The Football Factory Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 4, 2009

Offensive, violent and hilarious Nick Love's "The Football Factory" (2004) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Momentum Pictures. Amongst the special features on the disc are an audio commentary with Nick Love and actor Danny Dyer, Making of, deleted scenes, a short film by Nick Love, alternate opening scene, production design concepts and more. All of the supplemental features are perfectly playable on North American Blu-ray players and PS3s. Region-Free.

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Based on the novel by John King, The Football Factory follows the deeds of a young Chelsea fan, Tommy Johnson (Danny Dyer, The Business), whose life is at a dead end. He fights members of rivaling “firms” (large gangs of football fans), takes drugs, and sleeps around. He does not have a solid job or a place to call home.

Many of Tommy’s best friends are unemployed or criminals with long records. They pride themselves as being true Chelsea fans, men willing to fight and even die for their favorite club. It is their hate for other firms, however, that unites them, not their love for Chelsea. Their biggest rivals are Millwall, West Ham, and Cardiff.

Tommy is liked by one of the firm’s leaders, Billy (Frank Harper, Kung Fu Flid), who uses his status to deal drugs with another firm leader - Millwall’s own Fred (Tamer Hassan, City Rats). Tommy respects Billy but finds his business practice disingenuous. Still, he never gets in Billy’s way.

Bob is Tommy’s best friend. He is also a complete loser. Bob drinks heavily, fights, and sleeps with women he knows he would never have a serious relationship with. Like Tommy, Bob has no goals or plans for the future. His life is a repetitive cycle of crime.

Zeberdee (Roland Manookian, Goodbye Charlie Bright) is one of the firm’s youngest members. Willing to prove that he could be trusted, Zeberdee often gets himself in trouble. Billy does not like Zeberdee and often reminds him of his feelings.

Tommy's grandfather, Bill (Dudley Sutton, Season of Mists), and his best friend, Albert (John Junkin) are planning to immigrate to Australia. They are fed up with the lousy English weather. And all the lousy British women that come with it.

Director Nick Love’s The Football Factory searches for the missing link between football hooliganism and poverty and unemployment in England by borrowing plenty of ideas from Ken Loach’s early films (Raining Stones). Naturally, in it humor and drama are closely intertwined. Unlike Loach’s films, however, The Football Factory comes dangerously close to promoting what it is supposedly condemning.

The main characters are impossible to like. Most of them, however, are surprisingly entertaining. Dany Deyer is quite convincing playing a loser tormented by nightmares and idiotic friends. His tongue is sharper than it should be, but one could successfully argue that the narrative demands it.

Director Love and cinematographer Damian Bromley (The Business) have given The Football Factory a rough yet very stylish look. The black and white footage preceding some of the big fights for example looks terrific.

The Football Factory also benefits from a solid soundtrack of top tunes: “Haunted by a Freak” by Mogwai, “Miss Lucifer” by Primal Scream, “Tunnel Vision” by Orbital, “Leather” by Death in Vegas, "You're Fit But You Know It" by The Streets, “Now Is The Time” by Freestylers, and “Going Underground” by Jam, amongst others.

The Football Factory Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.34:1, encoded with MPEG-2 and granted a 1080p transfer, Nick Love's The Football Factory arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Momentum Pictures.

This is a strong transfer. Contras is excellent, clarity decent and detail about as good as it could be. The color-scheme is also very convincing. Blues, greens, grays, blacks and whites are lush and well saturated, yet very natural looking. Aside from a few tiny flecks that I spotted very early on, the print is in fantastic condition. Dirt, debris, scratches, or stains are not present. This being said, there are quite a few scenes where contrast and grain have been intentionally boosted in order to enhance the gritty aura of the film (mostly footage from the backstreets of London). Mild edge-enhancement is noticeable throughout the film, but it is certainly not a serious issue of concern. Macroblocking does not plague the transfer. To sum it all up, I have absolutely no problem recommending The Football Factory to you. (Note: Even though this Blu-ray disc is marketed as Region-B "locked", it is in fact Region-Free. PS3 users, please note that there is no PAL content preceding the main feature. Therefore, you will be able to play the disc on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location).

The Football Factory Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: English Dolby Digital 5.1. For the record, Momentum Pictures have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

It is a bit disappointing to see that Momentum Pictures have not included a loseless track of some sort on this disc. The Football Factory has a top-notch soundtrack, which I am convinced many of you would be thrilled with. Top tunes by Mogwai, Death in Vegas, Orbital, Primal Scream, The Streets, and Freestylers amongst others compliment the narrative.

The English Dolby Digital 5.1 track is acceptable but far from impressive. The bass is strong but lacking depth, the rear channels not too active, and the high-frequencies not overdone. The dialog is crisp and clear. I am, however, convinced that many of you would end up using the optional English subtitles the distributors have provided. I personally had a lot of trouble understanding everything that was said. Furthermore, there are no disturbing pops, cracks, hissings, or dropouts that I detected. There are no balance issues to report either. To sum it all up, even though there are no serious issues with the English Dolby Digital 5.1 track, it is rather disappointing that Momentum Pictures' Blu-ray release of The Football Factory does not contain a loseless track.

The Football Factory Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Audio commentary - director Nick Love and actor Danny Dyer offer an excellent commentary. It is explicit, somewhat informative, and irresistibly hilarious. Do not miss it!

Deleted scenes - eight deleted scenes, some quite hilarious. Not subtitled in English. (6 min, 480/60i).

The Making of the Football Factory - a generic featurette showing director Love and cast members working on different scenes, commenting on story of the film, and having a good time. Not subtitled in English. (34 min, 480/60i).

Nick Love's Short Film - a hilarious and at the same time sad short film about life on the streets. Not subtitled in English. (16 min, 480/60i).

Alternate Opening Scene - a short but very funny scene. Not subtitled in English. (2 min, 480/60i).

Fight scene - stills from the final fight scene. (4 min, 480/60i).

Original production design concepts - (1 min, 480/60i).

Trailer - (2 min, 480/60i).

TV spot - (1 min, 480/60i).

The Football Factory Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I've wanted to write a review for The Football Factory for quite some time now. I saw it when it was first released in 2004 and thought that it was very well made. Since then, I've seen practically everything Danny Dyer and Tamer Hassan have been a part of. Unfortunately, in the United States, Image Entertainment treated this film very poorly. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of Momentum Pictures, looks very good but lacks a strong loseless audio track. Still, I am going to recommend The Football Factory to you. It is one hell of a film!