The Bank Job | 
| Director: Roger Donaldson
Actors: Jason Statham, Saffron Burrows, Stephen Campbell Moore, Daniel Mays, James Faulkner
Studio: Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy Used: $1.42
You Save: $18.56 (93%)
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Rating:  88 reviews
Sales Rank: 3757
Format: Ac-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 111 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: LGED23610D
UPC: 031398236108
EAN: 0031398236108
ASIN: B0019EXZY4
Theatrical Release Date: 2008
Release Date: July 15, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Inspired by the infamous 1971 robbery that took place at the Lloyds Bank in Marylebone London, THE BANK JOB stars Jason Statham and Saffron Burrows. The highly-charged heist thriller tautly interweaves high-level corruption, murder and sexual scandal in 1970s England. A car dealer with a dodgy past and new family, Terry (Statham) has always avoided major-league scams. But when Martine (Burrows), a beautiful model from his old neighborhood, offers him a lead on a foolproof bank hit on London's Baker Street, Terry recognizes the opportunity of a lifetime. Martine targets a roomful of safe deposit boxes worth millions in cash and jewelry. But Terry and his crew don't realize the boxes also contain a treasure trove of dirty secrets - secrets that will thrust them into a deadly web of corruption and illicit scandal that spans London's criminal underworld, the highest echelons of the British government, and the Royal Family itself...the true story of a heist gone wrong...in all the right ways.
Amazon.com
A cheerful, energetic, and completely entertaining movie, The Bank Job follows some small-time hoods who think they've lucked into a big-time opportunity when they learn a bank's security system will be temporarily suspended--little suspecting that they're being manipulated by government agents for their own ends. The result is that the movie doubles its pleasures: While the robbery itself has the usual suspense of a heist film, when the robbery is over the hoods find themselves being hunted by the police, the government, and brutal criminal kingpins who were storing dangerous information in a safety deposit box. The Bank Job won't win any awards, but it's enormously fun. Director Roger Donaldson (No Way Out, Species) propels the action along with vigor, editing zippily with perfect clarity among multiple storylines and various colorful characters. Jason Statham (Snatch, The Transporter), as the leader of the bank robbers, successfully steps away from his usual bone-crunching roles to a more human presence. The rest of the cast--including Saffron Burrows (Deep Blue Sea), Keeley Hawes (Tipping the Velvet), David Suchet (Poirot), and many faces familiar from British film and television--give their characters the right degree of personality and flavor without getting fussy or detracting from the headlong rush of the story. A little sex, a lot of action, a sly sense of humor, and a twisty plot; if more movies had these basic pleasures, the world would be a happier place. --Bret Fetzer
Stills from Bank Job (click for larger image)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 83 more reviews...
 "There can be no connection to 5 or 6." June 27, 2009
Ghenghis (Monvolia)
And that's where it gets interesting.
The Baker Street Gang hatches a plot to steal certain photographs of one of the Royal Princess' from a local bank being hoarded by drug kingpin and blackmailer. A crew of opportunist wannabe's is assembled, a crude plan is formed, then bang....off go the jackhammers. First half of the movie drags, and is very short on professionalism. Both the cops and robbers are exposed as pretty much being out of their element. Jason Statham doesn't do much to add to the excitement here and the rest of the cast is boringly British.
Second half of the movie will wake you up however, assuming you haven't lapsed into a coma by now. The intrigue builds as MI5/6 discovers there are more compromising photos belonging to one of the local Madames to procure. When the gang realizes the degree of trouble they're in, enter a local gangster who also had a set of books on safe deposit and Statham's crew is now between your proverbial rock and a hard place.
Its the second half of the film that makes it worth suffering through the first, the ending is right out of a (good) Guy Ritchie flick. Very well done. I just wish somebody would give Statham some acting lessons, he basically plays the same character here you have seen a dozen times in the last few years. 3 chips
The names of many of the people identified in this film have been changed to protect the guilty June 21, 2009
bernie (Arlington, Texas)
Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais wrote the film "The Bank Job" is supposedly based on the true story. This can possibly explain the complexity of the film. The film is more of a documentary than a shootemup or car chase film. At first, it looks very formula. Later you get interested in how it comes out.
Seems like somebody high up any the government or the royal family made a faux pas. This ended up on some glossies that allowed a high-profile criminal to escape prosecution. These photos end up in a bank's safety deposit box. A shady car dealer Terry (Jason Statham) is convinced to Rob the safety-deposit bank vault without realizing that he is helping to retrieve the photos. The story gets awfully convoluted from here and includes MI5, other government agencies, police departments, and local criminals; David Suchet plays one.
How will this all turn out? We will see as the story unfolds.
The acting was well done and the props were excellent for the period piece Set in London in the early 1970's. This may not have been an exceptional film but it will hold your attention to the end.
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Do not forget to take advantage of the extras on the Blu-ray version.
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3 stars out of 4 May 21, 2009
One-Line Film Reviews (Ann Arbor)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
The Bottom Line:
Though its title makes it sound like a generic genre exercise in the tradition of The Italian Job(s), this thriller is actually far more grounded in realism and brutality than you would expect and makes for a surprisingly satisfying motion picture--unformulaic and possessed of a convincing 70s aesthetic, it's a must watch for those interesting in heists.
One of my favorites of the year; simple but well done May 18, 2009
Alan Starr (Lawrence, MA)
Old school heist movie, based on true events in 1971, where there was no cool gadgetry ala 'Oceans 11'. Just the old-fashioned way of digging a tunnel and blowing things up. Well directed, acted, and great pacing makes this a real pleasure to watch.
Heist Films Are Usually Entertaining, And This Is No Exception May 9, 2009
Craig Connell (Lockport, NY USA)
Jason Statham is well on his way to becoming typecast. It seems like he's in a ton of these kind of action films lately, although this movie is a bit more subdued and complicated than some of them. At least in this heist flick, there are several twists and turns and you have to stay alert to follow who is exactly on the up-and-up and who isn't, and Statham isn't punching out 10 people at once.
This is another one of these modern-day films in which the crooks, the thieves, the bandits - whatever - are the "good guys" and the police and the government officials are the bad guys. This seems to be a big favorite of the anti-authority filmmakers world in the last 40 years whether it's in Hollywood or London.
Regardless, it's a very entertaining film and Statham and company are fun to watch. That's also nothing new as the tough "Transporter" star has become a regular at playing these kind of nice guy/macho/thug roles.
Actually, everyone is pretty much a creep in this film, just to varying degrees. They are all interesting, too, and several of the minor characters have a good sense of humor, too. Add some very tense robbery scenes, some sex early on, some double-crosses later and you have a very serious Keystone Cops type story where you're never quite sure what crazy thing is going to happen next.
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