Two of Britain’s most notorious brothers The Krays were taken on by another famous pair of siblings The Kemps in Peter Medak’s big screen gangster biopic. Originally released in 1990 the film has gone on to gain cult status and for me sits along since other crime classics such as Get Carter, and The Long Good Friday, and The Krays is now back with a wonderful Limited Edition Blu-ray release from Second Sight Films 

 I saw this film on the big screen in 1990 and I wanted to see it so much I walked 9 miles to get to the nearest cinema that was showing it (back in those days the nearest cinema to me wasn’t on a main bus route and was in the middle of a large industrial park) There aren’t many films id walk 9 miles for, but The Krays was worth every step and its a film I revisit semi often so will definitely be picking up this new edition. 

Gary and Martin Kemp were 80s music sensations, as part of the band Spandau Ballet they were internationally acclaimed with a huge fanbase… but when they made their big screen debut, people questioned whether they’d stay afloat portraying two of the UKs most notorious crime lords . The Kemps proved the doubters wrong with their top notch performances, as the infamous twins Ronnie and Reggie Kray and were supported by a stand-out cast including an impressive performance by award-winning actor Billie Whitelaw (The Omen) as their good old Mum.

More than 30 years after its premiere The Krays has now been released in this Limited Edition Blu-ray Box set treatment, and the packaging is a rigid slipcase with brand-new artwork, a perfect bound booklet and a slew of special features on 12 July 2021, putting the film to one side (and you should never do that) as the picture and sound restoration on this edition is a huge win for the fans of the film.  This edition is worth the purchase for the special features, but to have the film AND these features in the same set is wonderful and a great upgrade from my previous DVD of the film.  If you aren’t familiar with this film, or aren’t familiar with who The Krays are.  Take a gamble on this film and pick it up. Trust me. Its a modern classic and not only with its performances, its filmmaking, its script, but also has a beautifully creepy score by Michael Kamen.

 

SPECIAL FEATURES

East End Medak: a new interview with Director Peter Medak which runs for around 21 minutes and is the first interview ive seen with Peter and was a fascinating look at how he because involved with the film 

Burdis Meets The Krays: a new interview with Producer Ray Burdis, this is a Zoom recorded interview but as is with the one with Peter Medak, also a very interesting insight into how Ray became involved with the film and his thoughts on the production. This runs for around 15 minutes

Writing The Krays: a new audio interview with writer Philip Ridley that is just over half an hour and gives us some background into Philips writing process for the screenplay of The Krays

New audio commentary by film historian Scott Harrison

Archive audio commentary by Peter Medak, Gary Kemp and Martin Kemp

BFI 2015 Q&A with Gary Kemp, Martin Kemp, Kate Hardie, Peter Medak and Philip Ridley is perhaps my favourite of the special feature with this 47 minute onstage post screening Q&A. 

 

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

Rigid slipcase

Perfect-bound booklet with new essays by Andrew Graves, Neil Mitchell and Shelagh Rowan-Legg

Six collectors’ art cards