For many people, the first time they heard the name of Shane Meadows’s would have been when his 2004 tour-de-force revenge thriller Dead Man’s Shoes blasted onto screens. Over 20 years later Dead Mans Shoes is still in the conversation when the topic of ‘Best British films ever made’ comes up and deservedly so. For me the first time I heard the name Shane Meadows was seven years before that in 1997 with the Bob Hoskin’s starring boxing drama TwentyFour-Seven, which is definitely worth seeking out if you haven’t seen it. a couple of years later Shane Meadows’s name was back with the excellent film A Room For Romeo Brass which brought to the screen the now legendary Paddy Considine. But lets gets back to Dead Mans Shoes which is now being given the glorious Second Sight Films treatment this August and is definitely a very worthy upgrade from the DVD that has served me well over the years.
Dead Mans Shoes is one of those films that as soon as you put it on, you know you are watching something very special indeed, on the surface its a basic premise. A man returns to his home town to wreak revenge on those who bullied his younger brother. Its a premise we have seen before but in the hands of Shane Meadows, in the hands of Paddy & Toby (in the main roles) and in the hands of the cast and crew of Dead Mans Shoes, something wonderfully timeless was created and the fact that over 22 years later, the film is being given the loving treatment by Second Sight Films gives a big thumbs up to the team behind the film.
Paddy Considine plays Richard, who returns to his home town to deal with a local gang who tormented his mentally challenged younger brother Anthony (played by Toby Kebbell) Richard is truly terrifying and very quickly puts the gang on edge and has them fearing for their safety. This isnt a John Wick style revenge thriller, this is more Michael Myers and even shots of Richard standing motionless watching his prey will put your nerves on edge.
Dead Mans Shoes is often lauded as one of the grittiest and most visceral British revenge dramas ever made and I agree with that. It definitely is right up there as one of the best and it was such a treat to check out the hours of special features on the Second Sight Films set. And there are hours of features on this set.
Check out the extras on ths disc.
There are a total of three audio commentaries, there’s a new audio commentary with director Shane Meadows and producer Mark Herbert, a new audio commentary by Andrew Graves and Jon Towlson and the wonderful archival audio commentary with Shane Meadows, actor Paddy Considine and Mark Herbert
For featurette and interview fans there is the 33 minute long ‘Quite a Journey’ which is a newly recorded conversation with Shane Meadows and Mark Herbert who give a great look back at not only the genesis of Dead Mans Shoes, its production, but also the films legacy. Then its onto ‘A Very Fine Line’ which is also a newly recorded interview with actor Toby Kebbell in which he shares his memories of being involved with the film. This 26 minute conversation is a treat and gives us insight into how Toby approached and crafted the performance of Anthony in the film. Toby also talks about his thoughts on whether the role hindered or helped his future career. Gary Stretch (who played Sonny in Dead Mans Shoes gets 19 minutes in The Right Horses: to share some stories of his time on the production, and rounding out the featurettes and interviews is Made an Impact,an interview with director of photography Danny Cohen which runs for 17 minutes and takes us into how the film was shot and the choices made between digital, film, and much more. That’s 95 minutes worth of featurettes on this set and all of them are excellent, but that’s not all. There’s also the 2004 making of documentary ‘In Shanes Shoes’ which is another fun look at the making of the film before it came the classic that it is today. This runs for 25 minutes which takes us to a total of two hours worth of greatness.
But we aren’t done yet as there are just short of half an hours worth of deleted and alternate scenes that give more glimpses into Richard’s journey in the film as well as several of the other characters. I generally am not a huge fan of deleted or alternate scenes as they were cut for a reason. Since watching the deleted scenes on The Blair Witch Project set (also by Second Sight Films) I have now learned that they are still worth checking out as there can be ‘gold in them there hills’ and in Dead Mans Shoes, some of the deleted scenes are fascinating. Thankfully they are presented in a single video so theres no need to click play a dozen times in the same menu. Sit back and watch 28 minutes of Dead Mans Shoes footage you likely haven’t seen before.
Rounding out this great set is the short film Northern Soul, released in 2004 and starring Toby Kebbell as Mark who is kicked out of his marital home by the always great Jo Hartley. Mark has dreams of being the best British Wrestler ever and this drama/mockumentary is a very odd viewing experience but Im glad its on the disc as it is still pretty entertaining if you want a bit of a change of pace and topic. Finally there’s a Danger Mouse and Jemini Music Video included in the extras.
The set is presented in a stunning solid slipcase featuring new artwork by Krishna Shenoi, there’s a 120-page book with new essays, and a Graphic Novel as well as six art cards. Its a gorgeous set for an exceptional film. If you haven’t seen Dead Mans Shoes, then treat yourself! If you have, but not for years, then its definitely worth a revisit, and if (like me) you have the DVD of the film sitting in your collection, then this bluray is a must have upgrade to that DVD.
10 August 2026
