Oh a British gangster film ? Do they still make them ? Maybe they do but they never ever meet with commercial success these days . Don't think I've seen a decent one since RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER that was based on a true story and featured Terry Stone playing a character called Tony Tucker and here Terry Stone is playing another character called Tony Tucker . Wow what a coincidence having the same actor playing a different character with the same name ! It get worse because he's not only playing a character with the same name he's playing the exact same character and the only difference is he's got a slightly different hairstyle ! This shows the banal insipid lazy thinking behind British film production . RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER didn't fare very well at the box office but I rate it as a tough British thriller . I can understand why critics didn't like that 2007 with the somewhat formulaic with an excess of characters screaming " FAHK " and " KHANT " and perhaps a little too much interest of portraying on screen violence that culminated in the 1993 Rettendon murders . If you've seen that film then there's little need to watch this one which is inferior to its predecessor apart from Mr Stone's hairstyle BONDED BY BLOOD follows the criminal career of several characters who sell drugs , beat people and eventually meet a sticky end . There's not a single sentence spoken that doesn't involve the F or C word . What does it bring to the table that hasn't been done before or better ? Absolutely nothing except to state that the people serving life for murder might be innocent so what better than to show them committing a triple murder on screen . Yeah I'm sure that's going to get the case to the court of appeal This is actually the third film to use the Rettendon murders as it theme after the heavily fictionalised ESSEX BOYS from 2000 and the aforementioned FOOTSOLDIER . Unbelievably earlier this year there was a fourth entry of the case committed to film called THE FALL OF THE ESSEX BOYS . Really British film producers need to get a grip and make up their own stories

Didn't know a third film had been made about this subject but whilst stuck indoors waiting on a delivery (DHL late again) I just watched Bonded by Blood. First impressions after having just viewed the film are that it was not very good. Not totally terrible but only really worth watching if you have absolutely nothing better to do and want something to occupy your interest.As has been picked up by one of the better revues of this film on here my main criticism is that the actor portraying Darren Nicholls (Adam Deacon) is annoying and unconvincing throughout. You spend a lot of the movie wanting to smack the petulant little fake scowl off of his face (the character not the actor) and you certainly don't empathise with him or indeed anyone else in the film.I also concur that Craig Fairbrass's portrayal of Pat Tate was more convincing and accurate than that of Tamer Hassan. Hassan's Tate seemed too considered (albeit still a bully, steroid using f##k up) at times when the reality is he was far from that. Not a terrible performance just not as good as the one that Fairbrass did where he nailed the character in Rise of the Footsoldier.The actresses used all seemed out of their depth if they were called upon to do more than be giggling fluff. I don't personally have a problem with that as this is a bloke's film and don't particularly want it ruined with dialogue about the wife's/girlfriends perspective. Suffice to say though the little acting that was required by any of the actresses was poor to awful. The only actress who was convincing at all was the "tart" in the nurse's outfit who was passenger in the car crash with Tate (Hassan). I liked Neil Maskell's performance as Craig Rolfe, and this was a lot closer to reality than the one portrayed in Rise of the Footsoldier by Roland Manookian, although I don't necessarily think that was down to bad acting by Roland, just that the character was different (inaccurate?) in that script. Terry Stone rocks up once again to play Tony Tucker and although his first attempt in Rise of the Footsoldier was a bit too cartoon this version seems a little undecided? To be fair I'm not going to criticise the fella as he is still learning his game in the acting world and how many different ways can you portray a one dimensional character like the fictionalised Tony Tucker? I'm sure the script called for more of the same but lose the wig.Finally the Bernard O'Mahoney character played by Johnny Palmiero seemed totally miscast? It's not that it was a terrible performance by Palmiero but that it bore absolutely no resemblance to the real Bernard O'Mahoney in accent or stature. I much preferred reading Bernard O'Mahoney's books than watching this film. I give the film 4/10. Just my opinion and I suggest you watch it yourself and make your own mind up. If you have the time spare of course.

I am so disappointed just travelled 65 miles to see this garbage. The movie has some good actors in it yet none of them show a ounce of any of they true talent.The story is poorly put together and doesn't really follow a theme or character from start to finish. The main focus is sniffing drugs and swearing and believe me there had a good true story to work on,Tammer Hussein who is a good actor when he puts it on was crap as pat Tate,Craig fairbrass makes him look like harry potter.This film makes you cringe at nearly every scene.Overall not worth a 2nd thought.When will someone pull there finger out and give us another ROTFS or the business type film.To be truthful i think never......

i had already seen the firs two movies based on the essex boys and the range rover murders, 'essex boys' was good but wasn't very truthfull and 'rise of the footsoldier' a brilliant movie and one of my favourites. so i was looking forward to 'bonded by blood' and it didn't disappoint, the cast was brilliant in there role's, the story was accurate, and the movie was also very funny, terry stone and tamer hassan were great together, and the scenes with tamer hassan and Vincent Regan was very tense. the movie looks a lot classier than 'rise of the footsoldier' and 'essex boys' and it's better made, the movie dosen't rely on ultra violence every few minutes unlike 'rise of the footsoldier' although there is still plenty of violence here, instead the movie focuses on the relationship of tamer hassan and Vincent Regan's characters 'pat Tate' and 'mickey Steele', and when they fall out, the movie get's very tense. where as 'rise of the footsoldier' took a very realistic almost documentary approach to the material, 'bonded by blood' plays out more like a thriller, and if you didn't already know the story, you would't really know whitch way this was gonna go, but that aside, the movie sticks to the facts and presents them to you, sure there are some things that are left out of the movie, but 'rise of the footsoldier' already showed them, and why repeat the same thing over again. this is the most cinematic of the three essex boys movie's and probably has the best cast, it's a very nasty and violent story, and if your familiar with it, then you are gonna have an idea of what your expecting. the movie is quite violent, but toned down from 'rise of the footsoldier', more violent than 'essex boys though, and anybody expecting the very realistic and accurate range rover murders like in 'rise of the footsoldier' will be very disappointed, the murder does happen here, but it's quick, short and to the point, and the movie has a good ending that shows that this whole saga ruined many lifes. fans of British gangster movies should definitely check it out, and ignore all the negative feedback from people that wanted an over blown violent romp like 'rise of the footsoldier', and remember that is one of my favourite films, but anybody wanting a solid British gangster movie, should definitely check this out. there are three other movies based on the essex boys and the range rover murders namely 2000's essex boys, 2007's rise of the footsoldier, and 2013's the fall of the essex boys