Director Alan Clarke made this for the BBC. The BBC found it inappropriate for television and refused to air it. So Clarke remade the entire film for the renowned theatrical release in 1979. The TV version was unavailable for many years until it resurfaced after much anticipation. This isn't bad but frankly it looks like a rough draft by comparison. The script and cast are nearly identical, but this first version, though aspiring to realism, is less effective and less convincing.

Was 75

Banned by the BBC before it first aired, Clarke re-made it 2 years later as a feature film, making it more graphic (my kind of guy!). This one has more raw power than the more polished-looking re-do, where Mick Ford is a better Archer than David Threlfall (most of the rest of the cast is the same). I think Clarke WANTED it banned (it could not have been a surprise)--you can't buy publicity like that. Leave it to Brits to pretend this system would do anything but assure a future life of crime.

Excellent.

More realistic than the theatrical remake but less competent.