Sweeney 2 (1978)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Tom Clegg

Writers:

Troy Kennedy-Martin (writer)
Ian Kennedy Martin (TV series The Sweeney)

Release Date:

April 1978 (UK)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

They're back - tougher than ever!

Plot:

Second cinematic spin-off from the popular 70's police series. Regan & Carter head a Flying Squad investigation into a series of bank raids by a team of well-armed villains who are flying in from the continent. |

Plot Keywords:

Based On TV Series | Sergeant | Sequel | Independent Film

Cast

John Thaw	...	Det. Insp. Jack Regan
Dennis Waterman	...	Det. Sgt. George Carter
Denholm Elliott	...	Jupp
Ken Hutchison	...	Hill
Anna Gaël	...	Mrs. Hill (as Anna Gael)
Barry Stanton	...	Big John
John Flanagan	...	Willard
David Casey	...	Goodyear
Derrick O'Connor	...	Llewellyn
John Alkin	...	Det. Sgt. Tom Daniels
James Warrior	...	Det. Con. Jellyneck
Guy Standeven	...	Logan - Bank Manager
Brian Gwaspari	...	White
Frederick Treves	...	McKyle
Johnny Shannon	...	Harry - Villain

Also Known As:

Sweeney Two (UK)

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:16 (theatrical rating) | UK:18 (video rating) | UK:AA (original rating) | Iceland:16 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

20 Perham Road, Earl's Court, London, England, UK

Company:

Euston Films

Goofs:

Continuity: When Regan is talking to the telephone operator in the hotel where the bomb is being defused, one shot shows the mouthpiece of the operator's headset pointing correctly towards her mouth. However in the next shot from the opposite side, the mouthpiece is pointing in the wrong direction, away from her mouth.

Quotes:

[McKyle is defending Superintendent Jupp on corruption charges. Regan refuses to testify as a character witness for Jupp]
McKyle: [pompously] My client is a distinguished police officer with whom you had a close working relationship for the past three years.
Det. Insp. Jack Regan: Your client is so bent that it's been impossible to hang his pictures straight on the office wall for the past twelve months!
McKyle: Isn't there such a thing as loyalty?
Det. Insp. Jack Regan: Loyalty is like a girdle: it should stretch two ways.

Movie Connections:

References All the President's Men (1976)

Best Spin-Off By Far

I will go with the majority opinion here. Sweeney 2 definitely beats Sweeney as the best film spin-off. No silly conspiracy stories, just good old fashioned blaggers and Regan and Carter doing what they do best. Not to say that Sweeney was a bad film, just it was too far removed from the series.

The story pits our favourite coppers against a gang of ex-pat blaggers who travel back to England from Malta every time they need more funds. As a highly professional, ruthless group, they are not easy to catch and Regan finds himself under the cosh, being pressured by his boss (Nigel Hawthorn) to get a result before the inquiry is taken away from them.

Sweeney 2 is more than just an extended Sweeney episode. It's considerably stronger in terms of both violence and bad language that even the ground-breaking series never approached. The fact that in the cinema it was certified 'AA' (now 15) but has always been an X/18 rated video shows that it hasn't mellowed over time.

Although the film drags badly in the middle, this is more than compensated for by the spectacular action scenes and a tense final 25 minutes. The scene where the blaggers crash a Ford Cortina through a shop window, and leaving a police car trailing in it's wake, is an absolute corker and one of the iconic images from the film (look at the video cover if you don't believe me).

Although Sweeney 2 is very much a film for fans of the series, I'd highly recommend it to anyone who likes a good police yarn. There is definite nostalgia value of the scenes of '70's London and it's great playing 'spot the familiar TV actor' as the film included the likes of Ken Hutchinson, Brian Hall, Georgina Hale and Derrick O'Connor.