Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.

BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

Dotbankey A lot of fun.

Yazmin Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

ShadeGrenade The fad for British films based on hit sitcoms came to an end as the '80's dawned. Among the last batch were 'Rising Damp' and 'George & Mildred' ( both 1980 ), and, of course, this, derived from Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais' masterpiece about wily convict 'Norman Stanley Fletcher' ( magnificently played by the late, great Ronnie Barker ). The series had ended three years before. In between we had had 'Going Straight' which chronicled the ex-lag trying to adjust to life without the iron bars across the windows. 'Porridge' begins with a mini-bus pulling up at the gates of H.M. Slade Prison - among the new arrivals are poker-faced officer 'Beal' ( Christopher Godwin ), first-time offender 'Rudge' ( Daniel Peacock ) and bank robber 'Oakes' ( Barrie Rutter ). Contrary to what was established at the end of 'Going Straight', Fletcher and Godber are back behind bars in the same nick and even sharing the same cell again. Godber's status as Fletcher's son-in-law is never mentioned. And 'Mackay' ( Fulton Mackay ) is once again making Fletcher's life difficult even though he left the prison service at the start of 'Going Straight'. So the movie's clearly set during the original run of the series. Yet at one point 'Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick' by Ian Dury & The Blockheads can be heard on the radio. It wasn't a hit until late 1978.Continuity problems aside, what about the film itself? It is episodic in structure, as though three episodes had been bolted together. The first features Fletcher coming into possession of Mackay's false teeth after he has sneezed them into a big pot of curry in the prison kitchen ( note that Godber's assistant - played by Zoot Money - is called 'Lotterby'. Named after Sydney Lotterby, the show's producer, no doubt ). The second has Grouty ( Peter Vaughan ) ordering Fletcher to organise a celebrity football match to provide cover for Oakes' escape ( he has money from his last job stashed away somewhere ). The third and final part has Fletcher and Godber making their way back to the nick across open country, dodging police cars and having run-ins's with angry farmers.All this is very good stuff, if not quite in the same class as the show itself. It was overshadowed on its release by the sad death of Richard Beckinsale a few months before. As the critic of 'Photoplay' magazine noted, his was a great talent and the film does nothing to disprove this. Paul Ableman wrote a novelisation for Pan Books entitled 'Porridge: The Inside Story' in which he took the opportunity to develop the characters and expand the situations a bit further, such as having Fletcher and Godber working behind the bar in the Prison Officers Club ( and which explains how they knew about it at the end of the film ). Alongside the regulars ( only Christopher Biggins' 'Lukewarm' is missing and Michael Barrington's 'Mr.Treadaway' has been replaced by Geoffrey Bayldon's ), the irreplaceable Brian Wilde shines as the tame warder 'Mr.Barraclough', who drinks in the cellar because its an alternative to going home and facing his wife! Funniest moment? Fletcher commenting on Mackay's adjustment to the evening meal. "He sees himself as an authority on curry on account of where he was stationed during the war!". "India?", his friend asks. "No, Bradford!", comes the reply. Not a great joke admittedly, but impeccably delivered by Barker.

AndyP2609 I am also a big fan of Porridge and of all Ronnie Barker's work. Porridge is the absolute best example of a British sitcom (don't care what the public vote was!), and this film didn't disappoint.Although there were a few repeated jokes (the alternative version of 'Scotland the Brave' is a particular favourite), it is the finest example of top comedy actors performing work by top comedy writers.The fact that there are so many top quality quotes on this site from the film says it all. It's also a credit to Ronnie Barker's talent that he can appear in two vastly contrasting sitcoms as completely different characters at the same time (this, and Open All Hours), and be so believable in both roles.There's no coincidence that Olivier said he was his favourite actor!

RICHARDBLACK80 What a quality movie this is. I like this film so much that I would actually put this in my top ten movies ever (and I've watched a hell of a lot of films). I first watched this over one Christmas when I was a child when video players had first come out in the UK and my Dad bought a whole load of pirate videos back from his local boozer (about 1983).I saw this before I had experienced any of the brilliant series of porridge which is also very good. As said in previous comments a lot of these TV spin off either try and take the characters completely out of their environment (Are you being served, Holiday on the Buses or George and Mildred) or just rehash every funny joke from the original series (Rising Damp is an example). There is no amazing story to this film just a chain of events that lead to the bungled escape by Oakes who takes Fletch and Godber along with him and then their attempt to break back into prison. The jokes and various stories are all new and just as you think that it maybe running out of steam we have thirty minutes of them on the outside (but still not out of their environment as the theme is still the same). Even the soundtrack is really good with Joe Browns excellent 'Inside' (think thats what its called) and the opening credits, Neilsons 'Without you'. With Clement and Le Frenais you feel that they have thought through the whole story process and developed the story properly. The only other spin off I could probably say the same about is the Likely Lads which is also very good. The major criticism this film comes in for is that it came after the sequel series 'Going Straight' and there some confusion to whether the characters had ended up back in prison. I just see it as another story from when they where in nick. Simple.

hacker-9 "Porridge" the movie was made some time after the last episode had been completed-some time, in fact, after the sequel "Going Straight" had been shown. This does not deter at all from the fun, and as TV spin-offs go, this rates as one of the best; due almost entirely to the quality of the original characters from the timeless BBC comedy series. Ronnie Barker was never better than when he assumed the mantle of our anti-hero Norman Stanley Fletcher; aided in no small way by outstanding character support- the wonderful Fulton Mackay as his strutting nemesis Prison Officer Mackay, coupled with the genial Barroclough (Brian Wilde) and a menacing Peter Vaughan as Grouty. Add to this the poignancy of seeing Richard Beckinsale in his last film appearance before his tragically early death at 31 a few weeks after the film's completion and it becomes clear that the film, although no masterpiece in itself, should be treasured keenly by all who value British comedy at its best.