SnoopyStyle In 1999 Canada, Martin McGartland (Jim Sturgess) is shot several times by a masked man. The movie flashes back to 1988 Belfast, Northern Ireland. He's a petty criminal and small time trader. IRA squad leader Mickey Johnson tries to recruit him. He and his friends have confrontations with IRA thugs. He is then recruited by British Special Branch operator Fergus (Ben Kingsley). He becomes a low level IRA member and starts informing on their operations. It's a dangerous double life. The film claims his activities saved fifty men from IRA attacks.Jim Sturgess is great and the setting is terrific. Running through the alleys is thrilling. There is a great atmosphere. It is a little confused. A lot of that has to be the thick accents. I would love to have subtitles for this movie.

oliverdearlove This was finally shown on television - and was recommended as 'horrifically violent' - which it is. The bottom line is that he British persuade a teenager to inform on his ( freedom-loving ) or murderous colleagues and he turns to his task with enthusiasmI found the tension unbearable - having only lived thro a London bombing season which is nothing like the 'real thing'. Our Hero gets thro a road block by ringing his sister and the other fellow should know that he had no sister. Such small slips can lead to much greater breaks, and the plot is littered with them - leading to the suspense - will the IRA click our Hero is in fact no hero ?Various scenes seem unlikely but people have to realise it is a film and not a slice of real life. The torture ( IRA debrief ) scenes are horrifically graphic and presumably the IRA never learnt that rip off enough finger nails and the rippee will end up confessing to anything. None of the other reviewers seem to have wondered if people can be recognised, and whether the subplots were true - specifically if smaller fish ( our hero ) were sacrificed to save the identity of much bigger fish. I thought Delours Price got a decent look in ....The chief interrogator ( torturer ) was in real life unmasked as a British agent and the latter part of the film is devoted to the dastardly plan of flushing our hero down the John to save the identity of the torturer. Real life Freddie Scappaticci: see his interesting wiki entry. That accounts for the British MI5 man saying to the torturer at the very end let us call him Scappaticci - for chrissakes you are meant to have killed him by now ....I thought the hospital scenes OK - one point in real time the Belfast ITU was sprayed ( inside ) with machine gun fire so perhaps they were a tad underplayedso all in all - very watchable in a horrified - "did they, did we really do that?" sort of way ....

paul david I had no idea who martin McGartland was until I watched this movie, unlike the main character in HUNGER and ironically I watched this directly after watching matt Damon in The Informant. If that title was misleading, this one certainly was not, though working out why they called it 50 dead Men walking takes some thinking about in the context of the movie. It refers of course to the 50 men who would have died if Mr McGartland didn't save them from assassination.This is a very powerful piece of British drama set in the 1980s. it is a very intense film but the story is easy to follow and the film overall is enjoyable without ever being full of violence or bad language. I still have images in my mind from HUNGER and FIVE MINUTES OF HEAVEN, not top mention the 'Barley' movie and of course Michael Collins.I do agree that too much attention as a distraction in the movie to the two young women who feature in Mr McGarlands life and there should have been greater emphasis on the actual political role he had to play for the IRA and for the British Police.Harrys Game was indeed a top production but should not be compared to this new movie. Ben Kingsley was 'spot on' as Fergus and added the quality to the film it might otherwise have lacked.another well made British film, keep it up!

filmsploitation Phil's Quick Capsule Review: A gritty, dirty and violent look into the 80's & 90's conflicts in Northern Ireland, 50 Dead Men… is a highly enjoyable (if factually questionable), well acted and polished romp that is spoilt only by Ben Kinsley's stupid hair piece. IMDb Rating: 7/10Best Bit: TortureBuy, Rent or Borrow: RentIf you liked this try: Patriot Games (8/10); Devils Own (5/10); Blown Away (4/10)Phil Hobden For more reviews like this check out:http://www.mod-life.net/modlife/index_ugly.htm