Prismark10 Some years ago I used to go pass Ian Brown's house every day on my commute to work. When I say house, it was actually the prison he was residing in after Brown was convicted for threatening behaviour.Spike Island is a meandering low budget film of a fictional Manchester band made up of teenagers with terrible nicknames planning to attend The Stone Roses concert at Spike Island in Merseyside and hand a demo tape to them. It is a daft plan, they have no tickets, they take a van from of the boy's uncle and they try to blag their way into the concert.The film's characters are thinly sketched out and it consists of the usual family issues and girlfriend problems. It does have some nice Stone Roses tunes though but relies on nostalgia too much and the Madchester scene is a fading memory to many.

SnoosReviews I didn't watch this movie for the Stone Roses reference, The Stone Roses are of no particular interest of mine, I have nothing against them it's just the music simply isn't my scene. Having read reviews on here after watching this movie, I seemed to rate it more than many others and the factor which I believed allowed me to enjoy it more, was ironically, my non-existing interest in The Stone Roses. If you went into this movie solely on the basis that it is marketed with the Stone Roses i believe you would be disappointed. Spike Island is a run of the mill, coming of age, British indie flick. It's a very familiar story, Five lads from Manchester who are all in their last year of school travel to Spike Island in hope of watching the Stone Roses in concert. The usual story of falling outs, romance, friendship, loyalty and most of all growing up are covered in this movie. The Stone Roses are really a back story, a focal point of their interests but it is not relevant in the story or character development. The acting is good, but the characters lack any real substance. They all seem very clichéd and predictable, the manc accent is also overdone at times, we get that you're from Manchester, its based around the Stone Roses!Overall Spike Island is a feel good, entertaining watch with good acting and a pleasant if not clichéd, storyline.7/10

FlashCallahan Spike Island is the kind of film that makes you nostalgic. Very nostalgic. But that doesn't deter the fact that the story is something we've seen a dozen times before in this sub- genre of film.There's your group of friends, and they are an aspiring group who are desperate to get tickets to the titular event, featuring everyone's favourite band of the nineties, The Stone Roses.They all have their individual problems. Ones dad is dying, ones dad is abusing him, one fancies the girl, but she fancies the other from the group, so on, and so on.But it makes it an easy watch. Its funny in places, dramatic when it needs to be, and characters are ones you've seen in endless nostalgic movies.But it captures the early nineties down to a tee. The music was, and still is phenomenal, and The Roses music is used with the utmost respect that it deserves.So its a good nostalgia trip, albeit a little predictable, but would make a great double bill with Shane Meadows documentary.

cinematic_aficionado The joy of being a carefree youth. This story focuses on four trouble making (according to some anyway) youngsters in Manchester and how they look forward to going to the gig of their favourite band, where it would be a highlight for all their lives. On top of that as they aspire to form a band themselves they even dare to dream giving a demo tape to their favourite band.Everything builds up to the day the gig is set to take place. My favourite moment was when the father of the four was dying in hospital and yet told his son not to be held back by his condition. They try hard, they put everything aside, they ignore all the barriers.The day finally arrives and with a myriad of obstacles, they somehow made it to the venue but turns out the promise for tickets/places did not come to fruition. Yet, they did not seem to care as they had a ball just outside the venue and it was the night of their lives which is the one thing that mattered.Quirky, witty and great fun to watch.