Excellent, a Must See

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

I have loved all of the episodes of The House of Cards Trilogies from the very first to The Final Cut. I absolutely abhor the American version of the show. I wish Hollywood would stop taking BBC ideas, paint them thickly with a stupidity brush to then show on our television screens and start making original ideas of their own.I am curious if any other fans of this original series has or know where one can get sound bites from the third series? In particular, there are two I am most interested in and I believe they are in the same scene. When Jeffrey Boozer-Pitt tells FU about his behavior with a woman who was married, FU makes the following statement, "Jeffrey, Jeffrey." The second sound bite is just a moment later when Jeffrey talks about his improper share dealing with same woman, FU says, You really are utterly contemptible, aren't you" he goes on, "No background, no bottom, absolutely no informing principal but the will to survive. Just a plump little bag of squirming appetites." Harsh,perhaps, but appropriate. If anyone knows where I can get those sound bites, please let me know. I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.

The final part of the House Of Cards mini-series trilogy isn't as good as the previous two, but still fairly entertaining and worth a watch. The production was as sharp as its BBC budget would allow, the acting was believable even if the darker plot wasn't entirely.UK Prime Minister Francis Urquhart is clinging on to power by any means but he has various cracks (no pun intended with all the nudity on display in here) appearing amongst his colleagues and friends, and also his violent past in war torn Cyprus 50 years previously is gradually catching up with him. It's more improbable than what has gone before but slimy Ian Richardson as the biggest swinger in town carries all before him, I think he talks to us more than to the other characters! Judging by the amount of sex, swearing and violence in these episodes rather less discipline is on display but it's not too distracting. Why do people seem to think it's more realistic if the characters are coarse and swearing all the time while they're watching a procession of 2D images on a flat screen on the other side of the room? My favourite bit from any of the 12 episodes was in the last one, where FU deliciously tells Booza Pitt he didn't have to resign… The predictable ending had him managing to hang on in office longer than Margaret Thatcher, was sudden and was a slight let down, but the steam had all escaped by then anyway.Overall as a whole it's an excellent time-passer, with many engrossing sections, not too many dull stretches and although it tails off a bit I would still recommend all three series.

The Final Cut is the last of the House of Cards trilogy and certainly not the best. The problem it had was how excellent its two predecessors were and it is always difficult to put 'three in a row' together. You only have to look at how awful The Godfather III was to see that. So where did it go wrong ?? The first part showed hoe FU became prime minister (excellent) and the second part showed how he crushed all opposition as PM including the Monarch (Almost as good). It was always going to be difficult to follow this up and if there was a dark secret in FU's past, surely one of his opponents would have found it when he ran for PM in the first part, particularly Pat Woolton who was foreign secretary. Well acted, quite a predictable ending, how evil is that wife of his ??? On a more comical note the fact that FU's wife is having an affair with the head of security is verging on the absurd. In its own right, not bad, but it had to much to live up to - well worth watching though but make sure you see them in the right order.

WARNING; SPOILER AHEAD. This mini-series is the final in the three adapted by Andrew Davies from Michael Dobbie's books (the others are `House of Cards' and `To Play the King'. Francis Urquhart (Ian Richardson) has achieved his ambition to be prime minister even longer than Maggie Thatcher (whose memorial he is about to open) and is now contemplating retirement. However, his past is now catching up with him in the shape of his participation as a young man in a long-forgotten insurrection on Cyprus. What's more, his hitherto supportive wife, Elizabeth has been getting rather matey with Corder, the security goon.This is the blackest of the series and at times the dullest. The pace gets very slow and when the final bullet comes it is almost a relief. It fits though. As a noted Scottish autocrat, Lord Reith of the BBC once opined, the best form of government is despotism tempered by assassination. Churchill, on the other hand, thought that democracy was a terribly bad form of government, but far better than all the other sorts. Urquhart, the Scottish laird, needs to wear the democrat's clothes even to be a British conservative politician, but is a despot at heart. Mrs Thatcher was successful for many years as the national chief bully, but eventually hubris caught up with her in the shape of the poll tax. `F U' nearly makes it out the door, but alas, he knows too much, and, (shudder) is showing signs of weakness. Perhaps we forget that down through the ages politics has been a bloody business and the genteel veneer of present day parliamentary democracy conceals some pretty rough play.Anyway, the three `Cards' series amount to 600 minutes of great entertainment – much more fun than most airport novels and filled with incident and amusing, if not very original characters. `F U' himself, Ian Richardson, is a joy, and never has better use been made of `direct to camera' acting.