One of my favorites of all time!

We’ve all seen the ‘buddy cop movies’ where two mismatched police officers are forced to work together in order to solve a case. Well… this is like one of those. Only the central protagonists aren’t cops – they’re criminals. And, naturally, they’re not looking to solve a case, only to works a drugs sting which involves double-crossing about every drug dealer from Los Angeles to Liverpool. It could have been nothing special and, although the plot is hardly legendary, the fact that the two main leads are Samuel L Jackson and Robert Carlyle go some way to raising it above average. For a start they play off each other well. It’s fair to say that the two actors are about as different physically as can be and that also goes some way to help their – fragile – relationship as they’re pursued through Liverpool by everyone from drug dealers to crooked cops and assassins. The two leads are about the only ‘A-listers’ on the case, but the supporting cast has all sorts of familiar faces cropping up, all turning in pretty decent performances. It may not have the general wit and style of other British gangster films (ala Lock Stock and Snatch), but it’s fast paced enough to keep most people’s interest if you’re generally a fan of gangster films and don’t mind watching too much violence and blood (and other bodily fluids) flying across the screen, then you might like to give this one a go. Considering it’s never really mentioned when people talk about the ‘great’ British gangster films, it’s not as bad as it could be (and you get to watch Samuel L Jackson bust a few heads with a golf club – what more could you want?).

Hilarious film that really captures Liverpool- and i live there!! Love the banter about british slang and that they used the proper accents

Great movie. Hilarious. Anyone who doesn't like this is just plain wrong.

This wasn't a great movie but I had fun with the quirky characters and am usually a fan of blending a comedic tone with an action or suspense story. Emily Mortimer is someone I typically like and this was a different character for her, while Rhys Ifans had a really fun supporting role. I almost gave this 3* towards the end as I was dying during the final scene with Meat Loaf, executing a solid Co-stan-za, and leaving on a really high note. 5.5/10 Samuel L. Jackson Binge: Jackson probably had the most interesting character, inexplicably wearing a kilt and carrying a bag of golf clubs with him throughout the movie, which naturally became a humorous issue as his character was fleeing criminals and law enforcement for most of the film. SLJ January #68

I would have thought a film with Samuel L. Jackson set in the UK as a streetwise chemist would be a riot, but it wasn't I was thoroughly bored and tuned out most of it.

Drug dealing chemist entrepreneur creates a new strain of narcotics.

Watched this the first time and found it terrible. Was stuck at home with nothing to do one night, years later and enjoyed the hell out of this. Profanity was a bit much but otherwise good for some laughs.

Enjoyable movie. Definitely worth a watch.

It got panned on its initial release. I liked it back then and I enjoyed it on this rewatch. Good fun, colourful characters and black humour. Meat Loaf is the balls "I'm truly ass-invaded".

This is one of the best one-liner movies I've ever seen: - "Kiss the sun and taste the motherf***ing rainbow!" - "I meant to "take care of him," not f***ing take care of him!" - "Chicken Bollocks! Haha ha ha!" -"So what's the plan then? Massage? Maybe ya wanna go get some of that friend f***king chicken?" -"MDMA utilizes Serotonin. Opiates, like heroin, utilize dopamine. Sort of like the same sensation you get after sex. Amphetamines increase adrenaline. And cocaine gets those synapses in the brains firing really fast. My product is 51 times stronger than cocaine, 51 times more hallucinogenic than acid, and 51 times more explosive than ecstasy. It's like getting a personal visit... from God!" - Robert Carlyle: "Fish and chips. It's the national dish." Samuel L. Jackson: "More like a national disaster (before throwing the fish and chips out onto the street)." -"It takes 10 seconds for an imbibed liquid to reach the stomach... It takes the human body 81 seconds to heat that liquid to the point of chemical volatility... You have 12 seconds." - "Drugs. They kill you in the end!" I never fell more in love with Liverpool accents in any stage of life after watching this movie. It's also bloody amazing when Samuel L. Jackson kicks the Neo-Nazis' asses with his golf club while wearing a kilt.

Entertaining merely for the kilt-wearing Samuel L.Jackson coming to England gimmick but there are 51 reasons not to watch it including its overacting, plot incoherence, excessive profanity and general poor attempts to replicate a Guy Ritchie film.

In 1971, a policeman catches Elmo McElroy (Samuel L. Jackson), a recent college graduate with a degree in pharmacology, smoking marijuana. Because of his arrest and conviction, he is unable to find work as a pharmacologist. In the present day, a drug lord called "The Lizard" (Meat Loaf) calls a meeting with his organization, hoping to sell a brand new substance invented by Elmo. The meeting goes badly when Elmo, in a bid to escape from the Lizard's control, blows up the building, killing everyone but the Lizard. Vengeful, the Lizard contacts Dawn "Dakota" Parker (Emily Mortimer), a contract killer, who previously killed the only witness in a case against the Lizard. Dakota initially refuses the hit, but accepts when the Lizard offers to clear her gambling debts and give her a $250,000 bonus. Elmo leaves for Liverpool, England, where he meets Felix DeSouza (Robert Carlyle), a local "fixer" who has been sent by Leopold Durant, head of a local criminal organization, in exchange for two football tickets to a sold-out game. At the meeting, Elmo pitches POS 51, a synthetic drug that can be produced with minimal facilities and is 51 times as potent as other drugs. But Elmo´s plans for a quick, profitable score go awry when everything and everybody gets entangled in a bizarre web of double-dealing and double-crosses... With "51th State" we have yet another wanna be "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" contender pushing the witty action packed British gangster movie genre further, with larger than life characters, violence and fast-track directing and editing. Just like "Love, Honour and Obey" the year before, Ronny Yu and the production team tries to cash in on the Guy Ritchie formula and with some parts they actually succeed. Everything is about style, humour and pace, not so much about character development or telling a story with a plot we haven´t seen before. The difference here is the stand out character Elmo played by Samuel L. Jackson with charisma and a style you can´t miss even if he does what he normally does. Carlyle gets a bit lost in his role. The always lovely Emily Mortimer is good as Dakota, but seems to be partly out of her comfort zone (apparently she hated to work in this film). Meat Loaf can´t simply act and his character is the weakest one. And it seems that Sean Pertwee and Rhys Ifans keeps on ending up with the same sort of character over and over. "51th State" has its moments for sure, but it´s not really a keeper in the DVD shelf.

The 51st State was surprisingly good.

I enjoyed this film. (apparently the only one) It is cartoonish and over the top, but that seemed to work for it. Emily Mortimer is outstanding and Rhys Ifans is a delight.

This could have been a great movie... but the editing was just terrible. Steller performances by Carlyle and Rhys Ifans, but Jackson was a weak link. Script was a bit childish... please spare me the toilet humor.

This movie is trash I couldn't even make it through the first 30mins before I turned it off

great action, unforgettable

Good fun, out Guy Ritchie's Guy Ritchie

As said Emily Mortimer's heroine- I forgot how sick this place is!!!!