One of the most Important films ever made

Rating: 10/10 (3 January 2005)

I first saw this film about 16 years ago. I had recently seen an episode from "Hancock's Half Hour" entitled 12 Angry Men which involved Tony Hancock trying to convince a Jury that Sid James was innocent. The episode was excellent and then after looking in the paper I noticed that this film was to be shown. I thought it only right to see the inspiration behind the aforementioned episode. I must have been 15 at the time but from the moment Martin Balsam first asks the members of the Jury to raise their hands I was hooked. The highly talented cast give superb performances that are enhanced by the excellent camera work, brilliant script and thought provoking subject matter. I recently saw the remake starring Jack Lemmon and thought it to have some great twists on the original. Particularly on Ed Begley's character from the original film. All in all though, what makes the original is the intimacy the camera has on each member of the jury, the claustrophobic atmosphere of the movie and the tension between the characters. Sidney Lumet has created a masterpiece here and thoroughly deserves to be in the top 100 movies of all time.