The Dead Pool

The final chapter poster.

It’s 1988 and San Francisco detective Harry Callahan had had a long career in keeping his city clean. This was part 5 in the franchise and his last appearance as the law enforcer that was too quick for his enemies. By the end of the first half hour, Harry has disposed of at least eight bad guys, and that was only the start, a good sign of what’s to come of Harry Callahan’s final battle against organized San Francisco crime.

Watch it, it is not a let down.A funny thing is that many San Francisco protested against a new Dirty Harry movie being filmed on their city, as they sort of felt he was a violent character that had nothing to do with the actual procedures of the real San Francisco police department. A contradiction, cause the original Dirty Harry movie, of international fame, did make some money for San Francisco due to foreign tourists interested in sightseeing the places that became legend due to Clint Eastwood’s immortal character.

Do I look old to you punk?

Go ahead, Make my day!

So, after the filmmakers got permission to film in San Francisco, it was all set for the closing adventure of a timeless character that will never be a bygone hero. On The Dead Pool, Harry is the target for having put away Lou Janero, a mob bastard, who ran all kinds of criminal activities in the city. The man has sworn to get Harry by all means. For that he engages his men to try to get rid of his enemy in any way they can.

At the same time, something is going on in the set of a new crime movie being shot in the city. Peter Swan who has specialized in gore and blood, is at it again. Strangely, things are happening in the locations he uses. Swan has attracted the attention of the media that convene like vultures to get any sensational item they can get to show their viewers on the nightly news. Samantha Walker, is one of them, although she proves to be a bit more intelligent than her fellow journalists.

Harry is asked by his superior to be nice to the press because his image is not exactly what the force would like to see. He clicks with Samantha in many ways, but their dinner date ends up with them trapped in an elevator, being attacked by machine guns from the outside. That brings them even closer. After all, the department wanted to appear to be more cooperative with the press to deliver a friendly image on the idiot box.

Fuck you fucking fuck, I'm Dirty Harry and you can fucking burn in hell you shithead.

Before Slash played the guitar, he played the harpoon.

The Harry Callahan saga was rewarding for Clint Eastwood, who went to make a name for himself as a tight lipped detective who could outsmart and out shoot anyone getting in his way, or interfering with his job. This final installment was directed by Buddy Van Horn. Different men had been in charge in the other Harry pictures, Don Siegel and Clint Eastwood even tried their hand at them. The film is full of action for those fans that went to see it because of it. On the other hand, Harry remains an enigma in other aspects, which probably was the intent all along.

An original promo still.

The recently released blu-ray collection.

Clint Eastwood's Harry was a man of few words and a lot of action. As the stone faced detective, he never changed, but we kind of expected it from him. The wonderful Patricia Clarkson is Samantha Walker the television reporter that happens to catch Harry's attention. Liam Neeson plays the sinister film director Swan. Also David Hunt has some good moments as the man behind some nasty incidents around the set.

Here’s the movie trailer: