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The Dead Pool

The Dead Pool (1988)

July. 13,1988
|
6.3
|
R
| Action Thriller Crime

Dirty Harry Callahan returns for his final film adventure. Together with his partner Al Quan, he must investigate the systematic murder of actors and musicians. By the time Harry learns that the murders are a part of a sick game to predict the deaths of celebrities before they happen, it may be too late...

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Wuchak
1988/07/13

RELEASED IN 1988 and directed by Buddy Van Horn, "The Dead Pool" stars Clint Eastwood as a no-nonsense San Francisco detective who tracks down a serial killer linked to a horror film production directed by horror maestro Peter Swan (Liam Neeson). Patricia Clarkson plays a pesky TV reporter turned romantic interest while Evan C. Kim appears as Harry's new Asian partner. David Hunt is also on hand.I'm a fan of all five of the Dirty Harry films, which are as follows: "Dirty Harry" (1971), "Magnum Force" (1973), "The Enforcer" (1976), "Sudden Impact" (1983) and "The Dead Pool" (1988)."Magnum Force" is my favorite, a rare case where the sequel is superior to the original, while the first film is my least preferred, although I still like it. I just think the stories in the four sequels have more story drive and better characters. "Dirty Harry" seems languid and hollow by comparison, but it gets points for being the original film and establishing the series."The Dead Pool" is pretty much on par with "The Enforcer" and "Sudden Impact." The highlights include: The horror movie production angle with Neeson as the eccentric, fireball director; Clarkson's hotness; the kick-axx Asian partner; a couple of cameos by the original Guns n' Roses; and, most of all, the amusing toy car chase through the streets of San Francisco, which is an homage/spoof of the car chase in "Bullitt" (1968). Unfortunately, the climax with the killer is curiously dull, albeit serviceable.THE FILM RUNS 91 minutes and was shot in San Francisco, California. THE SCRIPT was written by Steve Sharon from the story by Sharon, Durk Pearson & Sandy Shaw.GRADE: B

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slightlymad22
1988/07/14

Dead Pool (1988)Plot In A Paragraph: Dirty Harry Callahan (Clint) must stop a sick secret contest to murder local celebrities, which includes himself as a target.After a two year absence, and with considerably darker hair than in his last two movies, Eastwood is back on familiar ground in a by the numbers Dirty Harry flick, it's all there, Harry constantly being shouted at by his superiors, is eventually suspended, a partner who is not around when the movie reaches its conclusion plenty of action and Clint having memorable one liners. But whilst the other movies looked big budget for their day, Dead Pool looks and feels cheap, almost like a TV, it doesn't help the the directing is uninspired too. Buddy Van Horn is a friend of Eastwood's and I'm assuming that's how he got the job, as he only directed three movies, and Eastwood was the star in all of them. Evan C Clark is fine as Harry's partner Al, based on this performance I never would have guessed that Liam Neeson would grow old in the industry!! Likewise Jim Carrey, who gives the impression he is reading his lines from a none to helpful prompt book. Patricia Clarkson bothered me as I couldn't place her, until I realised she was Kevin Costner's wife in The Untouchables.I love Guns N Roses, but the extended use of the song is a little too much, and the appearance by the band seems forced. When director Peter Swan (Neeson) says "We needed a music video tie in" you can't help but think that's all it was. I do enjoy the call backs to previous movies Callaghan muttering "Swell" and "Marvellous" and informing the bad guy he is out of bullets!! The newspaper clipping mentioning Scorpio being caught etcThe film is fine, but like so many of the others it's only vaguely engaging and pretty much instantly forgettable. And that is not what I want from a Dirty Harry movie. The last sequel Clint Eastwood ever made, was the least successful of the five Dirty Harry films at the box-office. Dead Pool also ruined the run of each Dirty Harry movie grossing more than the previous movie. It only grossed $37 million at the domestic Box Office to end the year the 30th highest grossing movie of 1988.

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Michael_Elliott
1988/07/15

The Dead Pool (1988) *** (out of 4)The fifth and final film in the series finds Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) turning into a celebrity against his wishes after his testimony puts away a dangerous mobster. That doesn't mean the mobster can't put a hit out on his life and while trying to dodge those murder attempts he must also try to solve some celebrity murders whose names are showing up on a "dead pool" list.THE DEAD POOL, it turns out, would be the final film in the Dirty Harry series but considering how much money this one made, I'm a little shocked that the studio and Eastwood never made another one. With that said, there's no question that the entire series is a very good one and you really could argue that it's one of the best ever made. The first one is an all-time classic while all four sequels were good in their own right. This last film manages to offer up the typical Dirty Harry situations that everyone loves as well as an interesting story for him to play up against. With that said, there are certainly some flaws here but fans of the series should be entertained.As you'd expect, Eastwood is simply wonderful in this role and it really does seem like the actor is having a good time playing Harry for the fifth time. A lot of times actors can become bored because they're just cashing a check but that's certainly not the case here as Eastwood has all the energy that you'd expect and there's no question that the dry humor is on full display. The supporting cast is also extremely good with Patricia Clarkson really shining in her role of the reporter trying to do a story on Harry. Evan Kim makes for a good partner and we've also got Liam Neeson good as a film director. Even Jim Carrey shows up in an early role for him and he too is quite memorable.As I said, the story itself is quite interesting and I think it holds up quite nicely. The technical things are good as well including the cinematography, the editing and even the music score works. There are some flaws and that includes the rather brief 91-minute running time. I don't mind the short running time but it seems the movie is wanting to say something about the media and their responsibilities but the short running time never really gets to dig into this aspect.Still, THE DEAD POOL delivers some great action scenes and of course there are the bloody shootings that the series is known for. Fans certainly won't be letdown.

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FilmCriticLalitRao
1988/07/16

The credit for making "Dirty Harry" series famous goes to American actor Client Eastwood. It is through his roles as a tough inspector who would not stop at anything in order to get desired results that 'Dirty Harry' series became famous. However, 'The Dead Pool' is the weakest of all 'Dirty Harry' films where even Clint Eastwood's presence does not do much to add extra popularity to the film. There is not much scope of actions scenes as the entire film appears to be a lame exercise in investigating about crimes where some celebrities are involved. Hence, the focus is more on depicting the antics of a television personality who has come into contact with a serious policeman. To make matters worse, Liam Neeson has been given the role of a crazy director who might be viewed by some viewers as the culprit. His character doesn't contribute much to take the action forward. It is rather unfortunate that the game of dead pool is also introduced much too late in the film. This is why it could hardly get any sympathy from viewers. Lastly, action scenes especially a car chase are the only saving grace of this ordinary film.

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