Product Description

An underground betting pool contains the names of people recently murdered. As "Dirty Harry" Callahan investigates, he discovers his name is on the list.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #49575 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-11-20
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Original language: English, French, Japanese
• Subtitled in: Chinese, English, French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 91 minutes

Amazon.com
After the drudgery of Sudden Impact, the fourth and worst sequel to Dirty Harry, no one could have expected the fifth to have any signs of life. But The Dead Pool is fairly inspired, even playful--check out a "chase" scene between Clint Eastwood's Harry Callahan character and a remote-controlled toy car wielding a bomb--and it ended the long-running series on an unexpectedly positive note. This time, Callahan investigates a series of murders that appears to be on a "death list," while becoming romantically involved with a television reporter (Patricia Clarkson). Jim Carrey has a small but memorable part as a doped-up rock star, and Liam Neeson is on board, too. Directed by Eastwood surrogate Buddy Van Horn (Any Which Way You Can). --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

It's Time, Harry, It's Time
This is the last of five "Dirty Harry" films in which Eastwood stars as a San Francisco police detective. By the time of its initial release (in 1988), Eastwood had aged and times had changed but Callahan's non-negotiaable values and unorthodox methods had remained essentially the same. In this film, he investigates a pool which attracts bets on which of eight celebrities will be killed. (Several are.) Although this basic premise is implausible, Callahan takes full advantage of every opportunity to accuse the news media of glorifying, hence encouraging (albeit unintentionally) serial killings by focusing so much attention on them.

Samantha Walker (Patricia Clarkson) is a case in point. Given the power of her personality on television and the thrust of her ambitions for a career in journalism, she is an obvious "target" for Callahan's criticisms of the news media. (Of course, she and he become involved romantically.) There are humorous elements and moments such as Liam Neeson playing a horror film director and the remote control toy car which pursues Callahan for several blocks, obviously a parody of car chases in Bullitt and other films. Lalo Schiflin's musical score is quite effective. Other than Neeson, however, most of the cast members seem listless under Buddy Van Horn's direction. (Yes, that's Jim Carrey in the role of Johnny Squares, one of the victims.) The fact that much of this film seems tired or recycled suggests to me that it's time for the Callahan series to be retire. It has been commercially successful while enabling Eastwood to refine his acting and (in Sudden Impact, 1983) directing skills. People are still buying or renting one or more of the five films, all of which also appear on television, so it looks like Callahan will be with us for many years to come.

Among the many reasons I admire Clint Eastwood so much is the fact that, as he as become older, he has allowed that to be indicated on screen; better yet, he has played roles appropriate to his age and addressed aging issues in many of them. Most other actors (and yes, actresses) star in many films over a period of many years during which the aging process takes its toll on them. However, given the skills of make-up specialists and what new cosmetic technologies make possible, these actors (and actresses) continue to portray characters many years younger than they. Often, older male actors are cast opposite a romantic lead young enough to be their daughter. That is seldom true of older female actors. By the way, I still think Erica Barry should have selected Julian Mercer rather than Harry Sanborn in Something's Gotta Give.

Apparently Eastwood agrees with Harry Callahan: "A man's got to know his limitations." Consider the evolution of the Eastwood persona from Tightrope (1984) through Unforgiven (1992), In the Line of Fire (1993), The Bridges of Madison County (1995), and Absolute Power (1997) to True Crime (1999) and Space Cowboys (2000). Hopefully other roles appropriate to Eastwood's age await his talents as an actor. As Mystic River (2003) clearly demonstrates, his talents as a director are undiminished by the 31 years since Play Misty for Me. On the contrary, they are greater now than ever before.

DIRTY HARRY TAKES A LIGHTER TURN
There is a decidedly comic touch to this installment in the Dirty Harry franchise, the kind that makes it more eminently watchable than its otherwise strict formula of boilerplate action and escape sequences would have you believe.

Eastwood had visibly aged by this film, which he does well to display in his mature reserve as he takes potshots at the mafioso, television news, horror movies. His antics are strongly supported by an able lineup, including a very convincing Patricia Clarkson as a pesky news reporter with morality pangs, Liam Neeson as an avant-garde director from across the pond, and, surprise surprise, a young Jim Carrey as a rocker-slash-druggie. Probably the best cast of any Dirty Harry caper.

The plot is hardly an intrigue, but barring some cheesy ideas like a certain danger posed by a toy-car, the film has a good deal of suspense to keep you glued for its length.

Recommended rental.

HARRY AND THE MINI-CAR CHASE
This fifth and last entry in the Dirty Harry series has some crackling good scenes and an above-average plot, making it one of the best in the series. Clint Eastwood brings his square-jawed hero to life once again, this time paired with a Chinese-American, effectively underplayed by Evan Kim. He also finds himself somewhat enamored with a hot shot tv reporter (the talented Patricia Clarkson) in this case which involves a "dead pool", a list of celebrities who are predicted to die within the year. Harry is not too happy to find he's on the list, which was instigated by a movie crew as a game. Liam Neeson in one of his earlier roles plays the egocentric, deadly director who is one of the game's players and a suspect once several of the list's celebrities meet untimely deaths.
The movie is tightly wound, and you can even spot Jim Carrey in a small role as a drug-addled singer. The movie's highlight is an incredible chase scene between Harry and a deadly bomb-rigged electonically controlled car. It's a great parody of Harry's previous movies and it works well.
THE DEAD POOL let Harry go out in style and it's a fun ride.