Dead Pool [Deluxe Edition]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

The Dead Pool is the fifth and (thus far) the last of Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry movies. A sports pool is placing bets on which famous person will die next. Suddenly a serial killer who preys upon celebrities enters the scene, radically (and perhaps deliberately) changing the odds in the pool. As a celebrity of sorts, maverick cop Dirty Harry Callahan becomes a target of the killer, as does high-profile TV journalist Patricia Clarkson. Surprises are at a minimum in The Dead Pool; the film gets down to business quickly, moves logically if violently towards its climax (with a spectacular car-chase sequence thrown in for good measure), and delivers exactly what its fans expect. One major difference between this film and the earlier Dirty Harry epics is that the murders are committed in so outrageous a fashion that the picture seems at times to be a Freddie Krueger vehicle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1
• Screen: Color, Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Subtitle: French, English, Spanish
• Features:
  • Commentary by David Valdes and Jack N. Green - The Producer and Cinematographer recall the challenges of returning to Harry's San Francisco environs for this final Callahan caper
  • New Featurette The Craft of Dirty Harry - Profiling the Cinematographers, editors, musicians, production designers and other talents throughout the 5-movie series
  • Dirty Harry Movies trailer gallery

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Clint Eastwood - Harry Callahan
       Patricia Clarkson - Samantha Walker
       Evan Kim - Al Quan
       Liam Neeson - Peter Swan
       David Hunt - Harlan Rook

• Director:

  Buddy Van Horn

• Producer:

  David Valdes

• Screen Story:

  Durk Pearson, Steve Sharon, Sandy Shaw

• Screenwriter:

  Dennis Hackin, Durk Pearson, Steve Sharon

• Cinematographer:

  Jack N. Green, Douglas Ryan

• Composer (Music Score):

  Lalo Schifrin

• Editor:

  Ronald Spang

• Production Designer:

  Edward C. Carfagno, David Valdes

REVIEW:

• The fifth and probably final entry in Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry series is an efficient and occasionally witty retrofitting of the familiar formula. The title refers to a betting pool being held in San Francisco in which participants try to guess which one of a group of eight celebrities will be the first to die. When one of them is murdered, Harry begins his investigation while being hounded by obnoxious television reporter Samantha Walker (Patricia Clarkson), with whom he eventually becomes involved. Although it's basically business as usual for Harry, who, at this point seems more dyspeptic than dirty, Eastwood gets in a few ideas between shootouts. Without a trace of irony, he tells Walker how disgusted he is with the way the news media exploits violence to spike ratings. Of course, this new Gandhian Harry then gets right back to blowing people away. Also in a comic vein is the parody of the famed Bullitt (1968) car chase, as Harry is forced to dodge an explosives-laden, tiny model car rampaging through the streets of San Francisco. In a film without much interest in anyone who might be emoting, Liam Neeson has a fine turn as a horror film director. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide

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