IMDb > The Dead Pool (1988)
The Dead Pool
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The Dead Pool (1988) More at IMDbPro »

Videos (see all 3)
The Dead Pool (1988) -- Dirty Harry Callahan must stop a sick secret contest to murder local celebrities, which includes himself as a target.
The Dead Pool (1988) -- Dirty Harry Callahan must stop a sick secret contest to murder local celebrities, which includes himself as a target.
The Dead Pool (1988) -- Trailerfan.com - Trailer (Flash)

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Overview

User Rating:
6.0/10   10,735 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
No change in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers (WGA):
Harry Julian Fink (characters) and
Rita M. Fink (characters) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for The Dead Pool on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
13 July 1988 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
Dirty Harry Just Learned A New Game
Plot:
Dirty Harry Callahan must stop a sick secret contest to murder local celebrities, which includes himself as a target. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
NewsDesk:
(13 articles)
Jennifers Body Revised DVD Artwork
 (From MoviesOnline. 13 November 2009, 8:00 PM, PST)

Unrated Jennifer's Body Blu-ray Cover Art and Features
 (From TheHDRoom. 6 November 2009, 6:35 PM, PST)

User Comments:
Pool Of Dead Critics more (84 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Clint Eastwood ... Insp. 'Dirty' Harry Callahan

Patricia Clarkson ... Samantha Walker

Liam Neeson ... Peter Swan
Evan C. Kim ... Insp. Al Quan
David Hunt ... Harlan Rook / Ed Butler
Michael Currie ... Capt. Donnelly
Michael Goodwin ... Lt. Ackerman
Darwin Gillett ... Patrick Snow
Anthony Charnota ... Lou Janero
Christopher P. Beale ... Dist. Atty. Thomas McSherry
John Allen Vick ... Lt. Ruskowski
Jeff Richmond ... Freeway Reporter #1
Patrick N. Van Horn ... Freeway Reporter #2 (as Patrick Van Horn)
Sigrid Wurschmidt ... Freeway Reporter #3

Jim Carrey ... Johnny Squares (as James Carrey)
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Dirty Harry in The Dead Pool (USA) (poster title)
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Runtime:
91 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
When Molly Fisher's body is being taken out, and then 'Harry' comes out of her house, it's the same set/place that was used in Play Misty for Me (1971). more
Goofs:
Continuity: Before Nolan Kennard's car is blown up, it is shown sitting in his driveway when he adjusts his rear view mirror. After it is blown up, it's shown out on the street. more
Quotes:
Gus Wheeler: [drenched in gasoline and with flare] You all stay back! Everyone! It's gonna go up. Where's the news crew? You better get them here! I mean it, now! more
Movie Connections:
Soundtrack:
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
16 out of 20 people found the following comment useful.
Pool Of Dead Critics, 1 May 2006
7/10
Author: jldmp1 (jldmp1@aol.com) from United States

This was altogether too simple for the critics back in '88 -- the whole idea was to point the barrel of the joke right back at the criticism.

Whereas the previous Dirty Harry features sat on a platform of utter contempt for bureaucrats and political correctness, here it's expanded to contempt for journalists, and especially the subspecies of 'media critics'. As if they couldn't make it clearer, a 'movie critic' is murdered, and treated as an occurrence of 'death of celebrities by threes'.

Yes, this is explicitly about movie making; the previous four movies suffered from poor supporting casts that only got in the way of the narrative. Here Van Horn deliberately employs good actors to play bad genre roles and thus turns the series on its head.

Along the way, we get a nice comment on "Bullitt", this time deflating the over touted car chase with a gag: an explosives laden model '63 Z06 (instead of a fastback Mustang, to drive home the point).

By this time, the .44 Magnum is treated as a character, with a 'voice' that rolls off the cityscape like thunder...the bad guys run at the mere sight of it. To put the icing on the 'man with the biggest gun' motif, Clint dispatches the villain with an earlier one liner ("you're S.O.L.") and a movie prop harpoon. The elaborate conflation of sexual double entendre, humor and cowboy justice went soaring over many heads. Arnold wishes he was half this funny in "Last Action Hero".

Ah, we miss Harry...but his retirement to Carmel was both serendipitous and necessary. By the end of this, he's killed off every cartoon bad guy left in the movie universe, paving the way for both the dimensional villains of "Die Hard" and its ilk, AND the hosannas bestowed on "Unforgiven".

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