The Dead Pool is set in San Francisco where crime-boss Lou Janero (Anthony Charnota) has put a hit out on Inspector 'Dirty' Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood),while dodging attempts on his life & with his new partner Inspector Quan (Evan C. Kim) Harry has to investigate the death of rock star Johnny Squares (Jim Carrey) when he is discovered dead in his trailer on the set of a horror film. With help from a local new reporter Samantha Walker (Patricia Clarkson) Harry discovers the existence of a dead pool, a list of celebrities which horror film director Peter Swan (Liam Neeson) & some of his friends bet on who will die before a certain date. It quickly transpires that someone is systematically going through Peter's list & killing the celebrities off one-by-one & Harry learns that his name is on the list which makes him a potential victim...

Directed by Buddy Van Horn this was the fifth & to date final Dirty Harry film, I haven't seen all of them as yet but I thought The Dead Pool was a pretty good if unspectacular 80's tough cop thriller. The script by Steve Sharon is alright, it has a fairly good story that tries something different for the genre although one has to say I felt it had more potential than it ultimately delivered. The idea of a dead pool lottery style bet about celebrities dying could have made for a great film but here the idea is underdeveloped, it's never revealed what the point of the dead pool is in the first place. I mean it's seemingly nothing more than a silly bet between a horror director & a few of his friends, it's never revealed what the actual prize was meant to be or just how seriously those involved took it & it gets forgotten as the number of murder victims grow. What I'm trying to say is that I never felt there was sufficient reason behind the killings & the climax which reveals it was the work of a lone psychotic was somewhat underwhelming. The Dead Pool also tries to say something relevant about media coverage of crimes & cops, this is quite well handled & the point is made effectively enough. The makers could have had a lot of fun with the dead pool & turned this into a gripping thriller, as it is it's a decent action thriller that passes the time but ultimately doesn't live long in the memory once it's over.

Director Van Horn does alright, it moves along at a decent pace, there's some good action scenes & shoot-outs along with an imaginative car chase in which Dirty Harry is chased across San Francisco by a remote controlled car packed with explosives! Harry himself is still a great character & he has everything it took to be an action hero back in the 80's, the utter & total contempt for authority, the droll one-liners & the need to use excessive & deadly force at all times which he also had during the 70's of course. He has it all, he's maybe a bit old but he still holds his own as he blows bad guy's away left, right & center. There's some violence & a bit of blood which helps things along nicely.

Technically the film is good, it has that solid Hollywood big budget feel to it & it's well made especially the car chase. Shot on location in San Francisco despite, according to the IMDb, the cities residents (people with obviously too much time on their hands) protesting that 'Dirty' Harry Callahan would be a bad character to represent the city! The acting is OK, there are early roles for Liam Neeson & Jim Carrey while the members of Guns N'Roses appear as extras at the funeral of Johnny Squares.

The Dead Pool is a solid action thriller, it's not the best one ever made but it's far from the worst. Dirty Harry fans should like it & general action fans should too, worth a watch if nothing else. This was a sequel to Dirty Harry (1971),Magnum Force (1973),The Enforcer (1976) & Sudden Impact (1983).

In the final Dirty Harry movie, Inspector Callahan (Clint Eastwood) is annoyed by his new-found fame, caused by his court testimony against an important mob figure. His next case is a real winner: an obnoxious British director (Liam Neeson) has a "dead pool" on the set of his new horror flick. Each crew member picks ten celebrities they believe will die, and the one with the most dead celebs on their list at the end of the game is the big winner.

Just one problem with this - the people on the director's list start dying at an alarming rate and mysteriously, including his leading man. And guess whose name is on the list as well - yeah, Harry's.

If this isn't enough, a TV reporter (Patricia Clarkson) wants to do a big story on him.

Directed by Buddy van Horn, "The Dead Pool" is a spoof of a sort, killing a movie critic as part of the story (ouch),and the story actually concerns movie-making. It also has a car chase that's a take-off on "Bullitt." The stereotypical characters found in this type of film are played by some excellent actors, and there's plenty of sexual innuendo to go around.

Someone mentioned that Eastwood seems a little old here for Dirty Harry. He seems old for just about every role he plays, frankly, but he keeps playing them. It's always amazing how men are able to do this with no problem, but give the man his due. He's a great presence, and in 1988, his best work as both a director and an actor was yet to come! Very entertaining and well-acted. If you can get the joke, you'll enjoy it all the more.

"The Dead Pool" is the fifth and final Dirty Harry movie. While the film has more than a few silly moments, it manages to entertain and also not be so terribly sleazy and dark as the previous outing, "Sudden Impact". This previous film, in my opinion, marks the absolute lowest point for the franchise...and at least "The Dead Pool" is an improvement.

The plot is a bit overly complicated for such a short film. There's a celebrity dead pool list, a crazed psychopath as well as an angry mob boss to contend with...and it somehow manages to pack it all into the movie. The film has some interesting and likable characters, such as Harry's new partner as well as a reporter Harry initially hates...of course, Harry pretty much hates everybody so this shouldn't come as any surprise.

The bottom line is that the movie is enjoyable to watch and although violent (what Dirty Harry movie isn't???),it is less gross and slimy that I expected based on the previous film. Sadly, despite this, the movie did not do all that well at the box office.