The Dead Pool

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The Dead Pool
The Dead Pool theatrical poster
Directed by	Buddy Van Horn
Produced by	David Valdes
Written by	Steve Sharon (story & screenplay) Durk Pearson Sandy Shaw
Starring	Clint Eastwood Patricia Clarkson Liam Neeson Evan C. Kim Jim Carrey
Music by	Lalo Schifrin
Cinematography	Jack N. Green
Editing by	Ron Spang
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	July 13, 1988
Running time	91 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Preceded by	Sudden Impact
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

The Dead Pool (1988) is the fifth and last film in the Dirty Harry series.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Picking up a couple years after the events in Sudden Impact, Dirty Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) is assigned to investigate the death of rock singer Johnny Squares (Jim Carrey). He discovers that film director Peter Swan (Liam Neeson) is part of a game in which he has to guess which celebrity will die next. Harry is being targeted by a mob boss named Lou Janero (Anthony Charnota), whom Harry had put in prison. In the end, it turns out that the killer is a deranged fan of Swan, named Harlan Rook (David Hunt) who thinks all of his ideas have been stolen by Swan

While critical and financial reaction was mixed (scoring a 57% on Rotten Tomatoes), the film is noteworthy as being one of Jim Carrey's first film roles; he is credited as "James Carrey." The movie also stars Evan C. Kim as Harry's partner Al Quan, Patricia Clarkson as the reporter Samantha Walker, and Michael Currie as Captain Donnelly. The 1980s rock band Guns N' Roses makes a cameo appearance at the funeral of Johnny Squares. The Dead Pool is notable as the only Dirty Harry movie in which Albert Popwell does not appear.

In what may be one of the most unusual chase scenes in cinematic history, Callahan is pursued through San Francisco's hilly streets in his unmarked Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight squad car by a remote controlled bomb disguised as a radio controlled car. The "bomb" was in fact a highly modified Associated Electrics RC10 competition buggy topped with an off-the-shelf 1963 Chevrolet Corvette body from hobby accessory manufacturer Parma International. It was driven by world-champion radio control driver "Jammin'" Jay Halsey and was electrically powered. The sound effects of the "engine" were added in post production. This chase scene has many similarities to, and in fact may be considered a parody of, the famous chase scene in the movie Bullitt.

Critical reaction to the film was mixed. Some dismissed it as all having been done before (except the aforementioned toy car chase, which was highlighted in almost every review, positive or negative) while Roger Ebert almost gave the film his highest rating (3 1/2 stars out of 4), saying it was as good as the first film.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Trivia

The concept of toy cars being used to deliver bombs was also used in the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Beware the Gray Ghost". It was also used in the Grand Theft Auto video game series.

The song "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N' Roses appears in the movie as the theme song for Swan's last movie. Some members of the band including Axl Rose, Slash and Izzy Stradlin have credited cameos in the film, including at the funeral of Johnny Squares played by Jim Carrey.

Comic book writer Frank Miller, a big fan of the Dirty Harry series, has stated he was disappointed with the film and that he later wrote the Sin City story, That Yellow Bastard, as the last Dirty Harry story.