Tacticalin An absolute waste of money

Kidskycom It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Maddyclassicfilms The New Centurions is directed by Richard Fleischer, has a screenplay by Stirling Silliphant, is based on the novel by Joseph Wambaugh and stars George C. Scott, Stacy Keach, Jane Alexander and Clifton James.One of the best films about patrolling the beat ever made in my opinion. George C. Scott is ferocious as Kilvinski the older police officer mentoring a young rookie called Roy Fehler(Stacy Keach). Kilvinski has seen it all in his years on the force and is surprised by no form of violence any more, he's tough but fair and does his best to help where he can. The film is split into a series of incidents involving Kilvinski and other officers.The New Centurions is a really bleak film that shows the horrific things which police officers have to deal with on a daily basis. There is a documentary feel to this film, you are made to feel as though you are patrolling the streets with these officers and encountering the villains and victims along with them.This film is shocking and violent and shows that these officers can face death at any time from anybody. We also see that this job emotionally destroys the men and women who do it, they seldom remain the same as they were when they joined the force. It's not just the dead officers whose photos hang on the station wall who pay a price, all the officers do in one way or another.The film also shows the effect a police officers career can have on their family, they spend more time on the job and sadly their family begins to come second place. Jane Alexander is excellent as Fehler's wife Dorothy who has to watch the job create quite an impact on their personal life.The entire cast give superb performances with special praise going to Scott.A scene that will stay with me forever is when one of the rookies is chasing a robbery suspect in the dark, somebody runs at him and he shoots them, when he gets closer he sees it's the father of the robbery victim who had come out into the alley to look for the suspect too. When the officer sees what he has done he breaks down and looks haunted, it's a powerful moment for sure.Grim, gritty and powerful, The New Centurions is a film that deserves to be much more well known today.

John T. Ryan THAT AUTHOR AND former L.A. Cop, Joseph Wambbaugh ascended to the heights of pop culture in the 1970s surely was neither a fluke nor should it have been a surprise. Due to the great period of unrest and defiance of all that is "establishment", the Police of America were called to the main stage, front & center, in the spotlight, etc.GARNERING ALL OF this ink, the next logical steps were to have someone tell the Cops' story and then to produce popular entertainments with Police as the subject. Furthermore, the guys in blue were the logical successors to all those six-gun toting dudes from all of the Westerns that glutted the TV tubes and the Matinée Playbills during the 1950s and '60s.BEGINNING HIS CAREER as an author while still an active Policeman on the Los Angeles P.D., THE NEW CENTURIONS was his first published novel; as well as the first to be adapted to the screen. The author gives his best effort in looking beyond the uniform and badge; penetrating into the very souls of the guys who do the job.IN CASTING THE parts of the "Rookie" and the "Old-Timer", we have Stacey Keach and George C. Scott. In every respect, the two are defined ion bold relief to one another. Officer Kilvinski (Mr. Scott) is pragmatic, instinctive and proactive. Likes so many street veterans, Kilvinski has his own rules and methods.BEING THE ANTITHOSIS of this approach, Officer Kehler (Stacey Keach) is educated, polished "by the book". His very image was that of the "modern" law enforcement official. Slim, trim and fit, his very figure is that of an illustration for a modern police training manual.BUT, THIS TOO comes to an end when his marriage dashes on the rocks. He next he resorts to hitting the bottle, Before we know it, he is a full blown alcoholic. By this time, he is at least a journeyman and well on his way to superseding Kilvinski as the grizzled veteran.AND SPEAKING OF Kilvinski, he has retired by this time. He does, however, still maintain contact with his former pupil. Lamenting the loneliness of his retirement and reminiscing about the old days in a phone call, Kilvinski turns his service revolver on himself.HOPING FOR SOME solutions to his own problems, Kehler meets an answer to a prayer; while he was being treated for on the job injuries in the local ER. It is here that he finds his new love in the Nurse, who treats him.NOW BEING SERIOUSLY involved, putting the booze behind him and seemingly straightening out his life, he is fatally shot in the last part of a midnight to morning tour of duty.AUTHOR WAMBAUGH AND the production team managed to squeeze all of the main problems of the police into one story; not living happily after ever.

Woodyanders Naive, idealistic rookie cop Roy Fehler (a typically fine performance by the always dependable Stacy Keach) gets shown the ropes by wise maverick veteran policeman Andy Kilvinski (superbly played by the inestimable George C. Scott) as the intrepid duo work a tough beat in the worst ghetto areas of Los Angeles. Roy's work as a cop takes over his life and causes his marriage to his concerned, but fed-up wife Dorothy (a strong portrayal by Jane Alexander) to fall apart while Kilvinski has trouble adjusting after he retires from the force. Ably directed by Richard Fleischer, with a sharp and astute episodic script by Stirling Silliphant, an uncompromisingly stark, realistic and unsentimental downbeat tone, grainy, yet fairly polished cinematography by Ralph Woolsey, authentically gritty Los Angeles locations, a funky, syncopated score by Quincy Jones, a devastating grim and depressing ending, a powerful central message about the heavy toll being a police officer takes on a man's soul, and several strikingly vivid individual vignettes (the accidental shooting of an innocent man in a dark alley way, Roy getting blasted in the stomach while on duty, Kilvinski committing suicide in his empty house), this film packs a very potent and lingering punch to the gut. Keach and Scott display a wonderfully natural and engaging chemistry in the lead roles; they receive sterling support from Scott Wilson as earnest eager beaver Gus, Rosalind Cash as sympathetic nurse Lorrie, Erik Estrada as honest Hispanic flatfoot Sergio, Clifton James as the crusty Whitey, James Sikking as the doltish Sergeant Anders, Ed Lauter as the dim Galloway, and William Atherton as the by-the-book Johnson. Isabel Stanford and Carol Speed pop up in an amusing scene as a couple of brash hookers. Harsh and pessimistic, but well worth watching just the same.

dtucker86 George C. Scott and Stacy Keach both give wonderful performances in this film. Joseph Wambaugh was a member of the LAPD and has written many excellent books that really bring police work to life. Wambaugh's most famous book is probably The Onion Field, but this is also an excellent adaptation. What I like about this film is its no frills, no punches pulled approach to the world of police work. It is a thankless, demanding, depressing and dangerous job. Scott is wonderful as the veteran cop who has "seen it all" and is a mentor to young officer Keach. SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT After Scott retires from the force, he realizes how empty and meaningless his life is, to this man police work was his whole life. The scene where he takes the gun out of the drawer and kills himself was shocking and chilling. I was also surprised that they killed Keach's character in the end as well. This isn't a "happy" film to watch but it is true to life which is a hell of a lot more then I can say for a lot of films. The New Centurions does for the street cop what Platoon did for the foot soldier in Vietnam. It is a worthy tribute to them and leaves you with sympathy and understanding for what they have to go through. George C. Scott never gave a performance that wasn't first rate and this is no exception. Maybe because it is so downbeat this film is rarely shown on tv and to my knowledge is not available on video but it is worth your while to catch it. By the way, Isabell Sanford (Louise on "The Jeffersons") has an amusing cameo as a hooker that Scott arrests.