Joe Kidd (1972)

[Scott]

Finished JOE KIDD (1972) starring Clint Eastwood. This is another solid western by Clint Eastwood. Can this guy make a bad movie? That music sounded like something from a 70's Columbo mystery TV show. I guess because it was made in the 70's. The films also has Robert Duvall and John Saxon in it. Eastwoods character gets himself into quite a pickle and must use his smarts to beat a bunch with some fancy new guns.

[The Burgomaster]

I'm a big fan of Eastwood, but I'm not a big fan of Joe Kidd. It's certainly not a bad movie, but it just doesn't quite grab me.

Eastwood can (and has) made some bad movies. HONKEYTONK MAN, CITY HEAT, ANY WHICH WAY YOU CAN and ABSOLUTE POWER come quickly to mind.  EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE is also pretty bad, but it has a certain charm to it that makes me reluctantly admit that I enjoy watching it from time to time.

[Scott]

Yea, I remember seeing EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE at the drive-in as a teenager and liked it. The monkey, the hat, and the biker gang. Not sure how I would feel about it today if I seen it again.

[Neville]

You were in the adequate age to enjoy it, then. Those two movies with the monkey are the closest he's ever been to making children's movies. Glad you enjoyed "Joe Kidd".

Oh, and you can add "Magnum Force" (the third Dirty Harry movie) to the list of Eastwood turkeys.

[Squishy]

Wasn't "Force" the second Dirty Harry flick? I think it goes:

"Dirty Harry"
"Magnum Force"
"The Enforcer" (with Tyne Daly--is this the one you mean, Nev?)
"Sudden Impact"
"The Dead Pool"

[The Burgomaster]

Squishy is right - MAGNUM FORCE was #2. What do you expect from a movie that features guys like David Soul and Tim Matheson as the villains?

[Neville]

The Burgomaster wrote: Squishy is right - MAGNUM FORCE was #2. What do you expect from a movie that features guys like David Soul and Tim Matheson as the villains?

True, I was wrong. #3 is the one with the female sidekick and the final showdown in Alcatraz.

About what I expected, I expected a good movie, of course. I mean, it is the first sequel to one of the best thrillers ever, and the script was written by both John Milius and Michael Cimino, right? So I had my expectations.

[Squishy]

Well, they both have similar yet oddly vague titles--almost a sort of Dirty Harry Generic--and they're both pretty bad, but also I think "Enforcer" is the sillier of the two, so I wanted to make sure which one you were focused on, Nev. However:

I saw "Sudden Impact" for the first time on TBS/TNT/Twhatever and was really shocked at how awful it was. The whole "Meet Dead Meat, Harry's New Partner" thing was really low-grade boof this round (he has one scene with Harry, then one scene in which he runs into the bad guys, and then he's just set decoration--leaving behind a bulldog who is the best actor in the mess)...and then of course there's Sandra Locke. Shrieeeeeeeeeeeeek, get it off me!

I occasionally catch the last ten minutes of "The Dead Pool" while channel-surfing, and it always makes me giggle. I guess the ol' Mag wasn't a sufficient phallus-substitute for the writers anymore, hah? Ugh. Both "Sudden" and "Pool" feature bad guys who talk too damn much (and stand there while Harry reads his lines off)...were there yet another sequel, they'd probably wear targets on their chests.

So I'd have to say that "Magnum Force" and "The Enforcer," while not great cinema, aren't the worst of the series.