Brannigan

Good movie

Great movie, John Wayne as a Police Officer in London, fabulous plots with good action scenes.

Dirty Harry he’s not, but hard to beat The Duke

After John Wayne turned down the role of Dirty Harry and saw that movie become a huge hit, he apparently decided to cash in on the '70s cop movie craze himself--first with McQ, then with this. Unfortunately, at age 67, Wayne was really too old for this kind of role. The movie is only okay, a routine police drama in which Wayne is tracking down a kidnapped gangster. One thing it does have going for it is its location. It's shot mostly in London. The always entertaining Richard Attenborough plays a Scotland Yard inspector who fulfills the obligatory role of "angry captain." Mel Ferrer turns in a nicely slimy performance as the gangster's lawyer, and Judy Geeson plays a Scotland Yard detective who serves as Wayne's chaperone in England, but unfortunately isn't given much to do, as this is very much a man's movie. To his credit, Wayne is never obnoxiously sexist or condescending toward her. I guess he'd accepted that times had changed. And because this is a John Wayne movie, there has to be a bar fight.The biggest problem with this movie is it's just not very interesting. Wayne is his usual "tough guy" self, but the plot about trying to rescue a kidnapped gangster doesn't engage us because we know the guy is a slime ball so we don't really care if they succeed. Meanwhile, a hitman keeps trying and failing to kill Wayne, and the hitman's car--a beautiful black Jaguar XKE with red trim--is pretty much the best thing in the movie. Of course, it doesn't make any sense for a hitman to drive such a distinctive, easily identifiable car, especially after his target has seen it, but whatever. Likewise, it makes zero sense that Wayne would commandeer a civilian's car to chase after someone and bring the owner along for the ride, needlessly endangering an innocent person's life. I also found the musical score excessive and intrusive. There were several scenes where silence or a more subdued score would have been more effective at generating suspense. So, yeah, kind of a meh movie.

What more is there to say, this is truly a hidden gem of a movie and I believe I've lost count of how many times I've watched this movie. It's just a shame we couldn't have had more of John Wayne in more modern roles and honestly with all the bad movies and sequels out there it's a shame someone never had the idea to make a tribute film to Brannigan with say his Grandson (I'd vote for Chris Pratt to take the role) having to "fight crime" and if possible bringing some of the original cast back to reprise their roles or paying tribute to them also if it's not.

I don't care what anyone says about John Wayne.. he was a "Man's-man" ! He was a very good actor and yes a ....ladies man. Some people do not agree with his politic's nor his view's.. The first movie of his that I saw was "The Quiet Man" that was shot on location in Ireland ..from then I was hooked like a fish ! This movie isn't one of his classic western's that he is known for. Just a modern era of the 1970's cop movie ..I had seen part's of this back some years ago. This movie was put together pretty well and the ending was a surprise ,,seeing that the assassin always at least tries to get his man. London in the 1970's was nice to re-visit ..the clothe's,the men's club's and the cars ..! You should check this movie out of your a fan of this great western star..before he neared retirement due to lung Cancer ..

of mine in westerns. He's always the same character. However this modern day detective story works for me.

Like McQ, John Wayne plays a police detective in this film. He is his trademark, tough as nails, no nonsense, "I'll do it my way" kind of character but there is a difference. This one is more enjoyable.He plays a cop from Chicago. His arch nemesis is a mobster and is just about to be brought down when he flees the country to London. Wayne is sent there to bring him back under an extradition treaty. Problems arise when Wayne is just about to get his prisoner from Scotland Yard and the prisoner is kidnapped. That leaves the Chicago PD and Scotland Yard both with egg on their face. Both want the prisoner back but they have very different styles of getting the job done.Scotland Yard tends to be very civil about such things. They don't even like having John Wayne around let alone his revolver. Wayne prefers the direct approach. Find a bad guy and MAKE him talk. Eventually, it is a blend of both styles that brings the perp to justice but there are plenty of twists and turns along the way. The kidnapper lead the police on several wild goose chases and they are not who they appear to be.The only one who can be taken at face value is John Wayne's character. He says what he means and backs it up with bullets or a swift punch. Judy Geeson makes for a sweet sidekick for him along the way.The Wayne character is a constant. Thankfully, it is constantly enjoyable.

Se le empiezan a notar los años pero cuando aparece en pantalla el gran John Wayne uno se siente atrapado y no puede levantarse. Es un poco la estética del Oeste llevada al Londres de principios de los 70 pero los resultados son igual de buenos.Muy entretenidad

Es una gran película fue una compra para una persona que colecciona este tipo de películas. Y lo encontré en Amazon.

It's been a few years since I've watched "Brannigan" so thought I'd get the DVD - especially at this price.I wasn't disappointed. ItAs a fan of this genre and this era in TV & Film, this was the perfect addition to my collection. A bit of Sweeney, a bit of Dirty Harry, a bit of Villain. Some very entertaining scenes - especially with the brilliant Sir Richard Attenborough. The fight scene in the pub was hilarious - followed soon after by the well known car chase scene, ending on the iconic Tower Bridge. There are some wonderful scenes of 70s London throughout the film. Some locations are totally changed now, but some are still exactly the same.It might not be everyone's idea of a classic, but the world would be boring if everyone thought the same wouldn't it ? I love it !No extras on this offering, which is a shame, but in the absence of an alternative, I'll stay happy with this release for now.

Wer, wie ich, kein Fan des Western-Genres ist, kommt normalerweise nur höchst zufällig mit den cineastischen Werken des Haudegen-Darstellers John Wayne (genannt 'Duke', nach seinem Hund) in Berührung. Aber nach dem die DIRTY HARRY Filme mit Clint Eastwood in den 70ern sehr populär und kassenträchtig gewesen waren, liess sich Ehrencowboy Wayne gegen gute Gage noch einmal überreden, außerhalb seines Lieblingsgenres aus dem Sattel zu steigen und seinen Zossen im Stall zu lassen. In 2 für die damalige Zeit typischen polizeibezogenen Krimis, zerschlägt Wayne als Detective Lon McQ (McQ SCHLÄGT ZU 1973) ein Geflecht aus Drogenhandel und dienstinterner Korruption. Für BRANNIGAN - EIN MANN AUS STAHL (1975) begibt er sich als Lieutnant James Brannigan auf eine Reise ins ferne Europa um den getürmten Gangster Larkin zurückzuholen und - so ganz nebenbei - halb London und den Scotland Yard etwas aufzumischen.In beiden genannten Streifen darf Wayne natürlich sein branchenübliches Image vom breitschultrig-rauen und trinkfreudig-rauflustigen Westernhelden ausleben. Es ist unter Cineasten kein Geheimnis, dass Wayne zeitlebens niemals wirklich schauspielern musste, sondern immer nur sich selbst spielen durfte, wenn auch mit kleinen Variationen. Wayne war die typische Erscheinung des harten Kerls mit Gemüt und das bei einem Mann der ursprünglich auf den ersten Vornamen 'Marion' getauft war.Deutsche Zuschauer dürfen sich darüberhinaus glücklich schätzen über die kongeniale Synchronstimme des berliner Schauspielers Arnold Marquis. Der Deutsche, zu seiner Zeit einer der meistbeschäftigten Synchronsprecher (auch für Robert Mitchum, Richard Widmark, Kirk Douglas, Charles Bronson, James Coburn usw.), hatte eine unverwechselbare, whiskeygeschwängerte Stimme, die - zumindest für unsere Ohren - noch um einiges besser klingt als die des Originals. Marquis und Wayne, die sich auch privat kannten, waren ab den 60ern rein akustisch untrennbar miteinander verbunden.Der Film BRANNIGAN glänzt weniger durch die Originalität seines Drehbuchs als durch den deftigen Humor und die zupackende Art, mit denen der kantige Amerikaner das typisch britische Understatement manches Londoners zum Wanken bringt. Seine kleinen Scharmützel mit seinem Counterpart bei Scotland Yard, Commander Swann, geben dem Film die richtige Würze. Regisseur Douglas Hichox (bekanntester Film THEATER DES GRAUENS 1973) hat mit einer Hand voller Stars und bekannten englischen Charakterdarstellern einen handwerklich soliden und actionreichen Krimi geschaffen, bei dem eine Kneipenschlägerei, Autoverfolgungsfahrten, Schiessereien und eine Explosion nicht fehlen dürfen. Darüberhinaus ist es dem Regisseur gelungen, den Hauptdrehort London mit etlichen Sehenswürdigkeiten in ein gutes Licht zu stellen.BD : das Breitwand-Format 2.35 : 1 ist in den 50ern eigentlich erfunden worden, um den Kinobesucher mit grandiosen Actionszenen auf einer grossen Leinwand zu beeindrucken. Leider sind in späteren Jahren etliche Regisseure und Kameramänner dazu übergegangen, statt der Totalen auch viele Close-Ups im Letterbox-Verfahren aufzunehmen, wozu häufig das Bild weicher gezeichnet wurde als bei landschaftlichen Motiven. Hier liegt auch die Crux dieses Streifens. Schon als DVD-Veröffentlichung geriet das Bild in manchen Szenen zu einem braun-gelb-roten Brei, dem es an Tiefenschärfe gefehlt hat. Auch die Farbgebung variierte in mancher Einstellung dahingehend, dass sich die Gesichter von Wayne und Attenborough - auch ohne Alkoholeinfluss - von Normal in ein zu kräftiges Rot verwandelten. Die gerade herausgekommene Bluray-Version von BRANNIGAN ist bezüglich der Nahaufnahmen und Halbtotalen nur unwesentlich besser geraten, dafür präsentieren sich andere Szenen in ausgesprochen gutem HD.Es darf vermutet werden, dass aus dem relativ alten, aber immerhin störungsfreiem Filmmaterial ohne grossen technischen Aufwand nicht mehr herauszuholen ist. Leider gibt die deutsche Tonspur auch keinen Anlass zur Freude, sie klingt nämlich ziemlich blechern, auch wenn man sich im Laufe des Films daran gewöhnt. An Extras, außer Trailern und einem Wendecover, wurde - wie üblich - auch gespart.FAZIT : auch wenn die Bluray-Werte nicht gerade prickelig sind, so ist der Film an sich ein unterhaltsames Beispiel für die Haudrauf-Krimis und Western der 70er Jahre, lässig und ironisch von Wayne in der Hauptrolle angeführt. Ihn begleiten - ebenfalls sehenswert - so namhafte Stars wie Richard Attenborough, Mel Ferrer, John Vernon, Ralph Meeker und Judy Geeson, die zusammen mit einigen schönen Aufnahmen von London aus BRANNIGAN - EIN MANN AUS STAHL eine runde Sache machen.

This is a very honest albeit slightly aged (so 70's!) crime thriller, which will be especially appreciated by John Wayne's fans, but is also still quite watchable for all publics. Below, more of my impressions, with some limited SPOILERS.This is the second and last crime thriller John Wayne turned in the 70s during the short-lived attempt to diversify his roles and try to follow in the steps of a much younger Clint Eastwood, after the enormous cultural shock of the first "Dirty Harry" in 1971. The Duke was actually supposed to play Inspector Callaghan, but he refused the role... The first of those films, "McQ" from 1974, was quite serious, but didn't perform as well as it was expected. Therefore for his next thriller John Wayne opted for a somehow lighter tone and also for a more "westernized" character, to re-connect with his usual fans when in the same trying to conquer a new public."Brannigan" is therefore a serious thriller with some tongue in cheek humour and some bravado elements usually seen in John Wayne's westerns. The story is about a Lieutenant of Chicago Police, James Brannigan (John Wayne) who travels to England to bring back an American gangster named Ben Larkin (John Vernon), arrested by Scotland Yard and awaiting extradition. This seemingly easy mission will be complicated by local English thugs, by Larkin's British lawyer Mel Fields (Mel Ferrer, fabulous as always), by the uneasy working relation between Brannigan and Scotland Yard's Commander Sir Charles Swann (Richard Attenborough) and last but not least by the professional hitman from New Orleans hired by Larkin to kill Brannigan (there is considerable bad blood between those two). A lovely young Scotland Yard Sergeant Detective Jennifer Thatcher (Judy Geeson) will serve as Brannigan's driver and assistant during his visit - however Brannigan being obviously a very senior man, with grown-up children, their relation during the film will be of quasi teacher/apprentice nature, with just some very gentle but charming verbal flirting.Without being a very good film "Brannigan" is a nice watch, with some rather gentle humour provided by the mutual cultural shock between the Yankee "barbarian" and the supposedly more cultured "Limeys". Brannigan's memories of war-time England (he served in European war theatre during WWII) provide also some nice conversation topics. Richard Attenborough gives a GREAT show in this film as the highly civilized, aristocratic Scotland Yard Commander and he clearly had the TIME OF HIS LIFE playing in this film. The difference in size between the two actors only added to the charm of their working relation (Attenborough is 170cm when Wayne was 193cm tall...).The elements of action borrowed from the western genre are particularly amusing and the main car chase is really hilarious. There is also one scene in this film involving the persistent hitman following Brannigan around London, that actually made me stand up in front of my TV, contrasting with the much lighter general tone of the rest of the movie...I think that this film was probably a distant inspiration for the classical "Dempsey and Makepeace" TV show in the 80s, although of course here the American character is too old to get involved with his British partner (and also Commander Swann is much more endearing than his equivalent in the series...).Bottom line, this is a honest, good film, not really "Dirty Harry"-like, but lighter and merrier and showing that Merry Old England certainly never was the same after Lieutenant Brannigan was done with her...))) Very watchable, even if you are not Duke's fan. Enjoy!