Customer Reviews

Brannigan [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Good movie overall. There something to be said about these gritty '70's cop films, with the grainy look, dated scores, and often hard to follow dialogue and story lines. John Wayne jumped into this "dirty harry" genre with this and McQ, with marginal success. Wayne is nearing 70 by this time, and in many ways looks it. He brings charm and style to any role he graces, but looks surpirsingly tired and worn out here. Perhaps his declining health had something to do with it, promting questions as to why he kept on working when so many others of his era had retired. He should have retired with True Grit, although his brave performance in The Shootist was a fitting swan song to the career of the finest actor America ever produced. There will never be another John Wayne.

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.

From the time I saw Brannigan in the theaters as a kid, through a number of chances to watch it again over the years, it has been one of my favorite movies. I grew up with the crime dramas of the 1970s, had little patience for Westerns, and am sorry John Wayne had so little time left to make detective movies. His other police drama, McQ, was trying so hard to imitate other "gritty" characters and films, was so formulaic, artificial, confusing, dreary, stiff, heavy-handed, and cliché, that these elements crowded out Wayne. Not so Brannigan.

Wayne shined. He was natural and utterly comfortable and convincing in the role. He was likable, frank, good-natured, decent, down-to-earth, and tough -- "so damn solid," as Geeson's character put it (to which he replied, "Fat, you mean") in a nice, genuine scene where Brannigan talked about wanting to catch the hood responsible for killing his rookie partner because it was his duty to protect the kid even though, no matter how "nice a story" it would make if the kid had been like a son to him, he had not even liked the "smart-aleck" kid. Wayne had terrific, commanding screen presence. He looked as fit and acted as vigorous as called for by the role. Suggestions in other reviews that he was "too old" or "too fat" are nonsense. The mature cast is a pleasant contrast to today's rampant superficiality.

All of the supporting actors -- Attenborough, Geeson, Ferrer, Vernon, Pilon -- were real professionals who similarly brought substance to their roles and played them smoothly and effectively. The characters were nicely sketched. For example, Attenborough's titled Scotland Yard official was not a caricatured fop or dandy; he was polished but also appreciated rough, direct action to get the job done, which created a nice grudging rapport between him and Brannigan. Both the policeman and the hit-man were portrayed effectively in this movie, with the policeman actually outsmarting and outmaneuvering the hit-man in believable ways. The story had action, energy, purpose, and humor. The dialogue was smart, and the plot interesting, with some clever touches. The photography and music made it all the more enjoyable.

This is a fun, smart, well-paced, well-produced detective story with a good plot, well-drawn and well-cast characters, and good locations. The movie is excellent entertainment. As such, I could not recommend it more highly. Reviewers who apparently failed to watch the film on its own merits and have nothing to offer but pseudo-sophisticated, overly general, cheap-shot criticisms do not do it justice.

I recently watched the reruns of two action movies, McQ & Brannigan, both starring John Wayne, on cable TV. I had watched both of them in the theatres during the mid 70's or so.

As a young boy, I have always enjoyed watching John Wayne in so many westerns (Stage-coach, Rio Bravo, True Grit...) & in so many war movies (Green Berets, Sands of Iwo Jima, The Longest Day...).

I believe that John Wayne was almost in his late 60's/early 70's when he starred in the above two movies. I also believe that these were the only two movies in which he had played a street-wise no-nonsense cop. That's 'Dirty Harry' style!

In the first movie, McQ, he was Police Detective-Lieutenant Lon McQ in Seattle. He investigated the death of his partner & along the way uncovered some corrupt elements in his police department with shady connections to the mob. The signature mobster in the movie, Manny Santiago, was played by Al Lettieri.

In the second movie, Brannigan, he was Police Detective-Lieutenant Jim Brannigan in Chicago. He was sent to London to bring back an American mobster on the run, Ben Larkin, (played by John Vernon) & along the way he got entangled with the conservative work-style of Scotland Yard.

Despite his age, John Wayne was really remarkable in both roles. Having seen him in so many westerns & war movies, it was refreshing to see him acting in contemporary settings. The hot-pursuit action sequences (car chases & shoot-outs) were really good, considering that era. In McQ, the car chase along the beach, with sea gulls fluttering away for cover, was magnificantly choreographed. In Brannigan, the car chase segment ending at the Tower Bridge was great, too. There was even a large-scale brawl at a London pub...reminiscent of John Wayne's innumerable westerns. The storyline in both movies was quite intriguing. In McQ, he even got to show off his physical prowess with an unlicensed sub-machine gun. That was cool! The dialogue in both movies was witty, too.

In Brannigan, one could see how big & tall John Wayne was, when he was in London among the crowd. He really stood out like a sore thumb. His opposite was Commander Sir Charles Swann of Scotland Yard, played by a very fine British actor, Richard Attenborough. John Wayne even got a beautiful side-kick in the movie, Detective Sergeant Jennifer Thatcher, played by Judy Geeson.

In McQ, I was very surprised to see John Wayne in an intimate scene involving a junkie informer played by a fine actress (Colleen Dewhurst) in an understated role. This was something which had never happened in any of his other movies, as far as I know!

On the whole, both movies had a good mix of action, drama & comedy, coupled with witty dialogue throughout. I have enjoyed very much watching both of them again after so many years.

This movie has to be viewed more than once before the story line nuances become completely evident, even though it is somewhat a conventional cop movie, circa mid 1970s. There are some Anglo-American cultural differences that are strangely over played and highlighted, but the Duke is still the Duke and the story moves well through London. The fundamental plot line of a tough Chicago cop going to London to extradite a hood is actually believable, even though the final results are somewhat soiled by some over directing, ala mid'70s. "Brannigan" is a reflection of the times in which it was made. Minor role for Tony Robbins "Baldrick" (sp?) of the "Black Adder" series.

Brannigan is a good, but not great, cop movie that is worthwhile to see John Wayne in one of his last movies. Tough Chicago cop, Lt. Jim Brannigan, is chasing crime boss and general low-life, Ben Larkin, who has jumped bail before he can testify in front of a grand jury. When Larkin leaves the country and goes to London, Brannigan follows to England with extradition papers to bring him back. Soon after arriving, Brannigan finds out that Larkin has been kidnapped by two hoods, which causes the Chicago cop more trouble than he ever figured on. This is by no means one of John Wayne's best movies, but it is still entertaining. Once again, Wayne basically plays himself, but what's wrong with that? The movie has a good mix of action, drama, and comedy throughout. Recommended viewing for one of the Duke's last movies.

John Wayne plays Lt. James Brannigan, the tough Chicago cop sent to London to bring a crook back to the states. After passing on Dirty Harry, Wayne made two movies about cops who live by their own rules, McQ and Brannigan(which was much better). Richard Attenborough is very good as Commander Charles Swan, a Scotland Yard officer helping Brannigan find his man. Judy Geeson plays Sgt. Jennifer Thatcher, the officer assigned to help Brannigan find his way around the city. Mel Ferrer stars as Mel Fields, Larkin's attorney who may know more than he lets on. John Vernon plays mobster, Ben Larkin. The movie also stars Daniel Pilon, Ralph Meeker, John Stride, and James Booth. The DVD offers widescreen presentation and a theatrical trailer. Not Wayne's best movie by any means, but still worth a watch. For an exciting cop adventure with the Duke running around London with Richard Attneborough, check out Brannigan!

This movie probably deserves a 3.5 stars but being a John Wayne fan, I click for four instead of a three stars. While McQ was an overblown Dirty Harry wannabe type of film, Brannigan proves to be bit more mellow and laid back. Wayne, playing a tough Chicago cop, ends up in London trying to extradite one of his hometown criminals who ended getting kidnapped. The key element of this movie lies in the "fish out of the water" theme and its actually works well for John Wayne. Like in any John Wayne, the key element is how well John Wayne interact with his supporting players. In this film, he does very well with Judy Geeson and Richard Attenborough, both who gave great performances and had good chemisty with the Duke.

Like some of his westerns, this film developed slowly, few action scenes inserted here and there with plenty of humor. The car chase scene and that fight in the bar proves to be pretty delightful in both elements of humor and action. I don't think Wayne was trying to mimick Dirty Harry here like he tried in McQ. Beside, that .38 that Brannigan was carrying is a pea shooter compared to a .44 magnum!

Only negative sides must be the soundtrack which sounds very dated. It does all the wrong things like trying to get the audience's attention that something is about to happened. Also for a "top dollar professional", the hitman character in this movie proves to be rather inept. The director seem to be pretty heavy handed and the story suffered greatly because of it.

While John Wayne does look bit old, I don't think this movie really taxed him that much. The film is bit refreshing because of the foreign location and the cast. John Wayne the American, really stand out among the more calmer British population. Change of scenary did the Duke well and help make up for the mediocrity of the film. Overall, I enjoyed the movie, it was entertaining and fun to watch despite of its flaws.

The DVD that came out is nothing to scream about. The widescreen enchanced image proves to be clear but nothing exceptional. The track is only mono and there is virtually no extras with the movie.

Great Duke film. Not as good as Mcq, but a good movie. 1 of only 2 movies where the Duke plays a cop.

John Wayne fans won't be disappointed with "Brannigan". Wayne plays a Detective named Jim Brannigan who has been sent to London England to retrieve a known fugitive hiding out there. Brannigan the hard nosed Irish-American detective quickly forgets he's not in Chicago and the British authorities have a different way of doing things. Detective Jim Brannigan teams up with a female constable named Jennifer Thatcher played by Judy Geeson and her superior Commander Swann played by Richard Attenborough.

This movie is a great way to spend an afternoon in front of the television. The video transfer and digital 2.0 sound is really good. The picture is in widescreen and it's a pretty clean video transfer with some minor blemishes here and there. The sound is also better than I expected. The DVD doesn't have any extras other than the original theatrical trailer, so it's a bare bones release. Brannigan is full of great action and a very affordable release from MGM Studios. Another John Wayne movie called "McQ" from 1974 is available on DVD and definitely worth a look. I hope this review was helpful.

DVD Features:
- Play Movie
- Scene Selections
- Theatrical Trailer
- Languages

as stated i love john wayne,and any movie that he's in is a good one to me.brannigan is one of his last movies and really it's more comedy than action,but the duke delivers as he always does.
brannigan is a tough windy city cop sent to england to bring back a mobster for trial. before he gets there the mans lawyer fakes a kidnapping and now brannigan is going to teach england how an american cop handles things.
not much new here,but if you like wayne you will love it.