Customer Reviews

McQ

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Loved the movie, It's a little different to see the Duke in civilian atire as a investigator on the hunt for the people who took out not only cops but a good freind as well . One of the highlights for me was seeing the early 70's Trans Am that the Duke was driving ripping up the streets of Seattle, great looking car for the era. Another thing that I noticed was no profane language in the movie, quite refreshing and enjoyable for anyone to watch who likes action movies and the Duke.

I saw this picture at the theater with my brother when it first came out. I'll admit that on the surface John Wayne playing a tough, renegade, "Dirty Harry" style cop may be a bit far-fetched, but hey, it's John Wayne...few could ever match his screen presence so you just accept it as a pretty entertaining cop action film. There's certainly some "Bullitt" influence as well with the car chases and Wayne driving a Trans Am.

Wayne is Lon McQ whose partner turns out was involved in some dirty doings and is killed because of it. Wayne finds out a drug kingpin (Al Lettieri) was responsible for the murder and goes after him. When McQ's superior Captain Kosterman (Eddie Albert) suspends him, he quits the force and joins the PI firm of his friend "Pinky" (David Huddleston). Duke now can go after Santiago and his men and garners help from an aged junkie informer played by Colleen Dewhurst in a short but strong role. The supporting cast is rounded out with Diana Muldauer and Clu Gulager.

The film is punctuated by what is actually a number of good (for the era) action sequences climaxed by an auto chase and shootout with Duke wielding an automatic weapon on a beach in what really is an exciting scene. One can certainly argue that all of the main actors including Wayne, Albert, and Dewhurst were a bit too long in the tooth for the roles they are playing but so what. It's still an enjoyable film with Wayne, even at 67 years old displaying the macho toughness that had made in a huge star for over 40 years. Dated but fun!

John Wayne wasn't just considered for the role of Dirty Harry, he was the top choice. The role was his for the taking. He looked at the script and was intrigued, but he felt it was a little too hard edged for his fans to accept so he passed. Of course, Clint Eastwood took the role and the movie became a huge hit and a classic. When the Duke saw "Dirty Harry" he realized he had made a big mistake passing on it. It was too late to change the past so he did the next best thing which was to have his own Dirty Harry-like movie and call it "McQ."

Unfortunately, "McQ" lacks the taunt script of "Dirty Harry" and it meanders along very slowly. The performances are good. The Duke, Eddie Albert, and Al Leiteri are all fine. Colleen Dewhurst is fantastic in her short amount of screen time. Yet they cannot cover up the weak script. The end result was "Dirty Harry Lite" and a rather forgettable film. An ok movie; but no "Dirty Harry."

The "Duke" was known throughout his career for playing either cowboys or soldiers, but that all changed for him in 1974.

In 1974 John Wayne filmed the first of the only two movies he ever made where he played a cop, McQ (1974) and Brannigan (1975). There has been a rumor circulating for many years that John Wayne was offered the part of "Dirty Harry" but as far as I know it's never been confirmed. Written by Lawrence Roman and directed by John Sturges, McQ in my opinion is a very entertaining 70's cop film and John Wayne fans won't want to miss it.

John Wayne stars as Detective. Lt. Lon McQ who has been called in to investigate the murder of his best friend and fellow police officer Sgt. Stan Boyle. While trying to solve his friend's murder he is constantly butting heads with his superior Capt. Ed Kosterman who's trying to run interference and undermine McQ's investigation or so it seems? McQ quickly realizes that he'll have to go outside the law to investigate the murder of his dead partner so he resigns from the force and gets a P.I. license and goes it alone. During the investigation McQ becomes involved with his dead partner's widow Lois Boyle and that's when the real fun starts.

The film takes place on location in Seattle and benefits from some good acting by John Wayne, Eddie Albert, Al Lettieri, Diana Muldaur and Roger E Mosley. In my opinion there are plenty of plot twists and enough action throughout the movie to please John Wayne fans. What this film lacks in dialogue it more than makes up for in its character development and action sequences. McQ also benefits from a decent soundtrack and awesome musical score from Elmer Bernstein.

Warner Home Video has done a decent job with the release of McQ on DVD. The movie is presented in its 2.35:1 Widescreen aspect ratio and the video and sound transfer in my opinion is excellent. The image is crisp and clear and the colors are vibrant and sharp. The Dolby Digital 2.0 mono is crisp and clean and it sounds great on my home theatre system. McQ may not have been one of John Wayne's best films but I believe he gave it everything he had and in the end McQ is a solid cop film.

The Cast:
John Wayne.......Det. Lt. Lon McQ
Eddie Albert.....Capt. Ed Kosterman
William Bryant...Sgt. Stan Boyle
Diana Muldaur....Lois Boyle
Al Lettieri......Manny Santiago
Roger E. Mosley....Rosey the pimp informant
David Huddleston...Edward M. 'Pinky' Farrow
Colleen Dewhurst...Myra
Clu Gulager......Franklin Toms

DVD Features Include:
-Featurette: McQ: John Wayne in Action
-John Wayne trailer gallery
-Languages: English & French
-Subtitles: English, French & Spanish (feature film only)

John Wayne tries to be Dirty Harry, even down to a "signature gun", in this case the Ingram MAC-10 machine pistol.For a Wayne movie, its very hard on "the System", showing corrupt cops and cops who just don't give a damn about justice. Good performance by Eddie Albert as a PO'd police captain, half the time you think his head is going to explode off his shoulders!Fantastic stuntwork at the end, making the slow spots worth the effort.

I have watched the video once. It needs to be understood that I am an avid fan of the late actor John Wayne. True to expectations, the DVD was in good condition and the movie was very entertaining. Thanks for a good product!

Bob Sandsberg

Strap on your irons,saddle up and get ready for a ride on the wild side.Only your means of transportation isn't horse flesh but a hot muscle car complete with sound affects.
A cop is shot down by a lone gunman. Then another. The lone gunman takes a coffee break(killing must be hard work). Then the gunman is taken out. Bad move!The now deceased gunman happens to be a cop as well.Only this dirty cop has a friend.You guessed it,big John.That is McQ,a cop who sets his own rules. His main quest is to find the killers of his friend and bring them down.
His unorthodox police methods lands him in contention with his boss Eddie Albert.The Duke resigns gives up his second of three pistolas and continues his investigation as a licensed private dick.The fun continues until the final climax.
There's a supprise twist at the end but I'm not telling what it is.Look for the cool machine pistol with a looooong silencer.
As a dude who hung out in the sixties,with a muscle of my own,I loved the sound affects of the big horse engine and tranmission winding up the rpms in the chase scenes,but when big John ends up in a granny car (His muscle car kind of got squished) you still hear the same sound affects.Ooops! Great movie! Five stars for me.

I enjoyed this immensely! I loved the fact that John Wayne drove a powerful trans am that was black, low to the ground and had an engine that roared. At first it didn't seem like John Wayne, but he captured the role, and made it believable. His character was a maverick of sorts bucking heads with his superiors, (sort of a Dirty Harry type), and had to deal with, not only the punks on the street, but crooked cops, so the story was interesting. You'll get plenty of action, and good drama.

I recommend this film.


John

Came wrapped, perfect condition, no flaws.... just like I bought it from the store!
As for the movie itself... who DOESNT love the Duke?

This is a different role for John Wayne. He plays a policeman in a modern (at the time it was made) metropolitan police force. When several officers are killed, including an old friend, he goes on the case. His methods are rather direct in a no-nonsense, John Wayne sort of way. Needless to say, he hacks off the brass and resigns from the force. That doesn't mean that he resigns from the force, however. He just carries on as a private investigator. What he finds shocks his sensibilities. Corruption runs amuck in the underworld, the force and even among friends.

This is by no means a great John Wayne action picture. It does, however, hold its own and hold interest. Wayne, as usual, take the high moral ground and refuses to compromise on what he believes to be right. That means the bad guys are going to have a bad day.