Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Brannigan Blu-ray Movie Review

Dirty Johnny.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 15, 2014

It’s impossible to watch Brannigan without hearing distant echoes of John Wayne reciting such immortal lines as “You've gotta ask yourself a question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?” or “Go ahead, make my day”. According to several published reports, The Duke in fact turned down the opportunity to play Dirty Harry, and it’s obvious that a few years after that franchise gave Clint Eastwood one of his most iconic roles, Wayne and his acolytes were struggling to find something similar to feature him in. Wayne never had quite the laconic screen presence that Eastwood tended to foster after his collaborations with Sergio Leone, but he had a similar no nonsense attitude about him that serves Brannigan fairly well most of the time, even if the film itself seems like a pale imitation of heartier fare. While there’s a more than passing resemblance to the take no prisoners approach of Harry Callahan in Brannigan, the film also traffics in the oft-used “stranger in a strange land” set up, something that Eastwood and his future Dirty Harry collaborator Don Siegel had themselves utilized in 1968’s Coogan’s Bluff. Jim Brannigan (John Wayne) is considerably older and more experienced than Walt Coogan, though, and in Brannigan the fish out of water situation is perhaps even more pronounced than in the Eastwood film, for Brannigan, a hard nosed Chicago cop who is notorious on the force for not playing by the rules, is sent to merrie olde England to pick up a criminal mastermind for whom he nurses a rather personal grudge. Brannigan isn’t great cinema by any stretch, and probably isn’t even the best film to feature Wayne as a policeman, but it’s fun and even thrilling now and again, with some especially well done set pieces.

Brannigan doesn’t waste a lot of time delving into the backstory between Larkin (John Vernon), a “most wanted” bad guy who’s on the lam in England, and Brannigan himself, and is instead content to merely let the audience know there’s bad blood, and plenty of it, between the two. Not only is Brannigan out to collar the crook, the opening scene (replete with what was obviously intended to be The Duke’s catchphrase for the film, an understated “knock, knock” after he kicks in a door) delivers the information that Larkin has placed a hit on Brannigan and his days may be numbered. Before Brannigan can get too worked up about that (as if he would in any case), his boss (Ralph Meeker) sticks him on a British Airways flight to England with extradition papers for the villain. (British Airways obviously paid a handsome product placement fee, or perhaps at least gave the cast and crew free airfare, for the airline has some rather unneeded footage of its plane departing and arriving in the film, with nice extended shots of its logo on the fuselage.)

Larkin meanwhile is resisting the exhortations of his lawyer Mel Fields (Mel Ferrer) to get the hell out of Dodge (and/or London) courtesy of some “underground railroad” lodgings Fields has made available that will ultimately get Larkin to South America. Before that plan even makes it off the veritable runway, Larkin is kidnapped while receiving a massage (the masseur is evidently not played by Michael Palin, although Peter Porteous' resemblance to the comedian is rather astounding). Meanwhile, Brannigan arrives and is met by his appointed British liaison, comely Detective Sergeant Jennifer Thatcher (Judy Geeson), who in turn delivers him to her superior, Commander Sir Charles Swann (Richard Attenborough). Swann is concerned about Brannigan’s shoot first, ask questions later reputation, especially since British policemen typically don’t even carry firearms. (The meeting scene takes place in the highly exclusive Garrick Club, a gathering place for actors which Attenborough belonged to. Keep your eye on the paintings in the background—you’ll clearly see John Gielgud over The Duke’s shoulder.)

While all of this is going on, the hitman hired by Larkin to kill Brannigan has also arrived in England and is stalking the Chicago cop, trying to consummate the assassination. This of course leads to a couple of spectacular (and completely improbable) interactions, including gunfire piercing the otherwise calm British evening. Probably the film’s most enjoyable sequence, though, is a fun and funny car chase through metropolitan London that has a spectacular moment with cars jumping the raised Tower Bridge.

There’s a bit of a double cross as the film wends toward its conclusion, but there’s frankly nothing too surprising about Brannigan. Some simmering romantic sparks between Brannigan and Thatcher are thankfully never very fully developed (the age difference between the two is problematic, to say the very least). The initial distrust between Swann and Brannigan leads expectedly to camaraderie and actual collaboration at the film’s close, another completely predictable arc. There’s some gentle humor here as Brannigan attempts to forge his way in the more genteel world of English society, something that (again all too predictably) ends up creating a huge melée in a scene that could have been lifted from The Quiet Man. While Brannigan is perfectly entertaining, it’s a bit on the tired side, despite some passing efforts to gussy things up (including a wah-wah pedal adorned score by Dominic Frontiere). While there’s really nothing all that wrong with Brannigan, some cynics are almost certain to walk away from the film thinking The Duke should have said “yes” to that offer to play Harry Callahan instead.

Brannigan Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Brannigan is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.34:1. Much like the film itself, while there's nothing really wrong with this high definition presentation, there's also not that much to write home about. Perhaps this was sourced from an older master, for it is really rather surprisingly soft and ill defined quite a bit of the time, to the point that even midrange shots lack substantial detail. Colors are reasonably accurate looking, though reds sometimes tip toward orange, flesh tones are slightly on the pink side, and nothing is overly vivid. Some close-ups improve fine detail measurably, offering looks at the pock marks in Vernon's cheeks or the crags that line The Duke's visage. There are some slight but noticeable color space fluctuations— watch in the meeting scene between Thatcher and Brannigan how Geeson's flesh tones change minutely. The elements utilized for the transfer are in very good condition, with really nothing troubling that merits mentioning. No signs of overly aggressive denoising or artificial sharpening are on display.

Brannigan Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Brannigan's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track suffices surprisingly well for the action sequences in the film, offering substantial midrange and even lower frequency support for things like gunfire and the occasional devastating explosion. Dialogue is cleanly delivered, and Dominic Frontiere's groovalicious score also sounds just fine.

Brannigan Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Isolated Score Track offers Dominic Frontiere's Shaft inflected music in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0.


• Audio Commentary by Judy Geeson. Nick Redman hosts the film's co-star, who offers some sweet if sometimes routine reminscences. This is highly enjoyable from an anecdotal perspective, especially with some if its behind the scenes comments about The Duke.


• Judy Geeson's Behind the Scenes Home Movie Footage (480i; 2:47) looks like it was taken when they were shooting the big climactic scene that caps the film.


• Original Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:21)


• MGM 90th Anniversary Trailer (1080p; 2:06)

Brannigan Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Brannigan is undeniable fun, but it has more than the faint whiff of Wayne chasing after a brass ring that passed him by when he passed up Dirty Harry. The English location offers some decent, if sometimes drab looking, scenery, and the interplay between Wayne and Attenborough is amusing if never laugh out loud funny. Geeson does her best in a largely thankless role as the "not really" love interest. Director Douglas Hickox keeps things moving at a brisk enough pace that the film's seams only occasionally show. This new Blu-ray has decent if kind of lackluster looking video, but the audio is surprisingly vivid sounding for a mono track. Recommended.