Fort Apache, the Bronx (1981)

Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Excellent but underrated film

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

I was 14 years old when this film was released, and I watched the first 60 minutes of it last night for the 1st time. I wasn't impressed, in fact so far I think it is depressing because the characters and script are so predictable. Everyone from ' Murphy' to 'Dennis Connolly' are predictable, it is almost possible to guess what they are going to say in every scene and in my honest opinion that made what could and should have been a gripping film immensely boring and incrediably difficult to take seriously. I found myself wondering why a highly rated actor like Paul Newman chose to appear in this terrible film? I'm sure he didn't need the money. Paul Newman wasn't a chain smoking irish american cop that objects to being ' paid off' by some pimp, and then jumps into bed with some nurse. That is below the dignity of a man like Paul Newman and so I feel sad that he lowered his standards and took part in this terrible movie.

Almost forgotten nowadays, "Fort Apache, the Bronx" it's an interesting, but somewhat flawed, cop drama about a Police Precinct in the problematic South Bronx located right in the middle of a "war zone" where taking a life became gratuitous and cheap. Hordes of street gangs, hookers, pimps, drug dealers, heroin addicts, winos & bums roams the over-populated slums ready to explode by racial mixtures and a common war against the authority. When 2 rookie cops are killed at cold blood, the newcomer Commissioner demands results and drastic changes in the police procedures starts to appear, it clashes with the ideals of one of the veterans in the Precinct... Released around the same time with the now legendary TV Show "Hill Street Blues", this Daniel Petrie directed movie, shares the same themes about the day-to-day life in a Police Precinct with several sub-plots related to the main one in a gritty, depressing atmosphere of a decadent South Bronx realistically photographed by the camera of John Alcott. On a high note, even if the movie flows at a slow pace, it catch the viewer much because of Paul Newman's excellent performance as the veteran Irish-American cop, Murphy, himself an outsider in the Precinct, a loner who doesn't like to follow rules by the book, but with a sense of fairness & dignity which makes him a respected individual in the streets. Ken Wahl (the underrated star of Philip Kaufman's "The Wanderers") plays his loyal partner, a daring rookie full of freshness with a will to be promoted soon to start a life with his fiancée. The main plot follows, almost in a documentary style, the lives (in and out of service) of the two protagonists offering a character study of both worlds and their relation to the common values of justice, integrity and the healthy balance between authority and the civilians that lives upon the troubled streets. On a lower note, there's too many subplots (some of them cliché-ridden ) that provides unnecessary loose ends & a certain restriction of a 'made for TV' makes this movie experience not at all satisfactory as a more ambitious (& serious) film on the subject matter (needed a Friedkin, Scorsese, De Palma or Cimino on the helm), but still a watchable piece of work for fans of late 70's / early 80's gritty / raw flicks with attitude & a 56 years old Paul Newman in top form.

there's something about the way movies were made in the mid 70's - early 80's that always captures my imagination. it always seems real, the score's are almost always perfect, and the characters (when played well) come across as real people.this movie is one of those. Paul Newman is so good in this. The story is awesome and it has the freeze frame ending movies of this period always had. i'm glad the romantic interest played out the way it did, Paul's take on a New York Cop in the late 70's is performed so actuely I believed...well it doesn't matter what i believe. i just recommend this movie to anyone that loves well made films.

I love this film, it was the second video that I ever rented and it plays like a really gritty version of "Hill Street Blues", (I think they came out the same time). Everything to me, works in this film, it's a real ensemble piece, Ed Asner, Ken Wahl, Danny Aiello and a great turn by a then unknown Rachel Ticoton and although it takes a downbeat turn in the last quarter, the film has an uplifting ending that works really well. It's such a shame that Paul Newman's performance, which has to be one of my favourites, has been forgotten and I would love to see a better DVD version from Fox/HBO in the near future - it certainly deserves better. Cheers, Dan.