bkoganbing The very first police novel of Joseph Wambaugh is the subject of this film. Although George C. Scott is top billed the story is carried through all the way by Stacy Keach. In this Scott's role is similar to the one he played in Taps.In fact The New Centurions also has a classical analogy as well. Scott as Julius Caesar who dies midpoint in the Cleopatra saga and Stacy Keach as the Mark Antony figure who carries on to the end to meet the same fate. The title comes from the fact that these cops see each other as the forces of law and order holding back a tide of anarchy. That kind of pressure to be the force of order certainly puts a lot of pressure on those who enlist to serve. The old centurions failed and the Roman Empire they protected eventually failed as well.Scott is the old timer ready for retirement and whose last partner is rookie Stacy Keach. Keach is married to Jane Alexander and has a young daughter. As Keach gets more into his job he and Alexander drift slowly apart. It's a cliché in police dramas that death is ever present with those who take up this work. But this is one cliché that is tried and true. You'll see some examples of that.Wambaugh's cops here and in other of his work are deeply flawed human beings and there's no exception here. Keach is completely unraveled when Alexander walks out on him and starts drinking on the job. He has an incident which I won't describe, but believe me it shows what can happen to a policeman who is abusing and not focused on the job.Ironically Keach does meet another woman Rosalind Cash and with this The New Centurions marks one of the first interracial romances ever shown on the big screen. But death snatches him with rapid suddenness and it makes the tragic ending all the more poignant.Down in the cast is James Sikking who went on to play many a cop most notably in Hill Street Blues. Keach does some time with the Vice Squad and Sikking who is perfect as an ambitious cop looking to rise by running up a score of arrests for victimless crimes.Devotees of police dramas and serious ones will like The New Centurions. Fans of the stars will be impressed.

Leofwine_draca THE NEW CENTURIONS is a trend-setting police procedural thriller based on a best-selling novel that was itself written by a Los Angeles cop. It's a gritty and grimly realistic portrayal of the unrewarding life of a cop, where murder and alcoholism are just around the corner and the best thing a guy can hope for is not to be killed outright on the street that day. It's clear that this film was hugely inspirational, inspiring countless TV shows up to the present day, like the reality show COPS. I just wish the overrated END OF WATCH could have been more like this. Still, I digress: THE NEW CENTURIONS is blessed with an excellent cast that really brings the episodic storyline to life.Headlining the cast is the ever-tough George C. Scott playing, you guessed it, a real hard-ass of a cop who takes rookie officer Stacy Keach (young, thin, and handsome) under his wing. The pair spend their time busting drug dealers, hookers, and armed robbers, all the while interacting with other officers in the precinct. These include an impossibly young Scott Wilson (THE WALKING DEAD), playing alongside Clifton James (LIVE AND LET DIE) and an equally youthful Erik Estrada. THE NEW CENTURIONS is a well made production, and I appreciated the excessively downbeat and pessimistic tone which is no surprise given director Richard Fleischer had recently shot 10 RILLINGTON PLACE.

SipteaHighTea I have read the book and seen the movie; however, they both did not show the bigot side of police when it came to dealing with union activists, civil rights organizations, blacks, other minorities, etc. Police work is dangerous; however, it would not be so dangerous if the police got rid of their racist, sexist, political, and ideology attitudes against the rest of the community. The police in America are always voting and upholding the same economic, political, and social system that causes many people to turn to crime just to survive which in turn makes the streets dangerous for the police. The book and movie never show incidents of dealing with rich people who threaten to destroy a police officer's career if they are arrested.If police fought for progressive change in America, then they would not have to face high divorce rates, suicide, and drunkenness on and off the job. Then again, if the crime rate in America was low like it is in Canada, Japan, and Europe, I think the police would get drunk out of sheer boredom of the job because they get too few calls. Many of them live for that adrenalin rush.

mike palmiter This is the ONLY movie about police work I've ever seen which is as close to the real thing as it gets. I know, I worked the street as a policeman for 20 years.It's not all coffee and doughnuts wearing that blue uniform. People you are supposed to serve and protect spit at you and shoot at you. As the movie depicts, policework as a uniform officer goes from the routine theft to a gun fight.Casting and acting for this film was first rate. Although produced nearly 40 years ago it still holds true today. Anybody who wants to be a cop should see this film first. Mike Palmiter, Williams IN [email protected]