A San Francisco civilian police detective is forced to work on a series of murders with his former enemy commanding officer while dating his daughter.A San Francisco civilian police detective is forced to work on a series of murders with his former enemy commanding officer while dating his daughter.A San Francisco civilian police detective is forced to work on a series of murders with his former enemy commanding officer while dating his daughter.
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- 2 nominations total
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Featured reviews
See for yourself Meg Ryan is made to be a father's darling.
My higher rating for "The Presidio" is because of the film setting, and its historical value in capturing the place and time when the San Francisco Presidio reigned as a renowned Army installation. Many scenes in the film show historical parts of the Presidio then. In 1994, the Presidio was closed as a military base – just six years after this film was made. But thankfully, much of the former Presidio is being preserved as an historical area. In 1996, Congress established a trust to oversee the area. Today much of the Presidio is part of the Golden Gate National Park. Part of the area has a combination of commercial and residential lands with parkland and historical sites maintained by the trust and the National Park Service.
When it closed in 1994, the Presidio was the oldest continuously operated military base in the U.S. Visitors today can enjoy the several historic sites around the Presidio. Its National Cemetery is one of only two cemeteries that remain within the city of San Francisco. And the area has great views of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco Bay.
Although there are some good moments for the main actors - Jack Warden also among them, as Caldwells' longtime friend Ross Maclure - this movie is more entertaining during its murder investigation scenes. It IS played awfully straight, with not much in the way of humour, but then, this is more of a serious thriller than the typical buddy-cop action film. It does also have, however, a ridiculous scene that serves no real purpose to the plot other than to show how bad ass Connery is, as he beats up Rick Zumwalt (as a bully in a bar) with his THUMB. Slickly made, with capable direction by Peter Hyams, who again serves as as his own cinematographer (and does a better job of lighting the proceedings than usual). The location work in SF is excellent, fortunately.
The handsome Harmon is passable as our likable good guy protagonist, but he doesn't have much chemistry with either Connery or Ryan. The supporting cast is solid: Mark Blum, Marvin J. McIntyre, Dana Gladstone, the much too briefly seen Jenette Goldstein, Don Calfa (in a quick cameo), John DiSanti, Robert Lesser, Patrick Kilpatrick, etc., but Connery is the principal reason to watch "The Presidio". His effortlessly strong presence lends itself well to the role of a career military man.
This is easy enough to watch, but also easy enough to forget.
Six out of 10.
Did you know
- TriviaThe footage of the aircraft carrier passing underneath the Golden Gate Bridge was subsequently used in the opening title sequence of the first two seasons of NCIS : Enquêtes spéciales (2003), which stars Mark Harmon.
- GoofsWhen Col Caldwell is shooting the guy with the shotgun in the water warehouse, he shoots several times and then a "click" is heard indicating he is out of bullets. When the Colt Model M1911A1 .45 pistol fires the last round in the magazine, the slide locks back (open), so there is no empty click - the .45 Caldwell is holding does not have the slide locked back, so he hadn't fired the last round in the pistol.
- Quotes
Lt. Col. Alan Caldwell: What in the hell is "the Dead"?
Jay Austin: You wouldn't understand.
Lt. Col. Alan Caldwell: Try me.
Jay Austin: The Grateful Dead.
Lt. Col. Alan Caldwell: The Grateful Dead?
Jay Austin: Grateful Dead.
Lt. Col. Alan Caldwell: I don't understand.
Jay Austin: [sarcastically] That's a surprise.
- Alternate versionsThe European version and American version each contain different footage:
- In the American version, Donna and Jay kiss longer, about ten seconds longer than the European version.
- In the European version, the sex scene is much longer with Donna moving on top of Ray, about one minute longer than the American version.
- ConnectionsEdited into NCIS : Enquêtes spéciales (2003)
Details
- Release date
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- Also known as
- The Presidio
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $20,324,096
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $5,119,031
- Jun 12, 1988
- Gross worldwide
- $20,324,096
- Runtime
- 1h 37m(97 min)
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1