KissEnglishPasto .............................................................from Pasto,Colombia...Via: L.A. CA., CALI, COLOMBIA and ORLANDO, FLThis film, aside from its very special status mentioned above, is quite worthwhile and entertaining. It is an excellent George C. Scott vehicle, well-directed, well-scripted and well edited! Like other quality police dramas, it has several intertwined seamlessly integrated story lines, none of which is left unresolved, or most of which are left unresolved, when the end credits begin to roll…depending on your point of view! At times, on screen events resonant with such realism that it lends a dimension of docudrama to the overall production.CENTURIONS clearly transmits the boring nature of most of the daily, moment to moment activities that permeates police work, while, at the same time, emphasizing that this aspect of the job must be tempered by a heightened awareness intrinsic to survival owing to the ever-present possible reality of life-threatening scenarios on a one second event horizon! These "Men In Black" would, undoubtedly, prefer to live in a world where all their on-the- job decision options were delineated by a simple Black or White distinction. The reality of the New Centurions is that they clearly come in every imaginable shade of gray! Scott's cynical, scarred, veteran, Kilvinski, nearing retirement, has constructed a reality where his quasi-legal technique of locking up street- walkers in his paddy wagon and driving them around all night to keep the streets "clean and decent" is a necessary evil with which he feels, at least, reasonably comfortable! Keach's enthusiastic and idealistic rookie, Fehler, oozes frustration from every pore, as he perceives the lifeblood of his initial optimism being drained, drop by drop, by the cold, hard cement indifference of L.A.'s Mean Streets! Viewing, impotently, as both his marriage and his upbeat rookie positivism flounder in an ocean of problems, he finds consolation and support in the arms of a sensitive and empathetic nurse, played by Rosalind Cash.…Here is where I will reference the "Unheralded Epic First in Cinema History": I suppose that today, in 2015, in a perfect world, we are not supposed to notice or mention a good number of things because we must be "P.C.", right? But CENTURIONS wasn't made in 2015…It was released in 1972! To the best of my recollection, in the early 70's, whenever we saw a bi- racial on screen couple, which was really not all that frequently to begin with, their racial difference was always a focal point of the relationship. Usually because of the problems they encountered because of this difference from friends, from relatives or parents, from those in authority or simply from others in society! How briskly refreshing that in CENTURIONS they were just a police officer and a nurse who cared very dearly for one another… Absolutely no mention whatsoever of their racial difference! Isn't that exactly the way it should be? The way it is now…??? (Well, almost, anyway!).Hope to get some feedback from someone, anyone on this aspect of the movie… 9* Stars! ENJOY!/DISFRUTELA!

Cheese Hoven This is less of a story than a series of vignettes which take place over several years. They are loosely based around Stacey Keach's character. Although there is some attempt to inject humour, the general tone can be summed up in one word: grim. We see cops shooting innocent people, being shot and indeed shooting themselves. Other than that there's marital breakdown, alcoholism, child abuse and immigrant exploitation among other cheery subjects.The only real comedy appears when Keach joins the vice squad. The comedy is not very successful and seems just added on. This part is notable for the appearance of James Sikking in what seems to be a trial run for his role in Hill Street Blues. HSB does seem indebted to TNC is some ways particularly the opening gathering in front of the sergeant (I almost expected him to say "let's be careful out there") and also the wide range of characters. HSB is much more successful than TNC however; there is much better character development and each individual plot strand is satisfactorily resolved. Also the comedy interludes are better.In TNC the characters are rather sketchily drawn; they drop in and out of the film and we do not think we get to know them well. The vignettes jump quickly to the next scene sometimes months later which creates a disjointed effect. Certain plot elements are left dangling. For example, when George C Scott and Keach nab a suspect early on, there is talk as to whether the case will stand up in court or not. But we do not discover if it does or not. something which HSB would have clarified.It also think that, despite the grim nature of the piece, the ending is unnecessarily downbeat and depressing. After watching this, one wonders why anyone would ever become a New York cop.

dbdumonteil Richard Fleischer is arguably one of the most underrated American directors.He tackled almost all the genres and almost always succeeded,except in his last years (roughly from "Ashanti" on).The detective movie was always one of his numerous specialties.It's a long way from the (often remarkable) first works ,such as "the clay pigeon" and "follow me quietly" to the psychological thrillers ("compulsion" ) to the stunning serial killer stories of the early seventies/late sixties "10 Rillington place" and "The Boston strangler"."The new centurions" is something drastically different,which can't be compared to any of Fleischer's previous works in the field.Fleischer's pessimistic side which was in the latent state in "compulsion" or "10 Rillington Place" , surfaces here as ever.It depicts the life of a cop (although George C Scott's name comes first in the cast and credits,he is actually supporting )played by Stacy Keach (a far cry from Mike Hammer;it's curious to notice he sometimes wears a mustache).And it's a life nobody would like to live.Happiness seems to elude him ,his marriage is already on the rocks when the film begins (" a plumber makes more money than both of us ,a cop and a bilingual secretary" says his wife (Jane Alexander));his nights are a very sad routine in which he risks his neck at every corner of the street ;he wants to study law and to get back to college but his job leaves him no time and no energy and he soon gives up.The documentary side and Fleischer's feeling for economy and sparseness precludes all forms of conventional sentimentality : it's sometimes so hard and the characters seem so resigned to their fate that the scene when Jane Alexander bursts into tears near the elevator seems almost like an anomaly;so does Scott's fit of rage when he learns that the owner charges 50 dollars a head for a bed in a slum.The title hints at the Roman Empire when Keach explains to Scott that they are like them,men who are here to protect ,to mount guard and to get a bullet in their hide so the others can go on;and he adds "and it worked...at least for a time in the Empire".SPOILERS There is at least a moment which will haunt you long after watching "the new centurions" :after a phone call to his former colleague,trying to sound casual ,Scott takes his gun and ...his life. You often wonder why ,when a person you know commit suicide ;Fleischer gives no explanation.The old cop seemed happy ,fishing and enjoying life with his grandsons.

Nazi_Fighter_David George C. Scott is a cool, uniformed policeman who employs his own unique methods of dealing with petty crime – once again, it's the character who knows his beat and knows how to keep it under control…Faced with the task of rounding up prostitutes in the local Red Light district, Scott is well aware that dragging them into court will result only in nominal fines and a great deal of wasted time… So he packs them into a patrol wagon and drives them around the streets for the rest of the night, thus losing them a night's earnings and at the same time keeping the streets reasonably tidy...Scott isn't in the least vindictive; he is merely keeping the peace in accordance with his own law… He even takes the trouble to stop the truck and buy them a bottle of Whisky with which to while the night away… Yet this cop is a fast man with a gun… He is also the kind of policeman who is capable of administering a beating to the wrongdoers