Sean Connery

Mark Harmon

Meg Ryan

Jack Warden

Mark Blum

Dana Gladstone

Jenette Goldstein

Marvin J. McIntyre

Don Calfa

John DiSanti

Robert Lesser

James Hooks Reynolds

Curtis W. Sims

Rick Zumwalt

Rosalyn Marshall

Jessie Lawrence Ferguson

Larry Jenkins

Jesse D. Goins

Kim Robillard

Michael Strasser

Chuckie Davis

Ron Cummins

Patrick Kilpatrick

John Allen Vick

Michael Fosberg

Joe Hart

Clay Wilcox

Bob Rochelle

Susan Saiger

Ruth de Sosa

Tracy Tanen

Peter Fitzsimmons

Pete Antico

Dean R. Miller

Jophery C. Brown

Justin De Rosa

Allan Graf

Frank Orsatti

Peter Kwong

Bob Delegall

Richard Kwong

Sam Arnold

Conrad Hurtt

Ronnie Rondell Jr.

Theodore Carl Soderberg

D. Constantine Conte

Diane Adler

Peter Hyams

Bruce Broughton

Larry Ferguson

Janet Brady

Kenny Endoso

Dick Ziker

James Mitchell

Randle Akerson

Stephen Abrums

Kandy Stern

Beau Barthel

Albert Brenner

Brad Wilder

Marvin March

Harold Fuhrman

Roland E. Hill Jr.

Curt Sobel

Gene S. Cantamessa

Jonathan A. Zimbert

Ralph Gerling

Beverly Pinnas

Janet Hirshenson

Jane Jenkins

Mark Jennings

Fred C. Caruso

Steve Peterson

Alan B. Curtiss

Bernard P. Cutler

Steve Cantamessa

Gillian L. Hutshing

Regina Gordon

Hamilton Sterling

Mark McKenzie

Julie Pitkanen

Baird Steptoe

Michael P. May

Beth Sterner

David B. Cohn

Anne Marie Stein

Sugar Blymyer

Michael J. Kohut

Glenn R. Wilder

Dallas D. Dornan

David W. Gray

Nancy Hayes

John Hennessey

Walter Nichols

Aaron Rochin

Mario Iscovich

Phil Cory

Frank L. Brown

Ralph Nelson Jr.

Bob Noland

Mark Pappas

Michael W. Hoffman

Aggie Lyon

Yvonne Yaconelli

Brian Fong

E. Christopher Reed

Al Broussard

Asher Yates

Carlos Delarios

Leroy Reed

Richard Dean Rankin

Tim Griffith

Thomas Whiting

Armin Steiner

C.J. Maguire

David R. Ellis

Chuck Picerni Jr.

Norval D. Crutcher III

Tim A. Davison

Buddy Joe Hooker

Action

Crime

Mystery

Thriller

The Presidio

Paramount Pictures

United States of America

English

court case

san francisco, california

competition

investigation

adversary

military service

base

CinemaSerf

Mark Harmon is "Jay", a former military policeman turned cop who is called upon to investigate a series of murders that reintroduce him to his former CO "Col. Caldwell" (Sean Connery) with whom he doesn't especially get along. It doesn't help when he starts to date the colonel's independently minded daughter "Donna" (Meg Ryan) but can they put their differences aside long enough to find out what's going on and stop any more killings? Well, of course they can - this film has precisely no jeopardy at all. Though the motive for the crimes remains a mystery for a while, the rest of this follows a well travelled line that is disappointingly predictable. Harmon is never a particularly strong or convincing actor, Connery - and his traditional, wry, smile - clearly just wanted his fee and not for the first time Meg Ryan adds very little as this plods along. It's watchable on the television over a glass or two, but it's all very unremarkable.

Occasionally my mother would really get into a movie, choose a quote as a favorite, and then repeat it constantly in a cartoonish exaggeration of whoever said it in the film.

The Persidio is one of those films she latched onto, and for years after we were subjected to her Sean Connery impression as she threatened to beat us up using only her thumb.

So now every time I see it, heck, every time I'm in Frisco, that is the quote that gets stuck in my head for days after. But, in her defense, it was a very good scene and actually does deserve to be remembered and quoted more.

It's my go to Sean Connery impression... when I'm not impersonating Johnny Lee Miller impersonating Sean Connery. Or the Untouchables, but I kind of feel that one is over used. Everyone goes there when they do Connery. Or, you know, I could just live in Chicago. Maybe the rest of the country and the world just does James Bond.

The point is, you have a quotable Sean Connery scene. And that alone is worth it.

And you have the San Francisco chase scene, and I really hate Frisco, but I do really love movies that are set there and any chase through San Francisco streets is fun if for no other reason than it makes you instantly think of Bullet.

The multi-jurisdictional cliche thing is here, and tragically underused in a lot of movies. But you get a good dynamic of military and civilian cop bumping heads with one another. It's a situation that is made worse by bad blood and a bit of history, and then made even worse by a blooming romantic interest.

And it's the 80s, so you know that the romantic interest is going to be Meg Ryan, no spoiler there.

And all of that with an actual compelling case that the two cops have to solve.

It's kind of all over the place, but in the best possible 80s cliche kind of way.

"The Presidio" is an interesting diversion that has an immediately intriguing and literally explosive opening gambit which is eye catching and it easily grabs your full attention, but then the pace quickly eases up out of pure necessity and the murder of Patti Jean Lynch loses all sense of urgency and it is eventually relegated to becoming a secondary consideration as the main focus of the film now concentrates upon the complex and argumentative character dynamics of Lieutenant Colonel Caldwell, his daughter Donna, and Inspector Jay Austin although all of this is nicely juxtaposed with the ongoing murder investigation. However, this film is much too pedestrian for the talented cast involved, but at least the action sequences are superb and the pace is extremely well maintained throughout.

Trailer

The Presidio( 1988)

He didn't want to share the murder investigation. There's no way he's going to share his daughter.

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A review by CinemaSerf

Written by CinemaSerf on Mon Jul 04 2022

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