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Paul Newman, Edward Asner, Ken Wahl, Danny Aiello, Rachel Ticotin ... see more see more... , Pam Grier , Kathleen Beller , Miguel Pinero , Jaime Tirelli , Lance William Guecia , Rony Clanton , Clifford David , Sully Boyar , Frank Adu , John Di Aquino , Thomas A. Carlin , Dominic Chianese , Rik Colitti , Kim Delgado , Cleavant Derricks , Tony di Benedetto , Darryl Edwards , Erik Estrada , Paul Gleason , Tito Goya , Michael Higgins , Gloria Irizarry , Gilbert Lewis , Norman Matlock , Raynaldo Medina , Irving Metzman , Santos Morales , John Ring , Manuel Santiago , Fred Strother , Sylvia Kuumba Williams , Marvin Cohen , Randy Jurgensen , Donald Petrie , Dadi Pinero , Frederick Allen , Sandi Franklin , Jose Rabelo

Paul Newman stars as an essentially decent cop patrolling that decimated, drug-and-gang-ridden borough known on the city maps as the Bronx, but known to its denizens as "Fort Apache". While Newman tri... read more read more...es to hold on to his basic humanity and to treat even the sorriest of the people on his beat with dignity, he can't do much to convince his superiors that blind brutality is not the answer to social blight. When he witnesses fellow-cop Danny Aiello cold-bloodedly murdering a crime suspect, Newman is advised to sweep the whole incident under the rug. He refuses to do so, and as a result becomes "persona non grata" to his former friends on the force. Ed Asner co-stars as the beleaguered captain who has given up trying to treat his job as anything but a necessary evil, while Rachel Ticotin is Newman's love interest. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Flixster Users

58% liked it

5,427 ratings

Critics

82% liked it

11 critics

R, 2 hr. 5 min.

Directed by: Daniel Petrie

Release Date: January 1, 1981

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DVD Release Date: November 6, 2001

Stats: 109 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (109)

  • cosmo313
    August 17, 2011
    cosmo313
    It may have been released in 1981, but this film sure has the look, feel, and sounds of the 1970s all over, and that's just fine by me. This is a gritty, cynical, yet still entertaining film about a nistly decent but burnt out veteran beat cop dealing with the continually worseni... read moreng decay that has overtaken The Bronx.

    The film is somewhat of a character study, and it has a very loose, episodic flow, instead of a rigidly structured plot. I think this helps the film. However, there are a few scenes that feel like they've been suddenly cut short, and the transitions between them feel really abrupt and choppy. Aside from that though, I don't have too many other issues. I mean the film is guilty of numerous genre cliches, but what film isn't?

    Newman does a pretty good and believable job in the lead. As his love interest, a nurse who also happens to be a junkie, Rachel Ticotin is okay, but not really excellent or anything. Pam Grier (who sadly doesn't have as much screen time as I had hoped) has a small but memorable supporting role as a junkie prostitute/murderer. She does a really good job, and exhibits some fine method acting. Her memoir gives some intersting details about how she prepared for this movie, as well as some good information about it in general. Asner, Wahl, and Aiello are also all likewise decent.

    What works best here though, is the location shooting, and the cinematography. It was shot on location throughout The Bronx, and things look quite realistic, run down and grimy. There's some really good long deep focus shots and some nice lighting and framing here as well. As much as I liked this movie, I can't say I'd want to visit that place during that time. I liked the music, but I could have used more of it.

    Give this one a shot. The critics seem to miss the point with this one. Yeah, it's not really innovative, but it's pretty decently made, has great atmosphere, look, mood, and tone, the performances are good, and it's pretty watchable and entertaining. What more, really, could you ask for?
  • flixsterman
    October 17, 2009
    flixsterman
    Cynical but entertaining police drama where the real villain is 70's New York.
  • sononothing
    November 15, 2008
    sononothing
    Paul Newman stars as a burned out cop in the neighborhood from hell in this police film that is an over the top look at typical patrol officers. Fort Apache, The Bronx is about the worst precinct in New York. Cops are killed with civilians on a regular basis and riots are a const... read moreant sore. This is where a cop goes when they go screw up and Newman plays the cynical, bitter beat cop with perfection. This isn't Serpico. It's the guys in the blue uniforms.

    Even though it sports a good cast, the film slips on some of its plot points (Pam Grier as a psychotic hooker) and the way it was shot, which reminds the viewer of a '80's TV movie. It does go above and beyond at times, but Fort Apache is a good flick if you want to see more Paul Newman.
  • Dannyrovira
    January 6, 2010
    Dannyrovira
    A controversial and powerful drama starring Paul Newman in a performance that is nothing short of brilliant, he plays a tough, tired veteran Police Officer on the beat in the squalid, largely devastated wasteland of the South Bronx of New York City in the early 1980s, where murde... read morer, drugs, prostitution, riots, corruption and indifference are part of every day life. Superb supporting performances by Ed Asner, Ken Wahl, Rachel Ticotin, Danny Aiello, and Pam Grier. A unforgettable look at the demoralization of the lower classes in a hellish urban territory. Highly Recommended.
  • DrLappos
    September 15, 2007
    DrLappos
    Superb and very powerful
  • donaldwhite1
    July 11, 2009
    donaldwhite1
    In the late 1970's New York City had reached the lowest point in its history. But then so had most major American cities in the late 1970's. The movie is based on the experiences of two New York City policemen who worked the streets of the Bronx in the late 1970's. It's set in 19... read more80 but many of the events in the movie would have been more likely to have happened in the late 1960's than the late 1970's. Most of the movie is shot on location in New York so it has a more authentic look than a film shot in Hollywood. Pam Grier plays a killer prostitute who starts a killing spree by shooting two cops. This is the best acting in the movie. Most of the movie is routine cop stories with back stories of the social life the the two main characters. Paul Newman and Ed Asner are the stars of the movie. They both try to talk with New York accents but they can only hold it for a couple of words before their natural accents come through. The actors from New York do a better job with the accents. The events of the movie were before the AIDS epidemic and the crack cocaine epidemic. The drug of choice in the movie was heroin. Heroin had been a big problem in New York in the 1960's but starting in 1970 the Federal Government began to crack down on the heroin smugglers. By 1980 heroin was hard to find on the streets but cocaine had replaced it. There was no cocaine users shown in the movie. The characters in the movie implied that the Pam Grier character has started using "angel dust"(PCP) that caused her to flake out. I think I first saw this movie in the old Penn Square mall in Oklahoma City. Penn Square mall has been totally remodeled since then and I'm sure the south Bronx in New York has been rebuilt since 1980 too. The crime rate in New York is dramatically lower today than it was in the 1970's. In the movie you can see the wrecking crews tearing down the old buildings. America is becoming a trailer park nation. It's cheaper to tear down old buildings and build new than to maintain old buildings. The movie shows the social effects of housing people in old run down buildings in crowded over populated cities when the economic base of the city is gone. New York was a city built as a sea port and was America's front door to the world. In the age of air travel New York has been trying to reinvent itself and find a new economic base. New York in the 21st century won't have the population level it had in the 20th century. This movie is a good record of the shrinking of New York.
  • 01MovieMan
    December 6, 2008
    01MovieMan
    This is a good movie

    Paul Newman stars in this harsh portrait of a police station in a crumbling neighborhood. Newman plays John Murphy, a veteran policeman who's been on the force long enough to be tired, but not so lo...( read more read more... )ng that he's lost his idealism.... read more The plot is loosely tied to the arrival of Connolly, the new precinct captain (Edward Asner). Is he a crusader who's going to finally whip a corrupt, apathetic force into shape, or an interloping by-the-book bureaucrat who can't possibly understand the neighborhood and will do more harm than good? The movie is gratifyingly ambiguous on this point and many others. While Newman's character is almost by default the hero, he is far from perfect--most all the major characters get complex personalities, just like real people. The Bronx itself is given complex, thoughtful treatment as well, full of both overwhelming problems and hope for the future. Fort Apache, the Bronx also has action sequences, but doesn't make the mistake of reveling in violence. Here, black and white are far less defined and, consequently, far more satisfying. --Ali Davis
  • saltersheppard
    November 6, 2008
    saltersheppard
    Saw it whenit came out...don't remember much about it. Do have favorable memorie about it. I was in the Air Force at the time...must have been drunk during the film.
  • GeorgeBailey88
    October 15, 2008
    GeorgeBailey88
    Daniel Petrie gives a cynical portrait of a police precint in the Bronx in the film. The city looks as though it was carpet-bombed. We are guided through the rough, early 80's streets of New York by Murphy (Paul Newman), an aging cop on the beat and his young partner Corelli (Ken... read more Wahl).

    The city is a jungle and we discover this through several, disconnected scenes that have little correlation with the plot. There's a scene where Newman delivers a baby for a young impoverished Puerto Rican woman that virtually goes nowhere. Pam Grier in a walk on role plays a murdering prostitute whom we follow for several scenes until she is killed off again leading nowhere and contributing little to the exposition. Ed Asner plays the new Captain at Fort Apache. He was affective but seldomly seen on screen.

    The most intriguing aspect of the picture is Paul Newman who clearly is the star of the show here. His choice to play this character was exempliary of the roles he took during this time period. Absence of Malice and the Veridct being obvious connectives.

    The idea was good but it was executed in a formulaic style which takes away from the picture which ultimately is held up by Newman's performance, the meditative view on New York and clever dialogue.
  • babyinametalsuit
    October 15, 2008
    babyinametalsuit
    "Fort Apache, The Bronx" is a crazy good title, and that's because it's also a crazy good movie. It's easy to find movies that raise difficult questions about morality and ethics but rare I think to find one that does so without relying on tired formulas or simplistic answers. Al... read moreso Paul Newman perfectly treads the line of hardcore and dapper and never goes cliche with a character that is, for all its genreficationary stereotypicality, pretty complex. It is a sad but awesome movie, which is the most realistic type.

View All Fort Apache, the Bronx Reviews

Critic Reviews

Chuck O'Leary
October 9, 2005
Chuck O'Leary, FulvueDrive-in.com

A realistic, colorful and always interesting study of a veteran police office (Newman) and his a rookie partner (Wahl) patrolling the rough streets of the South Bronx. Asner is memorable as their gung...

Scott Weinberg
April 2, 2005
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com

Overlooked hard-boiled cop story.

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
January 31, 2004
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice

Fort Apache, the Bronx portrays the men in blue as neither Galahads nor roughnecks but as ordinary human beings who try to cope in a pressure-cooker. Full Review

Brian Mckay
March 19, 2003
Brian Mckay, eFilmCritic.com

A cliched but thoroughly watchable cop movie, thanks to Newman's acting chops.

Roger Ebert
October 23, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Click to read the article Full Review

Vincent Canby
August 30, 2004
Vincent Canby, New York Times

Click to read the article Full Review

Emanuel Levy
June 19, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

Thomas Delapa
February 10, 2005
Thomas Delapa, Boulder Weekly

No review available.

Daniel M. Kimmel
January 14, 2005
Daniel M. Kimmel, Worcester Telegram & Gazette

No review available.

Jake Euker
January 13, 2005
Jake Euker, F5 (Wichita, KS)

No review available.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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  • name that movie with paul newman and edward asner played together on what movie 1981???????  Answer »
  • I played a fighter pilot in Midway, a navigator in Airport 75 and had a role in Fort Apache: The Bronx. My big break required my character to ride a motorcycle along the California freeways in a 1970s TV series. Who am I?  Answer »
  • Paul Newman movie? Fort Apache the Bronx  Answer »
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