ridiculous rating

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

This is nowhere near as good as "The French Connection" by a long, long way. "Badge 373" is just business as usual, with nothing to commend it. Robert Duvall is given the lead for a change in his thinly-veiled portrayal of real life cop, Eddie Egan. Gene Hackman brought a great deal of depth and personality to his character of Popeye Doyle. Duvall wasn't able to do the same here. The plot is dull and predictable.

NYC detective Eddie Ryan(Robert Duvall)loses his badge after an incident involving the arrest of a "spic" goes awry(he falls from a building to the street below while trying to flee). He's an obvious racist whose disregard for certain ethnic groups gives him an unsavory reputation. Nonetheless, Eddie's a damn good cop and when his former partner, Gigi, is found brutally murdered(his throat is sliced open), he isn't about to let those responsible get away with it. He learns that Gigi wasn't no saint, in fact he was on the take, but Eddie can not allow his murderers to go free. Without a badge and gun, Eddie pursues the truth which involves a shipment of stolen machine guns, Puerto Rican revolutionaries(led by idealist Ruben Garcia, played with passion and conviction by Felipe Luciano), and a corrupt businessman, Sweet Williams(Henry Darrow). Eddie's big mistake, however, is dragging his beloved red-headed waitress girlfriend, Maureen(the alway superb Verna Bloom)into his vigilante quest for justice. With a strong performance from Eddie Egan as Lt. Scanlon, the one Eddie turns to when he discovers evidence that might lead to arrests. BADGE 373 may not be as memorable and as effective as other action thrillers loosely linked to THE FRENCH CONNECTION, but Duvall is always watchable. The only real chase scene is rather a funny one as Puerto Rican hoods pursue Eddie who has commandeered a bus! BADGE 373 is very much a plot-driven cop movie with political themes regarding the desperate acts to make a statement about the mistreatment of a race of people who feel justified to use violence to have their voices heard. Eddie must prevent the machine guns from leaving the New York harbor for Puerto Rico, plus Sweet William, who deals with anyone(even offering Eddie a job at one point), feels a sense of pride in this business transaction since he has feelings similar to Garcia regarding the plight of his people. BADGE 373 seems to be a rather obscure 70's detective street drama, even though it has a lead role by Duvall, maybe because it is more story-oriented instead of action-dependent.

This film is over 30 years old,its attitudes are disgracefully non - PC. That is a given.It's not like today when everybody loves one another and we all live in harmony in a Rainbow Nation and all creeds and races co - exist in an atmosphere of mutual respect.Well,don't they? Things aren't a lot different in 2006,it's just that Hollywood likes to make us think they are.I'm not saying for a minute that it's right that things have barely changed in 30 years,but no amount of wishing will make it so.Professional criminals still hide their activities behind the poor and disenfranchised of their own communities,ferment trouble for their own advantage and cops like Eddie Ryan still hate them bitterly for doing it.Laws meant to protect the weak and vulnerable still shelter the cruel and ruthless.If Eddie Ryan,like Harry Callaghan before him,feels like chucking in his badge then he cannot altogether be blamed.Not that he gets a chance as his bosses pre-empt him. Clearly certain members of the Hispanic community are not shown in an exceptionally positive light in "Badge 373" and Mr Ryan is a baad baaad man,homophobic,racist,sexist and probably several other ists as well.but he does not exist in a vacuum,he merely reflects the society he lives in.I would suggest that a significant proportion of the population held attitudes not a thousand miles away from his and considered them to be perfectly acceptable. So here we are in 2006 tsk tsking about a film that shows a society whose views we don't approve of.They were times of social unrest,when there appeared to be a real threat to the status quo.Criminals took advantage of the turmoil and it was difficult to tell the man with a grievance from the man with a gun. "Badge 373" occupies quite an important position in the "Cop Movie" pantheon.It has obvious similarities to "The French Connection" but lacks TFC's sheer energy and inventiveness.It broke new ground in showing the cop / hero as a distinctly unpleasant person - something "The Shield" has made a virtue of.Your cop could now be dirty(Dirty Harry wasn't actually "dirty" was he),unprepossessing,inarticulate and amoral.Mr Robert Duval created a pugnacious objectionable ignorant cop we aren't supposed to admire,but one that we can believe in.He has been corrupted by the world he moves in and works by its rules,not those of respectable society.He is a wreck of a man,like "The Bad Lieutenant". "Badge 373"'s influence reaches a long way,you can't make a cop movie today without at least sub-consciously referring to it. It may look a bit cheap and shoddy by today's mega-budget standards and much of it may seem familiar,but remember you are looking at it from the wrong end of time's telescope.

I've rated over 2,600 films on Netflix, and this is the film I always think of as the WORST film I've ever seen. Ludicrous action scenes, idiotic dialogue, illogical story, laughable acting (even Robert Duvall wasn't taking this seriously). The story layers on melodrama in an attempt to give the characters motivation for their absurd actions, but it's not close to believable. They even cast Eddie Egan (the real life inspiration for the main character) in a minor role to give the film some credibility. They tried to cash in on the success of French Connection, but misfired on all cylinders. I don't know what film the previous reviewer saw, but this one is on the Top Ten Turkey list, all time.