Dirty Harry Collection: 4 Film Favorites [2 Discs]

Editorial Reviews

The third entry in the Dirty Harry action film series is one of the most underrated. The script by Stirling Silliphant and Dean Riesner leans a bit too heavily on verbal humor at times, but delivers its surprisingly complex scenario in an easily followed style punctuated by plenty of action. Director James Fargo gives the film a steady pace that allows the dramatic moments room to breathe, but keeps the story moving forward an energetic pace. He also shows considerable kinetic flair in the action scenes; highlights include Callahan busting up a hostage situation with his police car and an exciting rooftop chase that climaxes with a hair-raising plunge through a skylight. The Enforcer is also notable for humanizing Harry Callahan through his dealings with his female partner, Kate Moore. His transition from grudging respect to true acceptance of his partner adds an unexpected element of touching emotion to the proceedings. Eastwood handles this transition in a skillful low-key fashion that makes the softening of his gruff character believable, and Tyne Daly handles her role as Moore with a deft combination of wit and nervous charm. Other memorable performances include Bradford Dillman as Harry's perpetually enraged superior officer and Albert Popwell's moody turn as radical leader (and unexpected Callahan ally) Big Ed Mustapha. The one real problem with The Enforcer is that it lacks a singular villain worthy of its formidable hero. The film's hippie villains, inspired by the Symbionese Liberation Army, lack the strength or depth to pose a memorable threat to the hero. Despite this problem, The Enforcer remains a brisk action programmer that is worth the time for Clint Eastwood fans. ~ Donald Guarisco, Rovi The fourth Dirty Harry film will probably be best remembered for providing pop culture with one of the most popular quotes in movie history, "Go ahead. Make my day." Dirty Harry was originally a character truly conflicted about his desire for justice and his desire to follow the law. By this point, in a more culturally conservative climate, Harry had (d)evolved into a one-man wrecking crew that the audience was to support wholly and completely. Where the first Dirty Harry was very much a part of its time (early '70s questioning of the breakdown of societal barriers), Sudden Impact is a product of the Ronald Reagan '80s. The more interesting film comes from the more interesting time. Although Eastwood played Dirty Harry one more time, it was obvious from this effort that the character and the series had hit a creative dead-end. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi "I know what you're thinking, punk...." So begins the most memorable speech from one of cinema's most memorable police officers, "Dirty" Harry Callahan, a role inextricably linked with Clint Eastwood. For fans of hard-boiled detective thrillers, this film has it all. It has so much, in fact, that it would be easy to write it off as gritty-cop-movie cliche, were it not for the fact that Dirty Harry practically invented the genre. If you've seen it before, it probably started here. Dirty Harry is definitely not a politically correct film, and some have decried it as right-wing propaganda. To be sure, criminals' rights are not something that Callahan has much use for, and whiny lawyers are the enemy of honest cops in Harry's world. Dirty Harry is a great example of how an actor can make a role his own; the part was originally offered to Frank Sinatra, then passed through the hands of John Wayne and Paul Newman, before Eastwood got hold of it. This was the fourth time that Eastwood had worked with director Don Siegel, and the pairing clearly works well, augmented here by a snazzy score by Lalo Schifrin. While the violence might be a little strong for some viewers, and others might have trouble rooting for an end-justifies-the-means kind of cop, Dirty Harry is one of the best cop movies, and one of the best movie cops, of all time. ~ Matthew Doberman, Rovi