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Dirty Harry | Year: 1971 Directed: - Don Siegel Actors/Actresses: - Clint Eastwood - Andrew Robinson - Harry Guardino "I KNOW WHAT YER THINKIN." I WAS SIX YEARS OLD WHEN THIS MOVIE PREMIERED IN 1971 BUT IVE SEEN IT SO MANY TIMES I CAN MUTE THE SOUND AND SAY ALL THE DIALOGUE FROM MEMORY.<BR>THANKS TO DON SIEGEL AND JOHN MILIUS THIS WAS AN INSTANT CLASSIC.<BR>AS MUCH AS I LIKE CLINT EASTWOOD AND HIS FILMS, THIS ONE STANDS HEAD AND SHOULDERS ABOVE THE REST.<BR>MEET HARRY CALLAHAN, A LACONIC LONER WITH NOTHING TO GO HOME TOO EXCEPT HIS SMITH AND WESSON MODEL 29 .44 MAGNUM.<BR>BODIES ARE TURNING UP ALL OVER SAN FRANCISCO AND CALLAHAN IS ASSIGNED THE JOB OF INVESTIGATING THE CRIMES. AS A POLICE DEPT. INSPECTOR, HE IS NOTORIOUS FOR 'GETTING IT DONE'<BR>AND "TAKING EVERY DIRTY JOB THAT COMES ALONG." THUS THE MONIKER 'DIRTY HARRY'<BR>CALLAHAN IS TEAMED WITH A NEW PARTNER WHO HE IS SLOW TO APPRECIATE. AND TOWARDS THE END THE ROOKIE DETECTIVE FINDS LIFE WITH HARRY JUST A LITTLE MORE THEN HE BARGAINED FOR.<BR>OUR INTRODUCTION TO HARRY HAS HIM FOILING A BANK ROBBERY WHILE EATING A HOT DOG. HIS MUSHED CRY OF "HALT!' FALLS ON DEAF EARS SO HE PROCEEDS TO TAKE OUT THE TRASH THE ONLY WAY HE KNOWS HOW.<BR>AFTER BLOWING AWAY THE BAD GUYS HE APPROACHES A WOUNDED BANDIT WHO IS CONTEMPLATING REACHING FOR HIS DROPPED SHOTGUN.<BR>"I KNOW WHAT YER THINKIN." STARTS CALLAHAN WITH A CASUAL GRIN.<BR>"DID HE FIRE SIX SHOTS OR ONLY FIVE? WELL TO TELL YA THE TRUTH IN ALL THIS EXCITEMENT IVE KINDA LOST TRACK MYSELF. BUT BEIN THIS IS THE .44 MAGNUM, THE MOST POWERFUL HANDGUN IN THE WORLD AND COULD BLOW YOUR HEAD CLEAN OFF. YOUVE GOT TO ASK YERSELF ONE QUESTION, DO I FEEL LUCKY? WELL DO YA PUNK?<BR>THE ROBBER CONSIDERS IT BUT DECIDES NOT TO REACH. HARRY CONFISCATES THE SHOTGUN AND TURNS TO GO. THE BAD GUY ASKS PAINFULLY; "HEY MAN, I GOTS TO KNOW." CALLAHAN RESPONDS BY AIMING THE MAGNUM AT THE NEER DO WELL AND SNAPPING THE TRIGGER.<BR>'CLICK.' EMPTY!<BR>THE BANDIT BREATHS A SIGH OF RELIEF, AS HARRY WALKS AWAY CHUCKLING. HE IS NOT A SADIST JUST THE ENFORCER.<BR>THE GUN IS AS MUCH A CHARACTER IN THIS FILM AS HARRY OR SCORPIO, THE PSYCHOTIC KILLER WHO HOLDS THE CITY FOR RANSOM WHILE HE GLEEFULLY MURDERS HIS FELLOW MAN. ANDREW ROBINSON WHO PORTRAYS SCORPIO HASNT HAD A ROLE SINCE TO MATCH THIS ONE.<BR>DIRTY HARRY IS A HUNT, IN THE METROPOLIS OF THE GOLDEN GATE CITY.<BR>IT ENDS WITH A REPRIMANDED CALLAHAN CORNERING THE KILLER NEAR A MINE OF SOME SORT. THE SHOWDOWN HAS AN INJURED SCORPIO REACHING FOR HIS STOLEN P-38. HARRY REPEATS HIS CLASSIC SPEECH FROM THE EARLIER ROBBERY SCENE, BUT WITH MUCH MORE INTENSITY.<BR>THE KILLER LAUGHS HYSTERICLY AND LUNGES FOR THE PISTOL. KABOOOM!<BR>HE IS SHOT THROUGH AND THROUGH AS HARRYS FISTED GUN BUCKS SKYWARD IN RECOIL. SCORPIOS CORPSE CASCADES INTO A LAKE AND THE HUNT IS OVER.<BR>BUT HARRY HAS DEFIED HIS POLITICALLY CORRECT SUPERIORS AND KNOWS HIS COP DAYS ARE OVER. HE SKIPS HIS BADGE ACROSS THE POND AND WALKS AWAY AS THE CAST ROLLS.<BR>OF COURSE HE RETURNS IN FOUR SEQUELS, BUT NONE HAVE THE EMOTIONAL IMPACT OF THIS PIECE. IN A WAY IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN LEFT THERE, BUT FANS WANTED MORE AND THE REST IS HISTORY.<BR>THIS WAS THE FIRST AND BEST OF THE ROGUE COP FILMS. THEIR WERE MANY IMITATORS BUT NONE LIKE THE GENUINE ARTICLE. "I KNOW WHAT YER THINKIN." GOTTA LOVE IT. Every dirty job that comes along. . . Released in 1971 to luke warm reviews, "Dirty Harry" is without question one of the best urban police action films ever made, and is a classic piece of American Cinema that's as relevant today as it was then. Beautifully filmed on location in San Francisco by Bruce Surtees, director Don Siegel's film captures the pulse and fears of the American public in a time of great social upheaval. The movie addresses those fears in a "law enforcement shackled by Miranda" theme, and draws the main characters in broad uncompromising strokes. Enter Inspector Harry Callahan of the San Francisco Police Department. Known as "Dirty Harry" within the bureau, Callahan works homicide and is regarded as a straight ahead, no nonsense investigator with a reputation for solving cases. Callahan is not politically correct and doesn't care for those who engage in its' posturing, which is the subtext and ignition point for the tension in this film. As the movie opens, Callahan is investigating the murder of a woman who is shot while taking a dip in a rooftop swimming pool. The crime occurs in the downtown area, and Callahan theorizes the murder was probably committed by a rifleman from an adjacent rooftop at some distance. The theory pays off when Callahan checks a neighboring high rise to find spent rifle cartridge casings. Near the casings a note is found from a serial killer named Scorpio, who threatens to shoot others in sniper attacks throughout the city should the Mayor's office fail to pay the ransom demand. This information is shared with the Mayor (played by John Vernon) who unhesitatingly agrees to pay the ransom to avoid a political firestorm of criticism should the demand ever become public knowledge. This only serves to further incense Callahan, who spends the rest of the film hunting for Scorpio as he battles internal pressure from the department as much as the danger on the street. Sterling performances are handed in by Eastwood, Andrew Robinson as Scorpio, and Reni Santoni as Chico , a young idealistic officer newly assigned as Callahan's partner. The movie is also aided by an excellent musical score by Lalo Schifrin. The soundtrack is at times slow and ethereal, then accelerates, beautifully accentuating action sequences. Reviews of this film in the early seventies (remember Pauline Kael?) were often wordy, unfair, and overly simplistic, concentrating on Callahan's worst personality traits and wringing them for all the sensationalistic print they were worth. But the film succeeds on several levels built around Eastwood's great performance as a frustrated cop who wants to put a murderer away. DVD version includes a theatrical trailer that deserves Kael-like criticism (you'll see what I mean). Strong Buy. Classic Phenomenon "Dirty Harry" is the ultimate cop movie in every sense of the word. In fact, the movie is actually dedicated to the cops of SFPD who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty. SFPD homicide detective Harry Callahan is a cop motivated by justice and will do whatever it takes to nail cold-blooded criminals much to their detriment as well as to that of the bureacracy that often protects them. Contrary to what some people might say, Harry is not a Fascist. The villians in the sequel, "Magnum Force"(which is very good but not a phenomenal classic like this one) are however card-carrying Fascists and Harry takes them down just like he does other criminals. In the first installment of the series, a serial killer known as Scorpio is ruthlessly killing away innocents and extorts the city to make him stop. The mayor's office is playing right into his vile clutches but Harry knows Scorpio's game extremely well and will do whatever it takes to stop him no matter how many civil liberties and amendments he has to violate in the process. The film is relatively perfectly directed and builds the tension right from the start all of the way till the final showdown. People might say that the message is ambigious but I for one think it is very clear. When the question is between protecting the rights of victims or protecting the rights of criminals, victims come first no matter what. When the justice system fails to comprehend this, it does an atrocious injustice to the overwhelming innocent majority of society wom it's supposed to protect in favor of the guilty few it's supposed to suppress. Again Harry realizes this and as a result, the extremely satisfying ending comes as no surprise to the viewer. Buy Dirty Harry at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Dirty Harry Search with the Priority Search Engine on Dirty Harry This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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