Watching “Dirty Harry” again, I’ve gained a whole new appreciation for it. The first time, I liked it. Now, I love it. The film is instantly memorable, filled with great characters, and packs a punch - even 45 years after its release.
Inspector “Dirty” Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) is in charge of capturing the newest degenerate to plague the city of San Francisco. Serial killer Scorpio (Andy Robinson) promises to murder one person every day until he is paid $100,000. While Callahan is just the man for the job, at times it feels like even the judiciary system is routing for the killer.
Compared to today’s pictures, the film is perhaps a bit slower, but it makes up for it. This story does not follow a three-act structure. Normally, the cop/killer plot goes something like this: The killer makes their move, establishing that our hero must confront them. During their first encounter, the villain will wound the hero and ultimately, gets away. This proves they're a big threat. In the second half, it’ll be a long, personal chase. Finally, the hero triumphs. Having learned a lesson from his earlier failure, they track down the killer and kill/arrest them."Dirty Harry" is more complicated and realistic. The bulk of the movie is a close race. The killer is always just a single step ahead of the authorities, or they’ll be holding onto his collar with just a single finger. You can never predict who is going to come out on top in any given situation because Scorpio and Callahan are so evenly matched.
Throughout, Callahan is working on a lot more than just this Scorpio case and it helps build his character and the atmosphere. There’s great use of music and cinematography, particularly during the very dark scenes on the streets… but the spotlight belongs to Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry and Andy Robinson as Scorpio. They say a good action film is only worth as much as its villain and you'll love hating Scorpio. There’s a great contrast between him and Callahan. He's blunt, cynical, unorthodox, but ultimately a good man at heart. That’s what he is: a man. This is a man’s picture. Not that only men would enjoy it, but this flick by Don Siegel exudes testosterone and the ideals of manhood. Dirty Harry is what we all wanted to grow up to be. He's a good guy who defies authority when the higher-ups prove themselves to be flaccid stalks of asparagus ready to bend for whatever bully comes their way. He doesn’t take guff from anyone and if you disagree with him, you’re out of luck.
Contrariwise, Scorpio is the ultimate slime. He’s cowardly - killing people from afar with his sniper rifle. He’s prone to begging and Andy Robinson plays him in a way that boils your blood. You want to see the hero triumph over this piece of filth so bad you can't take your eyes off the screen. You get your basic thrills and many fine moments of character development too.
Clint Eastwood is so good in the role, there are so many memorable lines and scenes throughout you owe it to yourself to see “Dirty Harry”. As a trendsetter, it’s been mimicked over and over, but that doesn’t matter. Like all groundbreaking films, it's been imitated but never duplicated. This one's special. There's something unquantifiable that grabs you no matter how familiar you may be with the story – and believe me, just because you’ve seen the spoofs, doesn’t mean you actually know what this classic is about. “Dirty Harry” is a great, engaging and memorable thriller. (On DVD, December 2, 2016)
There is a problem with your e-mail address and we are unable to communicate with you. Please go to My Account to update your email.
Please choose a username to sign your comments. Only letters, digits, dash - or period. Minimum 4 characters.
Your age and sex:
We publish all comments, except abusive, at our discretion.