Dirty Harry (1971) (R)
Directed by Don Siegel
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Harry Guardino, Reni Santoni, John Vernon
Daddy Says:
A lot of these movies we write about, I've already seen. Some of them many, many times. The reason for watching them again is to see what they look like through the eyes of someone new, in this case, my daughter. Plus, I have a soft spot for a film which features a character with the same last name as me. Doesn't happen often.
For those of you reading from a different planet that has never heard of Detective Harry Callahan, Dirty Harry is the story of him trying to stop a psychopath who calls himself Scorpio. He kills a woman swimming on top of her building, shooting her from a taller building using his sniper rifle, then leaves a note for the police revealing his motive (he wants money) and his plans (to keep on killing people until he gets it). But Harry doesn't exactly play by the rules.
If you grew up in the 70's like I did, and watched shows like the original Starsky and Hutch, parts of this movie should seem awfully familiar. I can recall watching an episode where one of them was forced to run all over the city by a crook to make sure he was alone, just like happens here. And on some show, which could have been any of the cop shows on at that time, I seem to recall a crook getting himself beat to a pulp and blaming it on one of the cops after him, which also takes place here. So to say this movie influenced a lot of the police dramas of the time is to be certain.
The dialogue is also pretty good here, especially Harry's. His famous line about not knowing if "he fired six shots or only five", but he's got that .44 Magnum "which will blow your head clean off", so do you feel lucky punk? Not until Sudden Impact, did this line get replaced as his most famous.
I also really, really like the ending to this film, and had they never made another Dirty Harry movie, it would have been absolutely perfect. So, I like to pretend that's exactly what they did and leave it at that. Hey, if my wife can believe that Rhett and Scarlett got back together after Gone With the Wind ended, I'm allowed to pretend that four other movies never happened.
Rating for Dirty Harry: ****3/4.
Daughter Says:
Once again I was faced with a movie that proved me wrong. I don't want to like Clint Eastwood. I thought he was an overrated and over-acted actor. So when Dad made me watch Dirty Harry I was not at all happy. I didn't want to like this movie.
Everything was great in this movie. Every shot of the film told you something important. I loved the whole set up. Not only that but the acting. Clint Eastwood isn't an overactor at all. He just has the face that makes you think he's an overactor. Eastwood did a wonderful job playing Dirty Harry, and I must give high praise to Andrew Robinson for giving me the creeps. He did a brilliant job of being evil. His laugh was beyond. They really couldn't have casted a better guy. (Unless his name is Jack Nicholson).
I think everyone should watch this movie once in their lifetime. It is extreme and should be on the shelf with the classics. I really did enjoy this movie.
Rating for Dirty Harry: ****1/2.
Directed by Don Siegel
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Harry Guardino, Reni Santoni, John Vernon
Daddy Says:
A lot of these movies we write about, I've already seen. Some of them many, many times. The reason for watching them again is to see what they look like through the eyes of someone new, in this case, my daughter. Plus, I have a soft spot for a film which features a character with the same last name as me. Doesn't happen often.
For those of you reading from a different planet that has never heard of Detective Harry Callahan, Dirty Harry is the story of him trying to stop a psychopath who calls himself Scorpio. He kills a woman swimming on top of her building, shooting her from a taller building using his sniper rifle, then leaves a note for the police revealing his motive (he wants money) and his plans (to keep on killing people until he gets it). But Harry doesn't exactly play by the rules.
If you grew up in the 70's like I did, and watched shows like the original Starsky and Hutch, parts of this movie should seem awfully familiar. I can recall watching an episode where one of them was forced to run all over the city by a crook to make sure he was alone, just like happens here. And on some show, which could have been any of the cop shows on at that time, I seem to recall a crook getting himself beat to a pulp and blaming it on one of the cops after him, which also takes place here. So to say this movie influenced a lot of the police dramas of the time is to be certain.
The dialogue is also pretty good here, especially Harry's. His famous line about not knowing if "he fired six shots or only five", but he's got that .44 Magnum "which will blow your head clean off", so do you feel lucky punk? Not until Sudden Impact, did this line get replaced as his most famous.
I also really, really like the ending to this film, and had they never made another Dirty Harry movie, it would have been absolutely perfect. So, I like to pretend that's exactly what they did and leave it at that. Hey, if my wife can believe that Rhett and Scarlett got back together after Gone With the Wind ended, I'm allowed to pretend that four other movies never happened.
Rating for Dirty Harry: ****3/4.
Daughter Says:
Once again I was faced with a movie that proved me wrong. I don't want to like Clint Eastwood. I thought he was an overrated and over-acted actor. So when Dad made me watch Dirty Harry I was not at all happy. I didn't want to like this movie.
Everything was great in this movie. Every shot of the film told you something important. I loved the whole set up. Not only that but the acting. Clint Eastwood isn't an overactor at all. He just has the face that makes you think he's an overactor. Eastwood did a wonderful job playing Dirty Harry, and I must give high praise to Andrew Robinson for giving me the creeps. He did a brilliant job of being evil. His laugh was beyond. They really couldn't have casted a better guy. (Unless his name is Jack Nicholson).
I think everyone should watch this movie once in their lifetime. It is extreme and should be on the shelf with the classics. I really did enjoy this movie.
Rating for Dirty Harry: ****1/2.
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