Rating of
3.5/4
Dirty Harry review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 10/12/11
Scorpio (Andy Robinson), a serial killer was responsible for murdering innocent people. Homicide Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) was tasked to handle this case playing by his own rules. The antagonist abducts Ann-Marie Deacon and Harry with his partner Chico Gonzalez (Reni Santoni) chases him. After Scorpio was imprisoned, District Attorney (Josef Sommer) lets him go because of lack of evidence. Scorpio kidnaps a bus filled with children. Callahan saves the children and is left deterred with the justice system. A few memorable quotes: Harry – “I know what you're thinking. "Did he fire six shots or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do ya, punk?” “You know, you're crazy if you think you've heard the last of this guy. He's gonna kill again.”
Had an unorthodox method of capturing criminals, “Dirty Harry” he gets his hands dirty in every situation encountered such as kidnapping of a young girl, a guy committing suicide, and more. The screenplay was unique and could have been the pioneer for future action cop films like Rush Hour, Die Hard, Lethal Weapon and the like. Its only qualm I had was the score, the noticeable dirt on the camera that could have been edited (on the roof top where Scorpio kills his first victim), and lack of character development between the antagonist and protagonist and over the top acting from Robinson. The action was non-stop but could have added more humor and realistic scenes. It had a few racial slurs and undertones, but the main character was always cool, morally just and collective to the point of likability despite his loneliness. The iconic Dirty Harry maybe dated, but it will certainly be part of one of cinema’s popular hero’s, something that can be enjoyed by generations to come.
