The Dirty Harry movies

[Badbird]

So what are your thoughts on the Dirty Harry movies? I just recently watched all five of them for the first time (well, I'd seen The Dead Pool before, but not for a long time). To be honest, I enjoyed them all pretty equally (except for Sudden Impact), and I would give them all about a 7/10. The movies are certainly an amusing time capsule of the anti-politically correct movement of the 70s and 80s.

None of the movies are perfect. Most suffer from sloppy filmmaking and unfocused stories that wander around aimlessly. They also feel a bit like a James Bond movie, though just confined to San Fransisco, with the villain of the week showing up.

Dirty Harry (1971) - arguably the best of the bunch. A dark, gritty take on a fictional "Zodiac" style killer. Probably the most well rounded of the movies with the most defined villain, but there is also a lot of random scenes for Harry to be a bad ass. The highlight has to be the epic camera shot that pulls out of the football stadium.

Magnum Force (1973) - If this movie had just had a stronger ending, it could have been the best of the bunch. This one is about a squad of rogue cops going around and murdering criminals that have beat the system. Again, more pointlessly random scenes drag the movie down. but the final car chase that ends of an old aircraft carrier is pretty awesome.

The Enforcer (1976) - Easily the funniest of the bunch, with Harry getting a female partner. The movie is just dripping with anti-feminism misogyny, but it still works due to how funny it is to see Harry out of his comfort zone. He also has the best lines of all the movies in this one ("Personnel? But that's for assholes!") - if only the bad guys had been better developed, this too could have been the best in the series. The highlight in this one is an awesome foot chase over and through several buildings. Also: the ending is surprisingly dark for an otherwise lighthearted movie.

Sudden Impact (1983) - This one feels the least like a Dirty Harry movie. It's also dark as fuck, with the main storyline about a woman seeking revenge against a gang that gang-raped her and her sister... charming. There is also a secondary plot about a mob boss trying to kill Harry that kind of fizzles out and goes nowhere. And there is some bizarre humor involving a farting dog. The finale is pretty strong, featuring one of the best "hero shots" of Harry from all the movies. But considering the extremely dark subject matter, this one isn't very enjoyable. Clint Eastwood made this one and Tightrope (which is also pretty fucked up on a sexual level) back to back... makes you wonder what kind of shit he was going through at the time. I would give this the lowest score of them all with a 6/10. I find it odd how "Make my day" became so popular from this movie.

The Dead Pool (1988) - Largely regarded as the worst Harry movie (I disagree, see: Sudden Impact), this one also has the tightest plot of all of them, and sticks to the main story better than the previous four movies. It also comes off a bit like an early Steven Seagal movie. Harry definitely comes off as a bit generic, but it is amusing to see several actors just before they went on to do bigger and better things: Liam Neeson as a sleazy movie director (who is made to look much shorter than Clint), Patricia Clarkson, and Jim Carrey as a rock singer (excuse me... James Carrey). The bad guy is pretty weak - and a bit of a cop out because he actually is insane. Also: RC car chase is pretty cool.


If I were to rank them:

1 - Dirty Harry
2 - The Enforcer
3 - Magnum Force
4 - The Dead Pool
5 - Sudden Impact