Monday 31 August 2009

Dirty Harry


I have recently re-viewed 5 Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry movies, Dirty Harry, Magnum Force, The Enforcer, Sudden Impact & The Dead Pool.

Dirty Harry (1971): This is the original and still the best screen adventure of this maverick San Francisco detective. It introduces Dirty Harry Callahan and how he deals out justice in his own inimitable and controversial fashion.

Magnum Force (1973): The second and the least enjoyable of the five. It co-stars David Soul (TV's Starsky and Hutch guy and the singer who gave us "Don't Give Up On Me" and "Silver Lady" in the 8os) and Robert Urich (the star of TV series "Vega$" and "Spenser For Hire".

The Enforcer (1976): The third entry has Harry grudgingly teamed up with a female cop (Tyne Daly, best known for her role in TV's "Cagney and Lacey").

Sudden Impact (1983): The fourth and the most successful of the five movies is directed by Eastwood himself. It features Sondra Locke (Clint Eastwood's girlfriend then) as a revenge-seeking murderess. And yes, THIS is the movie that delivers the famous quip "go ahead, make my day" and not the first movie that many people have thought.

The Dead Pool (1988): The fifth and last Dirty Harry adventure has Harry partnering a Chinese (or is it Korean?) cop to track down a killer who is murdering celebrities from a list that includes Harry. It co-stars Liam Neeson and (surprise!) Jim Carrey in a brief apprearance as a rocker.

All in all, a good walk down memory lane with these movies, albeit sometime the pace of movies drag in certain scenes.