The Dirty Harry series.

As did THE ROOKIE which Eastwood did merely as a contractual obligation before striking Oscar gold with The Unforgiven. IN THE LINE OF FIRE was a terrific and sharp thriller where he mixed elements of his Dirty Harry character with someone who was plagued by tragedy as well as old age.

There was a script going round in the mid-'80s called THE CHAIN REACTION which was meant to be another Dirty Harry sequel, but Clint declined and it was made into the Chuck Norris actioner CODE OF SILENCE.

I've been going through these, and I don't feel like cluttering up the Last Movie you Watched? thread.

I see a sorta trilogy emerge of DIRTY HARRY, MAGNUM FORCE, and SUDDEN IMPACT. Thematically.

What interests me about the films is Harry's walking the line between cop and vigilante. And it's really done in the three films that I mentioned. Very well in DH and MF, quite flawed in SUDDEN IMPACT. I think he's stepped too far into vigilante territory, or it's treated too lightly, in the first act of the film. I think the last act is terrific. I do think that what Sondra Locke is doing is wrong, despite her past. And I think he should have turned her in at the end. That's just me. But I think SUDDEN IMPACT, for it's flaws, makes a strong, at least in concept, Part III for Dirty Harry.

THE ENFORCER and THE DEAD POOL seem superfluous to me. Movies with Dirty Harry in them, rather than movies about Dirty Harry and his methods.

I should say that I don't see DIRTY HARRY as a fascist movie or as a bullet-ridden piece of Right Wing propaganda. I think it presents enough ambiguity. I see the massive pull back at the stadium as a signal to us that Harry is going too far.

I'll also add that I had ideas coming into my head about GRAN TORINO being retooled as a sixth Harry film, called CALLAHAN, and preserving the ending of that film. But that's me being a psycho.

I like your thinking and it makes a lot of sense. I would say the quality falls quite sharply from DH to MF for me but thereafter manages to stay on an even keel the right side of postive. I suppose any long lived fanchise has to stray into more generic territory and as such Enforcer and Dead Pool are forgivable lesser entries and do at least see Eastwood himself still on good form.

Like Taken could, at a stretch, be a retried Bond dragged back into action GT is easy to read as Harry in later life...although I wouldn't put it past someone to yet film both those era's in their respective series.

In the case of Dirty Harry I wonder it a reboot and recasting is near at hand or likely to happen (it would be quite a remarkable feate if it did not materialise one day).

I think Armond gave an interesting perspective on one of DIRTY Harry's iconic scenes in his essay, "To Observe and Protect."

Quote :

Recall the classic confrontation in Dirty Harry (1971) - Clint Eastwood's 'This is a 44 Magnum pistol. It can take your head clean off' speech. It's a close-up of Eastwood's blue-eyed squint matched to a grimacing, wounded Albert Popwell. Towering over the supine crook, Harry taunts him, pointing a bodacious gun: Fetishized Weapon/Stigmatized Target. White Law-bringer/Black Malefactor. Nerve to Gutlessness. Civilization to Anarchy. The coup de grace in this quintessential 70's duet was the perp's plea, 'I got to know!' said without anger and resentment. In that period of George Jackson's killing and Angela Davis's flight from the FBI, Popwell had no reason to ask whether Eastwood's gun was loaded. The now-forgotten black character actor's question hit home; his line felt real and reverberates through other cop movie standoffs, because it inquired about power - and its use.

http://www.firstofthemonth.org/culture/culture_white_observe.html

That character actor is never forgotten by me, since he turns up in MF, TE and SE -- playing different characters in every film.

ENFORCER was the first Eastwood film I saw in a theater as a teenager and I was seriously unimpressed (had only seen EIGER and the DOLLARS films on tv and loved EIGER ... couldn't tell about the others because of the picture cropping.)

However, ENFORCER has really grown on me. It isn't any better as a movie, it just started working on me, the same way some bad movies become watchable on TV when you add in commercials. MAGNUM FORCE is the one I've seen least, and to me it plays like TV; sort of like a network guy saw DIRTY HARRY and watered it down for family hour viewing.

SUDDEN IMPACT is schizophrenic; the first half plays like a 'Best of Dirty Harry' reel, and only the ending, when Harry at last compromises and walks off with her, was I thought a perfect finale for the series. But if that happened, we'd've been deprived of the r/c car chase in DEAD POOL, and who could live without that?

MF comes off to me as a solid 70's action flick with a better script than usual, and a good follow up to DH. ENFORCER is the one that feels like a 70's cop show to me. I call it CALLAHAN & LACEY.

But DH wowed me as a genuinely great film.

Hmmm, Harry and Sonda Locke walking off together? Now there's a match. I wish SE wasn't as schizo. I wish they had the guts to cut down some of the action from the first act, and keep the tone the last act has.

I think Patricia Clarkson is an interesting match for Harry. It's hard to believe she was only (going by the internets) 28 in that film. And she was younger still in THE UNTOUCHABLES. She just comes off as having more substance.

But don't forget, aside from the inspired car chase, DEAD POOL gives us a look at Jim Carrey dying. Horribly.

It also gives the fortune cookie line.

Hilly wrote:

It also gives the fortune cookie line.

I thought about it some and it also has Harry beating up Gul Dukat at one point, so there's another plus.

trevanian wrote:

Hilly wrote:

It also gives the fortune cookie line.

I thought about it some and it also has Harry beating up Gul Dukat at one point, so there's another plus.

very true. "Thug number 3" or something like that.

Imagine that, shooting Garak in the first film and beating up Gul Dukat in the last. Half wish Casey Biggs had been in the series someplace.

Well rather forcibly nails Dr. Helen Noel in HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER.

This is a good thread. Hands down, the first Dirty Harry was the best as it was directed by a Hollywood legend at the top of his game, it was very gritty in a believable sort of way and it had one of the most ruthless and chilling villains ever in the history of cinema. Scorpio was loosely based on the Zodiac Killer who terrorized SF in the '60s and '70s and the then-unknown Andy Robinson brought him to life spectacularly. I don't think any other bad guy in the DH series could quite match his insanity and unpredictable viciousness as well as his one-liners (when Harry drops his gun, he says, "my, that's a big one!").

I've just seen all the movies back to back...

Dirty Harry

Still a masterpiece nothing much new to add. Schifrin's score is outstanding, Andrew Robinson is magnificent and it's great to see the Siegel/Eastwood partnership at it's best.

Magnum Force

"I hate the damn system, but until someone comes along with changes that make sense, I'll stick with it."

I think this sentence, said at a pivotal point in Magnum Force, It says something very basic about Callahan, and in a sense about the society he's fighting/serving. He has no qualms about putting a bullet right between the eyes of anyone with a pistol meaning business (in this case there are a couple of juicy examples, like early on with a hijacked airplane). But there is a line that he just can't, and won't cross. This is something that I think has some reflection in our world from then and today; many of us get (usually rightfully so) indignation about the criminals of the world who seem to get away with abhorrent, or just plain wrong, crimes. Dirty Harry (as Pauline Kael calls pretty much 'fascist) hero for the period, because he tries to get above the law, while still within its perturbing limits. The other line "a man's got to know his limitations," is also potent, though more of a throwaway to the 'do I feel lucky' speech from the first one.

It's themes like these, from a script by John Milius and Michael Cimino, that give the audience something to sort of think about even as the more standard elements of the story run through. This time Harry has to contend with mysterious lot of killings in San Francisco; a corruptible politician and a pimp being two such targets. He also has things on the side with his personal life, but soon the case is taking over for him. There is also the contemptible, and shady, Lieutentant played outstandingly by Hal Holbrook, with a couple of subtleties that work better than expected through the hard-faced scenes.

Ted Post is not Siegel and it shows. The direction is hit or miss; some shots are creative, but its mostly pretty straightforward , it just doesn't pack the wallop Siegel's direction had. The scenes involving Harry's personal life (i.e. women) aren't very well developed; they're just sort of left hanging as the film focuses on the main plot, even if they're good scenes. Still, through all of this, the ideas working through the story and the script help push it forward to a rewarding and exciting climax. There is a statement being made through all the action and hard talk. And there's that trademark jazz score by Schifrin.

The Enforcer

Utterly dreadful.

It really feels so dated and terribly sexist. I felt Eastwood was just going through the motions in this movie, showing little or no true conviction that was so apparent in the first two Harry films.

I felt he was almost playing his character as some kind of pantomime parody of himself, with his tight jaw, blistering glare and his little soundbite of "marvellous", which just made the film lose even more credibility.

I didnt like the way Tyne Daly was portrayed either. To me it only served to drive a bigger wedge into the banality of this film, as well as emphasise the overtly sexist nature of the Callahan character.

Neither was I convinced with the rather lame story of "freedom fighters" kidnapping the mayor of SF for millions of dollars and then fleeing to Alcatraz of all places for the ultimate showdown with Eastwood & Daley. To say that I was disappointed with its conclusion would be a massive understatement. Talk about a damp squib!

The direction was poor, the cinematography dreadful and the film score totally disjointed. The entire film & set direction looked tired & unoriginal; the actors remained unconvincing & the humour in general poor taste and the kudos of Harry bares little or no resemblance to its superior predecessors.

Sudden Impact

It felt like Citizen Kane next to The Enforcer, The problem is the script by Joseph Stinson, which is a pretty turgid rape-revenge drama that coats everything in blunt right-wing vigilante politics; Harry shoots ethnic minorities, Harry doesn't follow proper procedure, Harry condones revenge killings, Harry knows what's decent. In the original film, Harry's flaws (not least his sadism) are explored objectively and at the end of the story he loses his livelihood. In this movie, made at the height of Reagan republicanism, Harry is a perfect all-American hero, ridding the streets of scum without any moral questions raised. It's a very weak story, which is too long, too predictable and very unimaginative, and the characters range from clichéd to loathsome - Drake and Neenan in particular are among the most nauseating and banal people you'd never want to meet.

The movie has some good points though - there is a fantastic score yet again by Lalo Schifrin which almost single-handedly creates some drama and saves the film, and the photography by Robert Surtees is top-notch dark cop thriller work. Whilst none of the performances are good, there are lots of connections with other Eastwood pictures here. Locke and Hingle sort-of reprise their characters from The Gauntlet. Dillman effectively replays his role from The Enforcer and Currie went on to play the same role in The Dead Pool. Popwell has the distinction of being in all three previous Dirty Harry movies (as a bank robber, a pimp and a black activist leader), The best of the last three films.

The Dead Pool

Liam Neeson's English accent pissed me off and the "Bullitt" inspired car chase with the remote controlled car was awful but still better than The Enforcer due to it's 80's campy nature.

My ranking:

DIRTY HARRY
MAGNUM FORCE
SUDDEN IMPACT
THE DEAD POOL
THE ENFORCER

When I saw DUNE opening night, and the Fremen leader tells his folks that Paul has summoned a huge worm ("has called a big one"), I about cracked up, because when you see this kilometer-long circumsized circumscribed dick plowing through the sand, all I could think of was Robinsons' "My, that's a big one," reading.

Andy Robinson and Frederic Forest were among those chosen to read for the Decker part in STAR TREK THE MOTION PICTURE (pretty much all of the QUARK series cast - a show Robinson did -also read, including Tim Thomerson and I believe the guy who played Ficus - halfman halfplant.) Can't really see Robinson working well with Shatner, but would have loved to see Forest doing everything he could to bring some dynamics to the 'flat as a plate of piss" relationship between Kirk & Decker.

Watched MAGNUM FORCE.

Meh.

:| I love the idea of the vigilante cops being more Dirty Harry than Dirty Harry, but for the most part it just never really grabbed me. Only thing I really liked was the ending and that last line. Overall, I was frankly bored by this entry.

It only gets worse from now on.

Largo's Shark wrote:

It only gets worse from now on.

I found Sudden Impact a rather decent entry in the DH series. It personilised the rape victim and her torment more than in the average movie these days.

I remember being blown away by The Enforcer when in came out in Dec 76. Then I got to see Magnum Force later at a retrospective, and was not disappointed.

Because I saw The Enforcer first, I thought that that was how a Harry movie was supposed to look, so I was a bit appalled by the first Dirty Harry when I finally saw it. As much as I longed for a fourth entry (which I'd hoped would include the automag) I was a bit taken aback by:
a) how dark and nasty it was,
b) how out-of-step some of Clint's attempts at humour were (given how dark and nasty the rest of the film was),
c) how little of the film was shot in San Francisco (SF is as much character as is Callahan) and
d) how much Clint had aged in seven years.

I changed my mind about d) five years later when The Dead Pool came out.

My only complaint about TDP was that the killer was not a character in the film, as had been the case in every film previous. I'm not sure, but I suspect that TDP was a script being hawked about Hollywood until someone at WB decided that, with some modifications, it would make a good Harry (much the way that the entire Die Hard series developed).

Oh yeah, and Albert Popwell didn't have a role.

Largo's Shark wrote:

It only gets worse from now on.

Seeing as I count THE ENFORCER as my least favorite, it's a big plummet.

I liked bondfan's reading of the films above, and I have the same ranking. I'm on the fence about SUDDEN IMPACT, with regards to the ending. I like the idea of the story better than the execution, no pun intended. And it's got all the silly stuff in the first act.

Watching THE ENFORCER. Boy, the music sounds like something for a cheap TV cop show.

The main titles are pretty dull, but I love "Rooftop Chase."



*Waits for Tux to plug his Schifrin re-score for the nth hundred time.*

I will agree that SUDDEN IMPACT's an improvement.

Didja know Frank Sinatra was originally slated to play Callahan, but he injured his hand and couldn't handle the magnum?

I thought you did. But:

Didja know that Roderick Thorpe's novel Nothing Lasts Forever - the basis for the first Die Hard film - was the sequel to The Detective, which starred Frank Sinatra as Joe Leland?

Oh. Well, I'll astound you yet...

Forgot to post about THE ENFORCER after finishing it.

While I wasn't crazy about MAGNUM FORCE, at least that felt in line with the original. This one just feels like a generic cop flick, but with Dirty Harry as the star doing his usual stuff "I said stick it up your ass".

Won't get SUDDEN IMPACT until Thursday, then DEAD POOL on Friday.

Watched SUDDEN IMPACT

Well, I liked it. I'm still somewhat underwhelmed with these sequels, I wasn't expecting them to be near the first film, still... Oh well. It was great to hear Lalo Schifrin back in the game.

Having read the whole thread, I agree with Tux that DIRTY HARRY, MAGNUM FORCE and SUDDEN IMPACT work great thematically while THE ENFORCER is just some cop flick that happens to have Callahan. Guess I'll see how THE DEAD POOL works out.

THE DEAD POOL

Pretty decent, but again not a DIRTY HARRY movie but an 80s cop flick starring Harry Callagan. My rankings:

DIRTY HARRY
SUDDEN IMPACT
MAGNUM FORCE
THE DEAD POOL
THE ENFORCER


After DIRTY HARRY, everything after that comes off disappointing. I'll watch them again later and see how they hold up on their own without thinking too much about the first. That's what kinda hurt MAGNUM FORCE when watching it.

Yeah, I like MF better if I haven't just watched DH. At least MF, like DH, has an interetsing opening. ENFORCER, SUDDEN IMPACT, and DEAD POOL all have generic city shots as I recall. DH actually advances the story and is shot really well while all the names are going by.

That's one of the big steps down in MF for me. Seigel to Ted Post (who did BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES). Post is just a competent hack by comparison.