Dirty Harry

Another film inextricably linked to a star cast as a last-minute replacement; it's impossible now to imagine how it would have turned out had Sinatra not dropped out and Harry Callaghan will forever more be Clint Eastwood.

As it stands San Francisco looks an urban hell with suitably nightmarish music by Lalo Schifrin and grimacing gargoyle Scorpio seems completely at home (evidently he killed for feral pleasure rather than merely attention like his inspiration Zodiac).

As for Harry himself his cynicism was aptly demonstrated by the famous speech that bookended it: evidently he knew precisely how many shots he'd fired, the first he was purely feigning ignorance for fun, the second time he was in deadly earnest about to commit judicial murder.

DIRTY HARRY (1971) **** Clint Eastwood, Harry Guardino, Andy Robinson, John Vernon. Eastwood made cinematic lore out of laconic San Francisco renegade cop Harry Callahan known more for his intolerence of the bureaucratic legal system and his firm belief in justice through violent means necessitated by righting wrongs. In the first of the series he's faced with a psycho serial killer named Scorpio (grinning looney toon Robinson) just begging to be noticed. Directed by Eastwood's long-time mentor Don Siegal the film acts as a parable of the system strangle-holding society and still remains an indictment of how bad things still are. Classic Clint.

Don Siegel's highly polished .44 magnum-opus, with Clint Eastwood as the daddy (or should that be mutha?) of all maverick cops. Given an A-picture budget by Warners, Siegel delivered a tremendously taut thriller, as provocatively amoral as anything he had done in his 20-year career of expert B-pics like The Killers.

Dirty Harry also gave Eastwood a definitive Hollywood identity after leaving spaghetti westerns behind. It may lack the humour of Siegel and Eastwood's first collaboration, Coogan's Bluff, but it packs a much more uneasy political punch.

Inspector Harry Callaghan is the taciturn, laconic spokesman of Nixon's Silent Majority, elevated to iconic status. His dialogue with criminals is delivered behind the barrel of a devastatingly phallic Magnum hand-gun. "Feel lucky, punk?" he taunts one wounded miscreant in a famous line he repeats at the end of the film.

There's just enough moral ambiguity about Harry in this film to escape it being an endorsement of vigilantism – but if it poses resonating questions about how a liberal society can be held hostage by those outside the law, it also contrives a worryingly two-dimensional picture of psycho-killer Scorpio (Andy Robinson) - and of Harry, himself – with which to frame those questions.

Made by the veteran director in the same year as Hollywood-new wave young gun William Friedkin shot The French Connection, it's just as coolly authoritative and exciting. Siegel uses Bruce Surtees' always serviceable photography of San Francisco locations with flair (years before, he had shot the low-budget but excellent The Line-Up there). The swooping helicopter shot out of the baseball stadium, as if to rush the audience away (either as witnesses or as voyeurs) as Eastwood presses his foot on Scorpio's wounded leg, shows Siegel's smooth mastery of the medium.

Siegel made the insouciant Charley Varrick with Walter Matthau next, after which his career went into slow decline.

In quoting these famous lines: "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do!" and "Go ahead, make my day!". They meant something for Clint Eastwood, turning from cowboy to hit man with a surge of raging anger and ambition. The mountain terrains became an urban metropolis, thus putting the guy off the saddle and into the bloody streets of San Francisco. Which makes DIRTY HARRY an incredible classic not to be missed, as well as Eastwood's shift to the action genre where society is run by evil. Its continuous impact of the events take place with a tight grip and a smooth pace. This remains to be one of the most entertaining experiences in classic movie history. All it takes is a cop over the edge and "The Most Powerful Handgun In The World".

Violence was the key factor of DIRTY HARRY, and continues to be violent even today. We've never come to see staggering sights of brutalities before, but it was made possible to heighten the overall realism of a dark San Francisco infested with crime. Another was the quality of Clint Eastwood's character as "Harry Callahan", which was obviously a breakthrough for him at the time. He is best described as a smart-talking cop who hated criminals and broken the laws in serving time for the police. A very unique character he was, for going by his own personal business and taking the job "dirty". The best acheivement goes for the cinematography. It sure doesn't look pretty, but the effectiveness of the dark renders this haunting where no place is safe enough to run or hide. The real winner is Don Siegel, for presenting the perfect atmosphere to shoot a picture that already had a premise driven by fear and anxiety, anger and tension. He sure hasn't done anything like this before, and possibly no movie had since then. Otherwise, we would have still been seeing these one-dollar Western shows in the afternoon!

Watch DIRTY HARRY today and you can see how the styles of moviemaking has evolved slow and easy, but it still packs a powerful bullet or two. If you've seen this six times or only five, you knew how lucky Clint Eastwood got the perfect part for being an all-new action star. This is the one, and original cop movie. And remember, this is "In Tribute To The Police Officers Of San Francisco Who Gave Their Lives In The Line Of Duty"!

Effective first installment in ¨Dirty Harry¨ series and followed by various sequels still gripping and stirring . The film starts with a prologue : ¨In tribute to San Francisco Police officers who gave their lives in the line of duty¨ . Iconoclast Harry Callahan(Eastwood) attempts to detain vicious killers who are robbing a bank , he takes on criminals determined to bring them to justice, even if he has to break some rules . This time has a young partner who is assigned when his ordinary pal is wounded . The rock-hard inspector is accompanied by a Mexican cop (Reni Santoni) and they track down a nasty series killer (Andrew Robinson) .The psychotic murderer is detained but is freed on legal technicalities and Harry takes the law into his own hands. Harry wielding a revolver Magnum 44 ( in fact, as is titled the second entry, Magnum force) returns his unorthodox means ; facing off ominous murderous that is threatening the city of San Francisco. Harry in troubles as habitual with his chiefs (Harry Guardino , John Larch) and the District Prosecutor (Josef Sommer) because his methods lead abuse the criminal's civil rights and a pile of death in clod blood along his wake. Harry pursues the revenge-obsessed murderer and encounters he has more problems with him than he expected. Rule-breaking Callahan strides grimly throughout San Francisco in pursuit the murderous , including an exciting final on a school bus . Whatever your reservations about Harry's expeditious methods we know he'll always vanquish , shooting in cold blood with his pistol .

Formula thriller plenty of action , crisply edition , tension, suspenseful and lots of violence . Clint Eastwood's good performance as two-fisted Harry Callahan , the tall and taciturn inspector who utilizing his Magnum 44 pistol kills baddies and , as always , he says some original phrases . Well written by Harry and Rita Fink ; it packs intrigue , violence, action-filled and is a really effective film . It turns out to be interesting and plenty of vivid action , suspense and thrills. Good secondary cast gives effective performance as John Larch , Harry Guardino , Josef Sommer as the prosecutor and John Vernon as the Mayor. Good use of locations filmed in Panavision and Technicolor , by cameraman Bruce Surtees , son of prestigious photographer Robert Surtees , reflecting splendidly the streets of San Francisco , ordinary scenario of the series . Adequate and atmospheric musical score by usual Lalo Schifrin , including a classic jazzy leitmotif . Taut and expert direction by Don Siegel who formerly directed him in ¨Coogan's bluff¨ and subsequently in ¨Escape from Alcatraz¨ and well financed by the usual, Robert Daley as executive producer from Malpaso Company . Followed by ¨Magnum Force¨ by Ted Post with Robert Urich and David Soul , ¨The enforcer¨ 1976, by James Fargo with Tyne Daly, Harry Guardino, ¨Sudden impact¨1983, Eastwood with Sandra Locke , Pat Ingle and ¨Dead pool¨ 1988, by Buddy Van Horn with Liam Neeson and Jim Carrey . This formula thriller will appeal to Harry Callahan series enthusiasts , because of the tension, unstopped action , exciting edition , chills abound in this original entry . Well worth seeing for Clint Eastwood fans and it's a cool companion for the action genre followers . An entertaining and amusing film , mounted for its maximum impact and with several scenes that'll have you on the edge of your seat