Dirty Harry [Blu-ray]

The Urban Cleanser
This is the first of five "Dirty Harry" films in which Eastwood stars as a San Francisco police detective. By the time the last appeared (The Dead Pool, in 1988), Eastwood had aged and times had changed but Callahan's values and methods remained essentially the same. When initially released, Dirty Harry was immediately controversial as was Death Wish (1974). Audiences tended to be divided between those who were offended by what they considered to be excessive violence and those who (like Harry Callahan and Paul Kersey) had lost confidence in society's willingness and/or ability to respond effectively to violent crime. After seeing each of the two films for the first time, I vividly recall joining those around me in the theatre as they rose and cheered...and continue to applaud for several minutes. I asked myself, "What's going on here? What's this all about?"

At least in the larger U.S. cities 30 years ago, residents had become totally fed up with traditional law enforcement...

I'm Just Wild About Harry.....
This review refers to the Warner Bros Clint Eastwood Collection "Dirty Harry" DVD........

I'm going to gush about this film and about the DVD. Don't try to stop me, I must gush! Sorry.....

In 1971 Clint Eastwood made a big move and switched genres from Westerns to make this unique cop story. And what a story! "Dirty Harry" soon became a household name along with all the famous lines that came from this first in the series. "Do you feel lucky? Well do ya Punk?" "This is a .44 magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world. It'll blow your head clean off."
I Love that stuff,(can't ya just hear Clint saying that), and the taunting look he gives the recievers off these lines.

Inspector Harry Callahan(Okay Dirty Harry buffs, what's his badge number?), a loner, widowed due to a drunk driver,has no qualms about sidestepping the law to apprehend a criminal.He's frustrated and fed up with murderers and rapists getting away because of some pesky problem...

No guilty pleasures here for me
I'm not the kind of viewer that some people would identify as a fan of Dirty Harry (I'm a proud liberal who always votes Democratic and who owns no weapons) but I love this film without reservations. First, let's give it up for Don Siegel, one of the best US directors of the post-WW2 era. The man knew how to make a movie. And he did with first-rate craftsmanship that never calls too much attention to itself. This police thriller is as lean, mean, and no-nonsense as its flawed hero, played with the understated brilliance that only Clint Eastwood has mastered. Yes, he's a damn good actor and that's mainly because he doesn't ACT--rather, he behaves as this character, who is a fantasy figure, would behave. Siegel also gets solid acting across the board from his veteran cast, and with the help of Andy Robinson, who's as over the top as Clint is restrained, gives us one of the best, most vile villains committed to celluloid. There are interesting psychological dimensions to the film...

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