Essential
Summary
Not only is Dirty Harry a near perfect movie, but this new 4K steelbook is one of the best I’ve seen for some time. Genuine time and care has gone into restoring the film where it now looks and sounds better than ever. There are several hours’ worth of special features making this well worth adding to your collection.
Plot: Cop Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) attempts to track down a psychopathic rooftop killer before a kidnapped girl dies. When he is found Harry abuses the murderer’s civil rights putting him back on the streets. Once he is released he hijacks a school bus and Harry must go after him again. The only way to stop this vicious killer is in cold blood.
Review: There isn’t much that we haven’t already said about Dirty Harry; everyone knows it’s one of the all-time greats and it really was the template for so many movies afterwards. There especially wouldn’t have been Stallone’s Cobra which felt like an 80’s set Dirty Harry movie. It even has Scorpio himself Andrew Robinson playing Cobretti’s boss. Anyway, Dirty Harry is still pretty much a perfect film; Clint Eastwood is simply iconic as the hardass Inspector Callahan. He’s known as Dirty Harry because if ever there was a dirty job he’s the man for it. He brings confident yet world weary swagger to the character who is sick of the justice system taking the sides of criminals rather than victims. He is one of my personal favourite movie characters as he will do whatever it takes to get the job done.
Andrew Robinson’s psychotic villain almost feels like The Joker as he just enjoys killing and laughs while doing terrible things. His performance is fantastic and one of the most underappreciated movie villains.
The script has some of most memorable lines of all time including “Do you feel lucky?”, but there are so many other great lines that I can’t quote them all here.
The pacing is mostly faultless although you could argue the scenes where Harry is sent running around the city by Scorpio goes on a little too long, but I still love every second of it.
In terms of action there are several shoot-outs and chases as well as a few fights; I like how the fights look in this film as it really captures the ugliness of violence rather than making it look cool.
Lalo Schifrin’s score is very much of the time period, but it’s still fantastic especially the lone female vocal which is essentially Scorpio’s theme. It really helps to create the creepy atmosphere for the character.
The 4K itself is demo worthy; the picture and sound are incredible considering the movie’s age; clearly a lot of time and care has gone into restoring the film so it now looks better than ever. There are a lot of night time scenes in Dirty Harry which are darkly lit, but they show up great on the 4K with the neon lights looking better than ever. It could easily have been very grainy, but it still maintains its filmic look without things looking overly polished.
There are several hours’ worth of special features which you can see below:
. Steelbook
. Rigid Slipcase
. Double-Sided A3 Poster
. Scorpio Crime Scene Map
. Police File Recreation
. Suspect Profile Card
. Ransom Note Card
. 5x Double-Sided Character Cards
. 4x Double-Sided Behind-the-Scenes Cards
On-Disc Special Features
. Commentary by Richard Schickel ( Commentary )
. Generations and Dirty Harry ( Featurette)
. Lensing Justice: The Cinematography of Dirty Harry ( Featurette )
. American Masters Career Retrospective: Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows ( Featurette )
. Clint Eastwood: The Man from Malpaso ( Documentary )
. Clint Eastwood: A Cinematic Legacy – Fighting for Justice ( Documentary )
. Interview Gallery: Patricia Clarkson ( Featurette )
. Interview Gallery: Joel Cox ( Featurette )
. Interview Gallery: Clint Eastwood ( Featurette )
. Interview Gallery: Hal Holbrook ( Featurette )
. Interview Gallery: Evan Kim ( Featurette )
. Interview Gallery: John Milius ( Featurette )
. Interview Gallery: Ted Post ( Featurette )
. Interview Gallery: Andy Robinson ( Featurette )
. Interview Gallery: Arnold Schwarzenegger ( Featurette )
. Interview Gallery: Robert Urich ( Featurette )
. Dirty Harry’s Way ( Featurette )
. Dirty Harry: The Original ( Featurette )”
Overall, Dirty Harry remains one of the all-time greats with Clint Eastwood at the top of his game and an iconic script. The 4K is the best the film has ever looked with hours’ worth of special features making this an essential addition to anyone’s collection.