“Dirty Harry” Movie Review

 

 

“Dirty Harry”

Movie Review

 

Dirty Harry is an American action thriller film produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first film in the Dirty Harry series released in 1971. Clint Eastwood made his first appearance as San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan in the title role. The film is loosely based on the real-life scenario of The Zodiac Killer, as Callahan's character investigates a similar psychopath.

A psychopathic sniper later known as "Scorpio" shoots a woman while she swims in a rooftop pool. He leaves behind a letter threatening to pay him $100,000 or kill more people. SFPD Inspector Harry Callahan found the note. The mayor works with the police to catch the killer, though he agrees to Scorpio's demand over Callahan's objections. During his lunch break, Harry foils a bank robbery. He shot one of the robbers, held the other at gunpoint, a Smith & Wesson Model 29 revolver, and bluffed them into surrendering with an ultimatum: I know what you're thinking: 'Did he fire six shots or just five?' Well, to tell you the truth, in this excitement, I have carried myself. But it's a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and your head will explode, and you have to ask yourself: 'Am I lucky?' Well, are you, Punk?

Harry is assigned a rookie partner, Chico Gonzalez, as opposed to working with another inexperienced police officer. Meanwhile, while searching for potential victims, Scorpio is spotted by a police helicopter near St. Peter and Paul's Church, but he escapes. Harry and Gonzalez fail to find him, and Harry is beaten after mistaking him for a staring Tom. After helping to stop the suicide, Harry and Gonzalez learn that Scorpio killed a 10-year-old African-American boy. Based on his letter, the police assume that Scorpio's next victim will be a Catholic priest and set a trap for him.

Scorpio finally arrives, kills a police officer in a shootout, and escapes. The next day, the police receive another letter in which Scorpio claims to have kidnapped a teenage girl named Ann Marie Deacon. He threatened to kill her if he did not pay $200,000 in ransom. Harry was tasked with delivering the money by wearing a radio earpiece so that Gonzalez could secretly follow him. Scorpio instructs Harry to run around town via payphone. They meet at Mount Davidson's Cross, where Scorpio beats Harry and admits that he intends to kill him and Anne Marie to die. Gonzalez intervened and shot him in the chest. Harry stabs Scorpio in the leg with a hidden knife, but he survives.

Gonzalez tells Harry that he is not cut out for police work and plans to become a teacher instead. Harry learns of Scorpio's visit to the hospital and a doctor tells him that the killer is staying in a room at Keizer Stadium. Harry finds him there, chases Scorpio, and shoots him in the leg. Harry tortures Scorpio into confessing where Anne Marie is being held, but the police only find her dead body. The District Attorney reprimands Harry for his behavior, explaining that since Harry obtained the evidence against Scorpio illegally, it will all be inadmissible in court and Scorpio must be set free. Furious, Harry continues to shadow Scorpio on his own time. Scorpio pays a man $200 to beat him badly and blames Harry for it, forcing Harry to stop pursuing him.

Scorpio steals a pistol from a bar owner and hijacks a school bus. He contacts the police with another ransom note, including a flight from the Santa Rosa airport. Harry waits for him and then jumps from the overpass onto the roof of the bus. The Scorpion bus crashes into a dune and flees into a nearby mine, where he is held hostage before being mortally wounded. Harry aims for his revolver and repeats the ultimatum about losing count of his shots. Scorpio reaches for his gun, but Harry shoots him dead with the last bullet, removes his police badge, throws it into a nearby body of water, and walks away.

Dirty Harry was a critical and commercial success and set the style for an entire genre of cop movies. Four sequels followed: Magnum Force in 1973, The Enforcer in 1976, Sudden Impact in 1983, and The Deadpool in 1988.

In 2012, the Library of Congress chose to preserve the film in the United States National Film Registry as "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant."

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