Back home

Dirty Harry

2646 votes

Producing House

When a madman dubbed 'Scorpio' terrorizes San Francisco, hard-nosed cop, Harry Callahan – famous for his take-no-prisoners approach to law enforcement – is tasked with hunting down the psychopath.

movie

Status: Released

Released Date: 1971-12-23

Runtime: 102 mins

Director: Don Siegel

Spoken language: Español, English

Genres: Action, Crime, Thriller

Original title: Dirty Harry

Production Companies: Malpaso Productions

Production Countries: United States of America

Reviews

r

r96sk
Surprisingly straightforward story-wise, but very enjoyable all the same. <em>'Dirty Harry'</em> is no doubt stylish, features an eye-catching plot and has a very good lead performance from Clint Eastwood; he really does own the role. With that noted, I was surprised at how simply the story unfolds. That's not necessarily a criticism, I just presumed it would've been more than just 'event one, event two, event three etc. ... the end'. I enjoyed it, which is all that truly matters. It's, for me, an entertaining, solid film. I have no real issues with it.
2022-01-15

t

talisencrw
Recently I've considered drastically negatively re-appraising Clint Eastwood's work, both directorially and as a thespian, as a knee-jerk reaction to his constant defense of the more racially-bigoted face of conservative America, but because of what his work has meant to me as a cinephile over the years, plus in tribute to everyone else's work involved in this film, particularly director Don Siegel's, that simply wouldn't be fair. As well, you're basically getting, boiled down in its 103-minute timespan, 45 years after the fact, the main dilemma facing the USA. Whose rights are more important--the good guys' or the bad guys'? If they're equal, should they be considered equal, and what does that mean to the law enforcement and judicial systems? Quite simply, THE most important American-made film of the past 50 years. NOT my very favourite (that's '2001: A Space Odyssey'), but the most significant. And it hasn't aged a single day because of it.
2016-08-14

t

tanty
The directing is remarkable but, the most interesting side of this film is the character created by Eastwood, a policeman who decides to take the law by his hand disregarding any kind of right or procedure. Quite like his characters in the far west ... but in nowadays U.S. The story itself is, plainly, bad and grotesque.
2016-03-04

J

John Chard
More than iconography here in dynamite Siegel/Eastwood teaming. The film opens with a shot of a memorial wall in praise of the San Francisco Police officers who lost their lives in the line of duty, a SFPD badge is prominent as the camera scrolls down the ream of names on the wall. Cut to a rooftop sniper shooting a girl taking a swim in a swimming pool, cut to the coolest looking cop you have ever seen making his way to the rooftop scene, he stands and surveys the whole of the San Francisco bay area, this is, his area, and we know we are in for a very special film indeed. Dirty Harry is now something of an institution, the film that pushed the boundaries of cops versus bad guys movies, some of the film's dialogue became part of modern day speak, and it's the film that propelled Clint Eastwood into the stratosphere of super stardom. Often tagged as a fascist film, I think it's more a cynical look at the rights of criminals because Harry is everyone who has ever been a victim of crime, he will do what it takes to take down the criminals festering in society, you break the law and Harry will get you any way he can. Here Harry is on the trail of Scorpio, a ruthless sniper killing at random, Scorpio kidnaps a teenage girl and demands $200.000 from the city or she will die in the hole he has her buried in. Harry is just the man for the job of delivery boy and this sets the wheels in motion for what becomes a personal crusade for Harry to take Scorpio down at all costs. Director Don Siegel crafts a masterpiece here, creating a western within the big city landscape, the pace is energetic at times yet reeling itself in to provide genuine suspense when needed. Siegel should also be praised for sticking by Andy Robinson as Scorpio, for it's an insanely great performance from him. Yet it might never had happened since Robinson was petrified of guns, but Siegel stood by him and coaxed him through it. The result is a maniacal turn that scares and amuses in equal measure - witness his mad singing during a bus kidnap scene, you will not know whether to laugh or be afraid. Yet as good as Robinson is, he gives way to a seamless piece of magnificence from Eastwood as Harry Callahan, note perfect and enthusing the role with the right amount of dynamic cool and gusto, it's no surprise that the character became a cinematic legend after such a great acting performance. Finally I must mention the wonderful score from Lalo Schifrin, jazz/electro/beat combinations segue perfectly into each scene with maximum impact to cap off one of the finest films of the 70s, and if you don't believe me then you can go argue with Harry. 9/10
2015-09-12

Recommendations

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
3.8

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

1969-09-23

As the west rapidly becomes civilized, a pair of outlaws in 1890s Wyoming find themselves pursued by

Dr. No
3.5

Dr. No

1962-10-07

Agent 007 battles mysterious Dr. No, a scientific genius bent on destroying the U.S. space program.

Boyz n the Hood
3.8

Boyz n the Hood

1991-07-12

In the middle of the Los Angeles ghetto, drugs, robberies and shootings dominate everyday life. Duri

From Russia with Love
3.5

From Russia with Love

1963-10-10

Agent 007 is back in the second installment of the James Bond series, this time battling a secret cr

Goldfinger
3.7

Goldfinger

1964-09-20

Special agent 007 comes face to face with one of the most notorious villains of all time, and now he

Thunderball
3.3

Thunderball

1965-12-11

A criminal organization has obtained two nuclear bombs and are asking for a 100 million pound ransom

Saw IV
3.1

Saw IV

2007-10-25

Despite Jigsaw's death, and in order to save the lives of two of his colleagues, Lieutenant Rigg is

You Only Live Twice
3.3

You Only Live Twice

1967-06-13

A mysterious spacecraft captures Russian and American space capsules and brings the two superpowers

On Her Majesty's Secret Service
3.3

On Her Majesty's Secret Service

1969-12-18

James Bond tracks his archnemesis, Ernst Blofeld, to a mountaintop retreat in the Swiss alps where h

Oldboy
4.1

Oldboy

2003-11-21

With no clue how he came to be imprisoned, drugged and tortured for 15 years, a desperate man seeks

Out of the Past
3.8

Out of the Past

1947-11-25

The peaceful life of a gas station owner is disrupted when a man from his past arrives in town and f

Aliens
4

Aliens

1986-07-18

Ripley, the sole survivor of the Nostromo's deadly encounter with the monstrous Alien, returns to Ea

Pulp Fiction
4.2

Pulp Fiction

1994-09-10

A burger-loving hit man, his philosophical partner, a drug-addled gangster's moll and a washed-up bo

Diamonds Are Forever
3.2

Diamonds Are Forever

1971-12-14

Diamonds are stolen only to be sold again in the international market. James Bond infiltrates a smug

The Man with the Golden Gun
3.2

The Man with the Golden Gun

1974-12-04

Cool government operative James Bond searches for a stolen invention that can turn the sun's heat in

A View to a Kill
3.1

A View to a Kill

1985-05-24

A newly-developed microchip designed by Zorin Industries for the British Government that can survive

Top Gun
3.5

Top Gun

1986-05-16

For Lieutenant Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell and his friend and co-pilot Nick 'Goose' Bradshaw, being acc

V for Vendetta
3.9

V for Vendetta

2006-02-23

In a world in which Great Britain has become a fascist state, a masked vigilante known only as “V” c

Face/Off
3.5

Face/Off

1997-06-27

In order to foil a terrorist plot, an FBI agent undergoes facial transplant surgery and assumes the

From Hell
3.3

From Hell

2001-02-08

Frederick Abberline is an opium-huffing inspector from Scotland Yard who falls for one of Jack the R