As a child growing up, I was familiar, as everyone is I suppose, with the famous catchphrases attributed to Clint Eastwood's immortal Dirty Harry Callahan. Phrases like "Make my Day", and "Do You Feel Lucky, Punk" are part of the pop culture lexicon, and I'm sure more than one less-than-bright person has spouted these lines in certain situations, usually accompanied with the guffaws of his less-than-bright friends. Anyhow, let's not dwell on who left their socks where...I mean! I mean about my nonsensical ramblings. This is about me finally sitting down and watch the Dirty Harry series.
More importantly, this is about me discovering probably the best cop series ever committed to film. Clint Eastwood is Dirty Harry, and before these films, I did not really understand that these films were part of a growing discontent in the United States regarding the uselessness of their laws. Yes, that's the right word, useless. They are depicted this way in the film, and talked about in the special features: about how the public was growing dissatsfied with the law's preoccupation with the rights of the accused over the rights of the victim. Enter Harry. This man does not care...in spades. He goes in, and gets the job done, and if he steps on toes, it's only because he was too busy to stomp on them. Here's the five:
Dirty Harry - the original, the classic. Not only do we get the "Do You Feel Lucky, Punk?" line, but also perhaps one of the top ten villains in film history: Scorpio. Played by Andy Robinson, this guy is just plain scary...he'll do anything, gun down a priest, kidnap a busload of kids, he doesn't care, and has less regard for the rules than Harry, which says a lot. This is the best of the lot, in my opinion, because it shows Harry at the end of his rope, and going after probably one of the most dangerous killers in history, while questioning while he still does his job.
Magnum Force - the next writers (John Milius and Michael Cimino) were smart, and turned the 2nd one on its head - now Harry is fighting on the side of the system against rogue cops. Some people don't like this one, but it's an interesting premise, the vigilante cops are formidable opponents, and it's got probably the best score of the Harry's
The Enforcer - Harry goes to Alcatraz to save the mayor and take out a splinter hippy band. Once again, the villains are pretty dangerous, the boss is more antagonistic, and this time, he's got a female partner (not something Harry's thrilled with). This was really the one that showed the bureaucracy of of the law was filtering into the police force, with less than promising results.
Sudden Impact - Harry's out of San Francisco, and investigating a series of murders by a vigilante with sympathetic motives. This is the one where he says "Make My Day", and showed a more mellow Harry, who doesn't seem too inclined to bust the perpetrator. It also continued the string of dangerous opponents of Harry's that you would just love to see taken out (some particularily vile rapists).
The Dead Pool - The weakest of the bunch, in my opinion (but what a bunch!), Harry's older, and they want him to be media-friendy (!!!), while he investigates who is killing people on the dead pool list, and trying to frame Liam Neeson's character for it. Clint's older, and while he still has that grimace, Harry seems more tired on this one...though the scene in the jail was pretty good, and he still gave the villain a really nasty death...though the end death in The Enforcer was probably the most brutal.
So there you have it, a classic series, and probably the best cop series ever. Do yourself a favour, and pick these up. You won't be disappointed.
Rating: 5 out of 5.
I bid thee a fond goodnight...if you feel lucky, punk.
- Stephenstein
No comments:
Post a Comment