"Dirty Harry"(1971)
Ice-cool San Francisco police detective "Dirty Harry" Callahan is the original tough movie cop and the best representation of Clint Eastwood's powerful presence and unique appeal as a movie star. A Hollywood legend was born the moment Clint pulls out his .44 Magnum for the first time to foil a bank robbery. The idea of a cop that shoots first and asks questions later is cliched and commonplace now, but was radical and controversial in 1971, and Harry spends just as much time fighting his inept superiors as he does violent criminals. The story involves his pursuit of a deranged rooftop sniper named Zodiac, played by a genuinely creepy Andy Robinson. Stylishly directed by Eastwood's close friend and mentor Don Seigel, this is unquestionably the best of the series.
"Magnum Force"(1973)
Although Harry threw his badge away at the end of the first film, audiences demanded more and they sure got it. Perhaps more than they bargained for. Sequels weren't a foregone conclusion in the early '70s, but this character was just too potent to ride off into the sunset after just one outing. This first of four sequels was even more violent and action packed than it's predecessor. This time, Harry is up against a band of rogue colleagues who do most of the killing as self-appointed executioners of the criminal underworld.
"The Enforcer"(1976)
Harry reluctantly takes on a female partner(Tyne Daly) and must stop a political terrorist group in this slick, fast paced third entry. Eastwood gives another forceful performance and has a nice chemistry with Daly that allowed the character to lighten up a bit. But not too much. The film clocks in at a lean 96 minutes and the explosive climax does not disappoint.
Eastwood took the directing reigns for Harry's fourth big screen adventure as the dauntless detective tracks a female vigilante, played by Clint's real life girlfriend Sondra Locke, who is out for revenge on the rapists who brutally attacked her and her sister. Harry sympathizes with her and a romance blossoms. The usual mayhem and comic quips ensue, and it's here that Clint utters the immortal line, "Go ahead, make my day". It seems everywhere Harry goes, there's a crime in progress or a gang of thugs that need to be dispatched. It was getting a little tiresome, but the finale set in an empty amusement park is exciting and effective.
"The Dead Pool"(1988)
The fifth and final Dirty Harry film has the hard-edged Inspector Callahan on the trail of a celebrity serial killer. "Pool" has it's moments and Eastwood is always watchable, but interest was clearly waning at this point. Harry still shoots people, he just doesn't seem as enthusiastic about it. Clint was clearly ready to move on and much of the genre's audience already had. By 1988, the first "Lethal Weapon" and the first "Die Hard" had taken the genre to the next level, and Dirty Harry was old hat. Liam Neeson and Jim Carrey appear in early career roles in this subdued conclusion in the saga of SFPD's finest.
