Review of Dirty Harry (1971) by Matt C — 30 Aug 2010

I know what you're thinking. "Did he really rate this film only 3 out of 5 stars?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is Flixter, the most powerful social-consumer film rating program in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Is this film really that good? Well, is it, punk?".

Okay hear me out. I grew up knowing all about Dirty Harry. We would pretend to be him when me and boys played "guns". I dig the dialogue that Harry spits out, I like hit kick-butt attitude and I love the sound of that magnum. But the DVD needs some work folks. The restoration could have been a little smoother in my opinion and the audio is horrible. I had to turn the tv all the way up to hear the dialogue and then all the way down for the gun fights. The guy who plays Scorpio doesn't seem like a real dirt-bag, he's creepy, but he's too comical in my opinion; he needs to be darker. When I see him I just don't believe that he's capable of being a serial killer. Further more his limp that he ran around with for half the film due to the knife in the leg was too comical. I think the people who cast him for the role of the villian could have done better. The film could have used some comical relief from time to time to break the tension up (like spitting on the dog in "The Outlaw Josey Whales". But despite these shortcomings this film gave us a kick-butt cop with a no-nonsense revolver. Clint Eastwood's performance (and his gun's performance) carry the film. In a time in cinima where the anti-hero is glorified, this guy takes the cake...punk.