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Dirty Harry review
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Eastwood classic!

I was literally blown away by how good this film turned out to be. I knew I was going to love this film because I really love seeing Clint Eastwood playing that total kick-ass character and a film with such a great story to it. I found the story of Dirty Harry very similar to films like Heat and The Dark Knight. Not because of the main character because main character in all three are totally different but it was mostly the fact that all three are about a particular killer who is held fugitive within one city and never seems to get caught. Also, they sweep themselves around and always get away with crimes they commit. The characters I mean are Scorpio (Dirty Harry), The Joker (The Dark Knight) and Neil McCauley (Heat). When you watch all three of them or two of them or if you already have, you will see what I mean. Dirty Harry truly is one of those few kick-ass motion pictures that people would call a classic even now after 30 years.


I didn't think I would like any other Clint Eastwood character than The Man With No Name but I think Harry Callahan is my favourite character from him now. Not only was it typical of Clint to play that sort of character but also because of how Clint approaches the character and how he shows how well the character is developed as we gradually go through seeing the character in the film. He also made me laugh a lot which Clint Eastwood doesn't really do for me. I know he isn't a comedy actor but its what he looks like when he plays these sorts of characters but I mean it in a black comedy sort of way of course. He was very entertaining because Harry is one of those characters that everyone would love for just being the way they are. He is probably the perfect example of a bad cop character and with a very dark personality for his profession. I could not believe how much resemblance there is between Andrew Robinson and Malcolm McDowell (man who plays Alex DeLarge in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange). What makes them so similar is that in those days, they had long thick brown/greyish hair. They both have similar voices and they both play similar sorts of characters. The only difference between the two of them is that Malcolm McDowell is British and Andrew Robinson is American. What I really loved about Scorpio's character is that he has a very funky, cool name for a serial killer. That name shows that he doesn't have a proper name and shows how twisted he is especially killing innocent and random victims within the city. He shows that slight innocent look and always prays for mercy when he is caught but he always seems to look like a real thug and to be a real identical killer in which he is anyway.


The director knew how to make the characters within the film very gripping and how he wanted the audience to realise what each one of them were capable of. They were both villains in a way but Harry is a hero as well as a villain (only a little as far as killing thugs, burglars etc). The action scenes and the epic thrill rides are another close similarity when comparing The Dark Knight and Heat with Dirty Harry. Don Siegel directed this a lot like Chris Nolan and Michael Mann did. The script was awesome! Sometimes I find it rather hard to see whether a script is awful or amazing but it really depends on the scenes. I feel the same with actors when they portray their characters.


This is definitely one of the top action thrillers of the 1970s if not one of the best of that decade. It is my favourite Clint Eastwood film as an actor but not as director. I prefer Clint as a director than an actor but still really talented at both. Masterpiece!! Clint's Harry Callahan is one of my top kick ass characters of all time but not one of my favourite characters ever though. This is a cool classic that shouldn't be avoided for anything in the world.

8/10
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Added by SJMJ91
14 years ago on 10 March 2010 16:46