Dirty Harry is legendary to a lot of people since Clint Eastwood is an epic-level actor that has done so much to this point that it’s hard for people to pick out a favorite moment of his in films. Those partial to the Dirty Harry movies however no doubt still have a tough time deciding just which one is their favorite since all of them are pretty awesome in their own right. There are a few things that make a couple of them better than the others however, but that’s not saying much since most fans would likely agree that all of them have redeeming qualities that make them pretty special.
Dirty Harry is one of the most iconic lawmen in film history and has been immortalized at this point by a couple of quotes that showed up early on. Eastwood has moved far beyond Dirty Harry at this point but it’s still fair to say that this is one of the roles that really made him as an actor no matter that his various roles in the Western genre also had a big hand in that. The inspector that didn’t play by the rules has been a longstanding fan favorite for a number of reasons, but one of them is because he defies conventional practice and goes by his own code of ethics. Any other inspector in real life would have likely been drummed off the force, but Harry was allowed to remain long after he’d caused enough damage to send the average man to jail for a very long time.
Whether or not you agree with the order in which these films are listed just remember that it doesn’t mean that any of them are considered to be bad.
5. The Enforcer
This movie is great because of Harry obviously but it’s also great because this time around he has a female partner and has to get used to the idea of having a woman with him wherever he goes. If you’ve been up on your Dirty Harry movies then you know he doesn’t think much of this and goes along simply because he has to. But when she ends up giving her life to save his Harry has nothing but respect for her, which shows that even tough guys can grow emotionally.
4. The Dead Pool
Obviously by this point Eastwood was starting to get a bit old and so was Dirty Harry by extension. He could still snarl with the best of them at people that deserved it and intimidate just about anyone. But he was also starting to realize that things couldn’t go on the same way they had been forever. It’s kind of a treat to remember that Liam Neeson and Jim Carrey were both in this film as well. But as the film wore on it became more and more evident that Eastwood was starting to falter just a bit in the act of playing Harry Callahan, though he did his best not to let it show. But there’s a reason why this film was the last in the Dirty Harry series.
3. Magnum Force
There’s always going to be someone better at doing what you do as this film shows. A group of rookie cops take to the streets killing those they feel are guilty of crimes. Honestly the people they kill, some of them, are quite guilty but have been let go by the law. What’s really a surprise is that Lt. Neil Briggs, Harry’s superior, is behind them all the way. It comes down to a final shootout and then a subsequent fight between Harry and the rogue cops, but of course Harry walks away and gets to utter a quip as he’s doing it.
2. Sudden Impact
Trouble just seems to have a way of being attracted to Harry, even when he’s forced to go on vacation since he’s making his department look bad despite getting results with his unconventional ways. When he makes his way to San Paulo though he can’t help but become embroiled in another fracas that really had nothing to do with him until the gang that was responsible for the trouble tried to kill him and neutered his dog with a switchblade. I mean come on, you don’t touch another person’s dog, and you especially don’t hurt them. And as for Harry’s dog, it’d probably best to not even think a bad thought about him.
1. Dirty Harry
This is the one that started it, and the one in which you got to see Harry Callahan at his best since he was just a guy trying to stamp out crime without following the rules that hamper so many officers in order to do it. Of course he got in more trouble than most officers since he tended to shoot first and ask the questions later, but he did get results.
So which movie was your favorite?
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