Variety
Clint Eastwood, in the title role, is a superhero whose antics become almost satire. Strip away the philosophical garbage and all that's left is a well-made but shallow running-and-jumping meller.
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Dirty Harry
Clint Eastwood is Dirty Harry, a Magnum-wielding take-no-prisoners San Francisco cop, in this 1971 crime classic. The American Film Institute voted the character the 17th greatest movie hero ever, and the line "You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky? Well, do you ya, punk?'" the 51st best movie quote. There are four Dirty Harry sequels: Magnum Force (1973), The Enforcer (1976), Sudden Impact (1983) and The Dead Pool (1988).
Detective Harry Callahan is determined to bring in hippie-esque psycho killer Scorpio (Andy Robinson), even if he's got to break some rules in the process. Racing against a deadline to save a kidnap victim from suffocating to death and unbothered by the niceties of Miranda rights and search warrants, Callahan brings in Scorpio, only to see him released on technicalities. "The law's crazy," opines Harry in disgust, before taking it upon himself to ensure that Scorpio doesn't kill again."
Less1971Rating: R18+102 minsUSA
ActionThriller
- Director:
- Don Siegel ('Escape from Alcatraz', 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers')
- Writer:
- Harry Julian FinkRita M. FinkDean Riesner
- Cast:
- Clint EastwoodAndrew RobinsonJohn VernonReni SantoniHarry GuardinoJohn Larch
Dirty Harry | Reviews
89%53 reviewsRotten Tomatoes® Score
All reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Total Film
It's a bleak, uncompromising vision, executed with unsettling realism and imbued with an insidious aura of grime.
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The New York Times
What makes Dirty Harry worth watching no matter how dumb the story, is Siegel's superb sense of the city, not as a place of moods but as a theater for action.
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Roger Ebert
If there aren't mentalities like Dirty Harry's at loose in the land, then the movie is irrelevant. If there are, we should not blame the bearer of the bad news.
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Empire Magazine
Eastwood's Harry is iconic for a reason - he's a stunning example of ruthless machismo and armed cool. What's more, quotable lines aside, this remains one of the better cop movies out there.
Full reviewDirty Harry | Release Details
Dirty Harry is available to stream in Australia now on Stan and Google Play and Apple TV and Prime Video Store.