Dirty Harry: Difference between revisions

''Dirty Harry'', the first film, is credited with inspiring the tone and themes of modern cop films. [[Clint Eastwood]] portrays the iconic blunt, cynical, "the buck stops here" kind of law enforcer constantly at odds with his incompetent, [[By-The-Book Cop|strictly-by-the-book]] bosses. The hero's relentless pursuit of justice kicks, stomps on, and blasts gaping holes through constitutionally protected rights, causing many to accuse the film of carrying a fascist, or at least authoritarian, undertone. As a result of the controversy surrounding the first film, the sequels tried to balance out the ideology, having Harry's bad guys span the length of the political morality spectrum.

 

* ''Dirty Harry'' (1971): Callahan tracks down a [[Serial Killer]] who goes by the name Scorpio.

* ''Magnum Force'' (1973): Callahan goes up against some [[Knight Templar|renegade cops]] who have formed a death squad.

* ''Sudden Impact'' (1983): Callahan investigates a series of killings done by a rape victim on her [[Rape and Revenge|quest for revenge]].

* ''The Dead Pool'' (1988): Callahan investigates a series of celebrity deaths who had been predicted to die in a ''dead pool'' racket -- and finds that his own name is on the list.

 

* [[Accidental Pervert]]: "Now I know why they [[Incredibly Lame Pun|call you]] Dirty Harry."

* [[Arc Words]]: Repeated several times over in ''Magnum Force'', which explores the lengths Harry is willing to go to in his war on crime, as well as setting up a supposedly [[Not So Different]] group of rookie cops who go to worse lengths than Harry.