Dirty Harry: Difference between revisions

* [[Calling Your Bathroom Breaks]]: Kate does this drunkenly during a deleted scene in ''The Enforcer''

* [[Captain Ersatz]]: Captain Briggs in ''Sudden Impact'' is essentially Captain McKay from ''The Enforcer'' especially given that they're played by the same actor.

* [[Chekhov's Gun]]: It's safe to assume any ridiculously powerful weapon introduced at the beginning of a Dirty Harry movie will be used later. The best example would definitely have to be {{spoiler|the enormous [[Harpoon Gun]] used to impale Rook at the end of The Dead Pool}}.

** Lt Briggs mentions that he has never once taken his weapon out of its holster. {{spoiler|When he does, it's to give [[The Reveal]] that he's the [[Big Bad]]}}.

* [[Cool Shades]]: Harry's.

* [[Cowboy Cop]] (Harry Callahan)

* [[Interrupted Suicide]]: Harry Callahan disgusts a jumper by saying how much blood and guts are going to be on the floor and how he doesn't want to go down with him, eventually Harry tricks him onto a fire truck.

* [[Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique]] (on Scorpio on the football field)

* [[Mean Character, Nice Actor]]: Andy Robinson plays the gleefully bigoted, psychopathic Scorpio in Dirty Harry. Whereas the vegetarian, liberal pacifist Robinson is a gentle and, by all accounts, sweet-natured guy who'd never even held a gun before this role (for which he had to be coached out of his habit of screwing his eyes shut and flinching whenever he fired it).

** What makes this disturbing is that Robinson actually received [[Fan Dumb|death threats]] after the movie was released.

** Presumably goes for Eastwood himself, too, given the actor has a reputation for being a fairly nice guy, whereas Harry is.. Well, Harry.

* [[Nausea Dissonance]]: In ''Magnum Force'', Harry is called to the scene of a murder with his partner. One of the cops there comments on how the inside the victim's car is just filled with all kinds of brain parts (the audience doesn't see this) and generally goes into the most gross bodies he's seen. Harry is unaffected but his partner looks at the body and then turns to go puke.

* [[Noble Bigot with a Badge]] (in his initial meeting with Gonzales in the first movie, and with his female partner in "The Enforcer")

* [[Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right]]

* [[The Seventies]]: The films don't indulge in the groovier aspects of the decade, but it's wide neckties, ugly dun-colored suits and giant sedans for everybody!

** Here's a weird one: [[Corrupt Cop]] "Red" Astrachan is named after a variety of apple. Weirder still is that [[Rambo|he's not the only guy in an action series to have that distinction]].

* [[Take That, Critics!]]: The film critic murdered in ''The Dead Pool'' is based on Pauline Kael, in response to her accusing the first film of promoting "fascism." Something about this woman seems to rub directors the wrong way, since she got another [[Take That]] in ''[[Willow]]''.

* [[Television Geography]]: Just try to go to the same places in San Francisco that Scorpio had Harry do for the money drop, in the same order, on foot and under an hour. It's impossible.

** [[Fridge Brilliance|Considering that Scorpio said he was going to let the girl die anyway, that was probably his intention]].

* [[Title Drop]]: His partner in the first film wanted to know why people call inspector Callahan, Dirty Harry. He gets mixed answers. It wasn't until after Harry talks a man out of jumping by insulting him, that he tells his new partner the real reason:

{{quote|'''Harry:''' Now you know why they call me Dirty Harry. Every dirty job that comes along...}}

* [[Unbuilt Trope]]: Harry's methods aren't actually shown all that positively. His interrogation of the Scorpio killer is [[Gory Discretion Shot|downright horrific]], and ends up doing no good anyway. And in the end, {{spoiler|he throws away his badge after disregarding his orders and endangering innocents}}.

* [[Vigilante Man]]: ''Magnum Force''. Hard to believe that it isn't Harry. Even harder to believe he opposes them. But then again, they {{spoiler|killed a cop}}.