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Sudden Impact

Sudden Impact

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: THERE IS NO TROUBLE WITH HARRY
Review: This is one of the best "Dirty Harry" movies. This is probably the craziest of the bunch but it is still one of the best. When Harry is sent on an assignment for some rest and recreation he finds himself involved with some really repugnant and vile seaside creeps that define the meaning of scum. Under the direction of Clint Eastwood this movie takes on some strange and weird twists on the morality of justice and law and order. This is a very entertaining film yet it plays out like an allegory to the first "Dirty Harry " movie. You'll think twice about going under the boardwalk after you see this one.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Nearing the End of the Callahan Trail
Review: This is the fourth of five "Dirty Harry" films in which Eastwood stars as a San Francisco police detective. By the time the last appeared (The Dead Pool, in 1988), Eastwood had aged and times had changed but Callahan's non-negotiable values and unorthodox methods had remained essentially the same. The title of this film really makes no sense: None of the actions has a sudden impact. On the contrary, directed by Eastwood, the plot gradually develops to the inevitable climax. After still another controversial incident, Callahan is required to take an extended leave-of-absence and finds himself in a small coastal town where he meets Jennifer Spencer (Sandra Locke), a serious painter with even more serious emotional problems. Years ago, she and her sister were the victims of an especially violent rape; the sister remains comatose in an institution. Spencer is determined to locate and kill the rapists. One of them is the son of the local sheriff (Pat Hingle) who, for obvious reasons, discourages any interest in the case. He especially resents Callahan, "a big shot city detective" who attempts to investigate one of the several local murders.

Of special interest to me are two evil characters, Ray (Audrie Neenan) and Mick (Paul Drake), with whom Callahan has his final confrontation. Both are despicable and thus deserving of Callahan's singular application of justice. In this and other films, Locke's acting skills are clunky, at times almost laughable, especially when juxtaposed with the performances by Neenan and Drake. Bruce Surtees' cinematography is outstanding. His previous work includes Dirty Harry and Play Misty for Me (both in 1971) and The Outlaw Josie Wales (1976). He teamed up with Eastwood later with Pale Rider (1985). Surtees' excellent work plus several memorable scenes explain my rating which would have been higher, had the plot made more sense and had another actress (other than Ali MacGraw) portrayed Spencer. To me at least, both Callahan and the series are by now getting a tad long in the tooth.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Make my day
Review: This movie shot that saying into the mainstream, even though it isn't the first movie to say it, it is famous because of the way it is delivered by Eastwood. This movie was almost like a gift for Eastwood's then girlfriend Sondra Locke. He cast her because this is the first and only Dirty Harry movie that Clint Eastwood directed. Locke is a woman who was raped years ago by a bunch of creepy men and one messed-up lesbian who is back and is looking for a little classic movie revenge. Eastwood is called on to solve these puzzling murders that Locke is doing. Eastwood then starts falling for her and he doesn't know she is the killer that he wants to bring to justice. Funny, violent, and well thought out are the best words to describe this classic movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: THE BEST
Review: This was the ost exciteing one of them all. He recks the guys in it. It is the best dirty harry. He trashes the guys in the end. It also has the best plot.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: WHATs THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY
Review: When I first saw this film I thought Clint Eastwood had flipped out. He took the realistic base from the first three "Dirty Harry" films and replaced it with some type of pseudo surrealistic parody that seemed so repulsive it bordered on bad taste to say the very least. However, after repeated viewing it started to grow on me and I actually wanted to watch over and over. I couldn't get enough of it. It certainly was not the same Dirty Harry but it had a very blunt approach for dealing with crime and criminals. In the first three films the bureaucrats constantly accused Harry of crossing the line yet the audience knew Harry was right and the bureaucrats were just a bunch of crybaby liberals (at least that's what the directors wanted us to think). In SUDDEN IMPACT Clint Eastwood is at the helm. Eastwood proposes a question to the audience: You like crazy? Do you want to see crazy? I'm going to give you crazy. Filmmaking is a business and like a good businessman Eastwood gives his audience what they want. Yet Eastwood is no fool. Without artistic merit this film would have been a failure. Eastwood is playing the auteur filmmaker here and he is very successful at it. This film is way ahead of its time. The fabric of a sane society is being pulled apart. Family values, if you like, are out the window. Eastwood collects the most vile, repugnant and repulsive villains for this film that literally defines the meaning of trailer trash. The Mafia hoodlums at the beginning of the film look like impotent choirboys compared to the bunch of wacko amusement park crazies he ends up exterminating by the film's end. If Eastwood had not directed this film with his offbeat humor and unconventional style, if he had played it as a straight drama, the critics would have screamed murder. This is a good film. It's a stand-alone modern day apocalyptic tale delivered for your approval by Dirty Harry. I can still remember Reni Santoni asking, "Why do they call you Dirty Harry?" Now we really know.


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