Home :: DVD :: Mystery & Suspense  

Blackmail, Murder & Mayhem
British Mystery Theater
Classics
Crime
Detectives
Film Noir
General
Mystery
Mystery & Suspense Masters
Neo-Noir
Series & Sequels
Suspense
Thrillers
Sudden Impact

Sudden Impact

List Price: $14.98
Your Price: $13.48
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 3 4 >>

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Another Dirty Harry Sequel
Review: Eastwood again plays Harry in this forth Harry film. The only memorable moment is when Eastwood says his now famous line Go Ahead Make My Day. Aside from that Eastwood is sent to a small town in San Fran. to catch a killer.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Make my day
Review: Even though this isn't the first movie to use the famous saying "make my day" it was made famous by this movie. This Dirty Harry movie has the distinction of being the only one that was directed by Clint Eastwood. The plot goes like this. A woman who was raped years ago, by a group of creeps and a lesbian, comes back in movie style fashion to avenge herself and her sister who is in a catatonic state. As she starts murdering Harry Callahan is put on the case. Harry meets up with her but he falls for her and he doesn't know that she is the murderer that he has been looking for all along. Locke got a role in this because Clint Eastwood was the director and at the time she was Eastwood's real-life girlfriend. All parts are played very well and the action is fast paced. Very enjoyable.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Make my day
Review: Even though this isn't the first movie to use the famous saying "make my day" it was made famous by this movie. This Dirty Harry movie has the distinction of being the only one that was directed by Clint Eastwood. The plot goes like this. A woman who was raped years ago, by a group of creeps and a lesbian, comes back in movie style fashion to avenge herself and her sister who is in a catatonic state. As she starts murdering Harry Callahan is put on the case. Harry meets up with her but he falls for her and he doesn't know that she is the murderer that he has been looking for all along. Locke got a role in this because Clint Eastwood was the director and at the time she was Eastwood's real-life girlfriend. All parts are played very well and the action is fast paced. Very enjoyable.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Harry Hits Dead On
Review: From the now signature line uttered in the coffee shop by Harry, "Go Ahead. Make My Day" to when Inspector Calahan yells at his dog Meathead and a jogger thinks that Harry yelled at her to the climax on the roller-coaster this is one "Dirty Harry" movie that hits the mark so Go Ahead. Buy this flick. with apologies and great admiration to Clint Eastwood

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Why is this movie LIKEABLE?
Review: I enjoy this film a lot, but for the wrong reasons. It tries to be serious but comes off as parody. It's full of characters that are either all good or all bad. They're too simple to care about but then thats really the intent of the screenwriter. Then there's no need to debate the virtue of vengeance. Right or wrong this movie asks me to accept the need for revenge regardless of it's cost to humanity.

On some level I acknowledge this. Thats where the humor originates. When Harry tells the coffee shop crooks that he, along with Smith and Wesson, can't let them go I'm with him. I'd like to see those m*****f***ers blown away. But on another level I know it would be hard for me to do it because in a real life situation I'd want to know more about those
m*****f***ers. Who are they? What choices lead them to this moment? Do any of them have families to support, etc? But the film discourages these questions and wants me to defend myself if a gun is pointed at me. Though it would be hard for me to contemplate, in that moment I probably would kill. And this contradiction makes me laugh.

The film is full of these moments: the coffee shop, the confrontation with the mob boss at his daughter's(granddaughter's?) wedding, and later with the boss's henchman. Then there's my personal favorite, the punks who are acquitted for a crime they probably did commit. How can you not laugh when after being taunted in the courthouse elevator, Callahan grabs the lead punk by his neck tie, calls him d**s**t and then, with a vein bulging in his temple, flings the guy against his buddies? Classic.

I could give the film no stars for it's blatant endorsement of vengeance. Or it could get five stars for making me laugh at my own internal conflict over its morality. But I land on middle ground, leaning more towards liking this movie. It gets three stars because for me laughter is more satisfying than gunfire.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good movie
Review: I really liked this movie and found it to be very enjoyable.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Disappointing sequel, but watchable for one big reason
Review: I recently watched DIRTY HARRY and it's a masterpiece. After having seen a list of all of the other Dirty Harry flicks I decided to go with what's probably the most famous sequel, SUDDEN IMPACT.

"Nice job, meathead."

SUDDEN IMPACT is a disappointing sequel to Don Siegel's legendary film. It puts "Dirty" Harry Callahan (Eastwood) chasing after a female rape victim whom he just happens to fall in love with while, at the same time, bumping into her continuosly and never guessing she's the woman who has been murdering the people who raped her.

This film is a disgrace to the original classic. It changes Callahan's image of a justice-bringing tough guy (and hero) to a lazy, cranky old man who runs with his dog (who then urinates everywhere it goes). It's really pretty bad - even Lalo Schifrin's usually great score is forgettable. Could have been better - much better.

Unless you're a real Eastwood fan, you won't really care for SUDDEN IMPACT, which is foolish but watchable for one big reason:

To hear Eastwood say the legendary line, "Make my day."

OVERALL: *** (3) out of ***** (5) [Almost Above Average)

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Disappointing sequel, but watchable for one big reason
Review: I recently watched DIRTY HARRY and it's a masterpiece. After having seen a list of all of the other Dirty Harry flicks I decided to go with what's probably the most famous sequel, SUDDEN IMPACT.

"Nice job, meathead."

SUDDEN IMPACT is a disappointing sequel to Don Siegel's legendary film. It puts "Dirty" Harry Callahan (Eastwood) chasing after a female rape victim whom he just happens to fall in love with while, at the same time, bumping into her continuosly and never guessing she's the woman who has been murdering the people who raped her.

This film is a disgrace to the original classic. It changes Callahan's image of a justice-bringing tough guy (and hero) to a lazy, cranky old man who runs with his dog (who then urinates everywhere it goes). It's really pretty bad - even Lalo Schifrin's usually great score is forgettable. Could have been better - much better.

Unless you're a real Eastwood fan, you won't really care for SUDDEN IMPACT, which is foolish but watchable for one big reason:

To hear Eastwood say the legendary line, "Make my day."

OVERALL: *** (3) out of ***** (5) [Almost Above Average)

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Enough bang, but not really worth the buck.
Review: In this, the fourth cinematic outing for the "walking, freakin' combat zone" known better as Dirty Harry Calahan, we find our hero exiled from the mean streets of San Francisco to the seemingly low-key atmosphere of San Paolo where he is assigned the task of tracking a serial killer and runs into more than he bargained for. As with any Dirty Harry flick, there is enough bang. Clint sports a sleek, space age version of his signature .44 magnum. And the one-liners are perhaps the best in the series(with one memorable quote ironically carving itself a lasting niche in the English lexicon). But there is where the compliments end. Clint Eastwood does a middling job of directing, although the change of scenery from Frisco to San Paolo is nice. And while many new characters are introduced, none of them have the depth of development that makes the viewer really care what happens to them. In many cases, prove to be fodder for Harry's (or the villians's) cannon. All told, there is enough bang, but Sudden Impact isn't really worth the buck (or two).

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Before Clint Learned to Act
Review: It's a good thing that Clint Eastwood learned to act. Unfortunately, he did it after this movie. He is capably assisted by other terrible actors. Everyone is either wooden (Eastwood, Sondra Locke) or over the top and chewing scenery (several bad guys; the sheriff). One can't blame the actors too much, however.

The script is deadly; worse still, the pacing is GLACIAL.

Also, the plot is laughable. A rape victim turns serial killer to avenge herself and her sister. She systematically--BUT VERY SLOWLY--kills her tormentors one by one. Eastwood decides this is a good thing--though it does tend to put him out of a job.

Sondra Locke's hairstyle deserves special mention. She is apparently wearing a wig made of mylar. This becomes clear when they show her in flashback, and she has her real hair on.

Even the dog (a charmingly horrible bulldog) can't save this dog--although the pup's acting beats that of the humans.


<< 1 2 3 4 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates