The Dead Pool (1988)

Genres

Action, Crime, Thriller

Director

Buddy Van Horn

Country

USA

Cast

Clint Eastwood, Patricia Clarkson, Liam Neeson, Evan C. Kim, David Hunt, Michael Currie, Michael Goodwin, Jim Carrey, Anthony Charnota, Ronnie Claire Edwards, Louis Giambalvo, Diego Chairs, Charles Martinet, Patrick Van Horn, Shawn Elliott, Bill Wattenberg, Marc Alaimo, Justin Whalin, Harry Demopoulos

Storyline

This time around, Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) must stop a game called the Dead Pool, some sort of contest to murder celebrities which includes himself as a target.

Opinion

The Dirty Harry franchise has been such a rollercoaster! One minute you are up in the sky, the next one you are 20,000 leagues under the sea. And like all rollercoasters, it ended on the ground with The Dead Pool, another mediocre entry. 

The story isn't particularly good - actually, it's probably the most stupid of the entire franchise - and it doesn't even have interesting plot twists and still it managed to keep me interested throughout the film. It's probably because it started quite well and it was interesting at first so I wanted to know how it would end. Spoiler, it's as predictable as it can be.

The characters aren't that good either. They lack development, some of them are nothing but stereotypes and are also quite uninteresting, especially the villain, portrayed by Liam Neeson. He's so dull, he's easily one of the worst villains ever. There's a new character, however, that is a breath of fresh air, Patricia Clarkson's TV reporter Samantha Walker. She is always a pleasure to watch and she is so delicate she is the perfect "partner" for Callahan. 

Still, overall, the film is pretty forgettable with the only exception of Jim Carrey playing a drugged rock star. That Welcome to the Jungle scene sure was something. Too bad his character dies after 5 seconds. Oh, there's also a cool-ish remote control car chase. It's not spectacular but it's the best The Dead Pool has to offer in terms of action. 

Sudden Impact (1983)

Genres

Action, Crime, Thriller

Director

Clint Eastwood

Country

USA

Cast

Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, Bradford Dillman, Paul Drake, Albert Popwell, Audrie J. Neenan, Jack Thibeau, Michael Currie, Michael V. Gazzo, Mark Keyloun, Kevyn Major Howard, Bette Ford, Nancy Parson

Storyline

Jennifer Spencer (Sondra Locke), a rape victim has turned into a vigilante killer and kills her attackers one by one and Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) is assigned to the case.

Opinion

Right after the first film, Dirty Harry, the franchise started to drop in quality and given the level it has reached with The Enforcer, I was expecting another terrible film. But I guess a change of direction was what the series needed because Sudden Impact is quite good. Sure, it's far from being the best film of the series, but it's a solid-ish cop movie.

When I said change of direction I wasn't only talking about the director, but also about the tones of the film. It is moody and dark (as a matter of fact, there's almost no humour) and it's more focused on the characters, not only Callahan's, and they are better written, especially the bad guys.

There are two main storylines, Callahan's and that of the rape victim, the latter being the main focus of the film which is great since it's also the most interesting. It does take a while to take off, but when Callahan and Spencer finally meet it gets more engaging. Still, it's very clichéed and predictable.

The major difference between Sudden Impact and The Enforcer is easily the direction. Clint Eastwood clearly knows how to direct and, although there are some pretty dull scenes, for the most the film has a good pace and some suspense as well. Clint Eastwood is also a problem though. He is too old to play Harry Callahan and, while he does his best, he doesn't have the age or ability to make the action sequences look realistic and believable.  

The Enforcer (1976)

Genres

Action, Thriller

Director

James Fargo

Country

USA

Cast

Clint Eastwood, Tyne Daly, Harry Guardino, Bradford Dillman, John Mitchum, DeVeren Bookwalter, Abert Popwell, John Crawford, Robert Hoy, Michael Cavanaugh, Jocelyn Jones, Dirk Durock, Samantha Doane, M.G. Kelly, Terry McGovern, John Roselius, Rudy Ramos, Joe Spano

Storyline

Inspector Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) teams with a new partner, Inspector Kate Moore (Tyne Daly), to take down a terrorist group.

Opinion

After the average Magnum Force, the Dirty Harry franchise keeps going down with The Enforcer, a pretty weak and barely fun cop movie.

The most surprising aspect of this film is the writing. Considering all the people involved in the creative process - two people to write the story, two people to write the characters and two people to write the script -, this is a real mess. The story is bland and boring, it doesn't have anything original, the twists can barely be called twists. In addition, it has a whole battle of sexes plot that is quite offensive and sexist.

The characters aren't any better. I was actually excited about Callahan's female partner but the character is terrible. Same goes with Callahan himself, who is now nothing more than a caricature of the Callahan in Dirty Harry. And Clint Eastwood really does a great job at doing a parody of himself. The character ended up being so unlikable, you'll probably side with his supervisors.

James Fargo's direction is bland, to say the least. The film looks lifeless. It lacks tension, an atmospheric score, and good action. It only has violence and it's not enough to make the film exciting.

Magnum Force (1973)

Genres

Action, Crime, Mystery

Director

Ted Post

Country

USA

Cast

Clint Eastwood, Hal Holbrook, David Soul, Tim Matheson, Kip Niven, Robert Urich, Felton Perry, Mitchell Ryan, Margaret Avery, Bob McClurg, John Mitchum, Albert Popwell, Richard Devon, Christine White, Tony Giorgio, Maurice Argent

Storyline

As a mysterious vigilante kills criminals who have managed to avoid the punishment by the courts, San Francisco Police Inspector Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) begins to investigate.

Opinion

I had a pretty good time watching Dirty Harry and I was hoping it'd be the same with Magnum Force. No, I didn't enjoy it much. It wasn't much more than an average cop movie and it felt more like a parody than a sequel.

The storyline was interesting and it started off pretty good. There's suspense and it's pretty tight. But that lasted like 5 seconds since it's pretty obvious who's behind the murders, the twists aren't that smart nor impressive, and there are lots of useless and irrelevant subplots whose only purpose is to show what a badass Harry Callahan is and to glorify him. And the story eventually gets boring and unengaging.

The great thing about Dirty Harry was the character of Callahan. Magnum Force doesn't have that either. Callahan is still the main character, but he's becoming annoying because everything he does is overworked and overemphasises so like I said before, it looks like Eastwood is doing a parody of his character. The supporting characters manage to be even worse, especially Callahan's flat and pointless love interest.

That said, there's still something interesting and good about this film. The action. The action sequences are pretty exciting, and while they are not at Dirty Harry's level, they still manage to make up for the boring story and make the film a little more enjoyable.

Dirty Harry (1971)

Genres

Action, Crime, Thriller

Director

Don Siegel

Country

USA

Cast

Clint Eastwood, Andy Robinson, Harry Guardino, Reni Santoni, John Vernon, John Larch, John Mitchum, Woodrow Parfrey, Josey Sommer, Mae Mercer, Albert Popwell, Lyn Edgington, Ruth Kobart, Lois Foraker, William Paterson, Craig Kelly

Storyline

When a mad man calling himself Scorpio (Andy Robinson) menaces the city of San Francisco, Inspector Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) is assigned to the case which later unravels into a cat-and-mouse game between the cop and the killer.

Opinion

Callahan's is another of those franchises I set my mind on watching this year which means if all the movies are as good as Dirty Harry, I sure am going to have some wonderful time/weeks.

The story is loosely based on the real-life Scorpio killer - Fincher's Zodiac is also based on the same case - which actually means the writers used real-life events to create a simple fictional cop story that is gripping and engaging, but most importantly, it does not bore with some useless subplots, like a romance for example. It is simply about a cop trying to catch a sick psycho, and Don Siegel builds so good suspense and tension, especially towards the end.

What makes Dirty Harry so good is the cop. Harry Callahan who kind of reminded me of the typical film noir anti-hero is a tough cop who doesn't play by the rules. He acts like a vigilante who doesn't believe in the legal system and thinks that justice should be made in the streets. He is a very unlikeable guy. And yet you can't help but root for him. Callahan having Clint Eastwood's face and charms sure do help.

This film, however, isn't by any mean perfect. Sure, I had a good time watching it. It was fun. It was exciting. It was entertaining. But there are some things I just can't overlook, like the one-dimensional characters - there's really no more development that distinction between good guy and bad guy. There is also quite some gratuitous nudity but I think that was normal in the 1970s.