...for their legions of devoted fans, these new editions and their new extra features are surely attractive.
Extras:
As for bonus items, there are fewer on the four single discs than in the two-disc "Dirty Harry" set. For "Magnum Force" we find a new audio commentary by writer John Milius, quite illuminating in that Milius is not always as complimentary to the film as you might expect; a new, 2008 featurette, "A Moral Right: The Politics of Dirty Harry," twenty-four minutes; an eight-minute behind-the-scenes promo, "The Hero Cop: Yesterday and Today," that works with old newsreels and the present film; and the same trailer gallery of all five "Harry" films found on the other discs. In addition, we get thirty-six scene selections; English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese spoken languages; French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese subtitles; and English captions for the hearing impaired.
"THE ENFORCER"
The third "Dirty Harry" flick is "The Enforcer" (1976). This time the gimmick is that the department assigns Harry a woman partner, played by Tyne Daly, which, of course, annoys Harry no end. To be honest, this is the installment I always seem to forget, maybe because the franchise was by now a million-dollar business, the effectiveness of the action was already beginning to wear thin with repetition, and Eastwood seemed to be starting to go routinely through the form. Nonetheless, there's still excitement aplenty to keep one occupied, and Jerry Fielding's score, more overtly up-tempo jazzy than Lalo Shifrin's had been, should keep most folks awake.
Like the first "Dirty Harry," the script for "The Enforcer" bases its story line on another real-life San Francisco Bay Area circumstance. You may remember newspaper heiress Patty Heart's being kidnapped by and then supposedly joining in with a paramilitary organization known as the "Symbionese Liberation Army." In "The Enforcer" Harry and his new partner are up against the "People's Revolutionary Strike Force," a group that wants millions of dollars or it will blow up parts of the City. Harry blasts people away left and right, and his bosses, Capt. McKay in particular, (Bradford Dillman), chastise him for his extreme measures. Like "Magnum Force," "The Enforcer" lacks a strong, clearly defined villainous presence. Instead, we get a whole mess of evil doers with only a quasi leader to boo. It's not quite enough to make the film a favorite of mine, but Eastwood's flinty-eyed stare and snarling lip are still more than satisfactory when compared to most other tough-guy heroes, and his charisma alone carries the day. Ms. Daly suffers the same fate as most of Harry's partners, but it's fun while it lasts, and Harry finally gets two l's in his last name.
"She wants to play lumberjack; she's going to have to learn to handle her end of the log."
Video and Audio:
Again, the anamorphic Panavision screen size is about 2.35:1, this time with the picture being the cleanest of the first three films. It's a little glossy, but it is bright and free of noticeable blemishes. The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio seems the most subdued of the first three films, having less opportunity to display many surround effects, but when it gets moving it does fine.
Extras:
The major extras for "The Enforcer" are a new commentary by director James Fargo; a new featurette "The Business End: Violence in Cinema"; the five-minute vintage promo "Harry Callahan/Clint Eastwood: Something Special in Films," which is, unfortunately, not very special; and, again, a trailer gallery. Things wind down with spoken languages in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese; and subtitles in French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese, with English captions for the hearing impaired.
"SUDDEN IMPACT"
This is the only entry (1983) in the series produced and directed by Eastwood, and it finds Callahan looking a little older, his face a bit leaner, his hair a little thinner and grayer.
The plot device casts Eastwood's real-life flame, Sondra Locke, as his co-star. She plays Jennifer Spencer, an artist living in San Paulo (filmed in Santa Cruz, CA), who is killing off all the people who raped her and her younger sister one night on the beach ten years earlier. Back to harass Harry is Bradford Dillman, as much a villain in the series as anybody, and Pat Hingle as the sour-tempered San Paulo Police Chief. Since Spencer kills her first victim in San Francisco and the second in San Paulo, the S.F. Police send Harry to San Paulo to investigate, as much to get rid of him as anything else. Removing his presence from San Francisco delights his superiors no end, and it gives the audience a chance to see a new venue, Santa Cruz's famous roller-coaster and boardwalk.
The film stretches the believability factor to the limit, with a story that's all over the map; no matter where Harry goes or where he turns, he finds some bad guy to shoot. There's even a first: Harry scares a gangster to death! Eastwood's new catch word is "Swell," the body count is higher than ever, he's honed his snarl to perfection, and the ending is straight out of "High Noon."
"Go ahead. Make my day."
Video and Audio:
"Sudden Impact" has the widest screen size of the bunch, a 2.40 anamorphic ratio. The picture quality is also quite good, with natural colors (if often a bit too dark), very little grain except in certain nighttime scenes, and only a few shimmering moiré effects. The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound is good for directional gunfire at the very least.
Extras:
On "Sudden Impact" we get a new commentary by Richard Schickel; a new featurette "The Evolution of Clint Eastwood," twenty-five minutes long, tracing the growth of Eastwood from actor to director; and the same trailer gallery we've gotten used to. Rounding out the extras are a healthy thirty-seven scene selections; spoken languages in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese; and subtitles in French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese, with English captions for the hearing impaired.
"THE DEAD POOL"
The last "Harry" film Eastwood did was "The Dead Pool" (1988). It's pretty much more of the same: a new partner, new baddies, Callahan shooting up more people. But this time out we find two budding stars in the making: Liam Neeson as an obnoxious, egotistical horror-movie director and Jim Carrey (credited as "James Carrey") as a drugged-out rock singer. It seems somebody has been murdering celebrities, and Harry is on the list! A TV news reporter, Samantha Walker (Patricia Clarkson), tries to wine and dine Harry to ferret out a story, but she has about as much luck as a snowflake in July. There are two other firsts as well: a "Bullitt" type car-chase scene through the streets of San Francisco featuring Harry's automobile and a deadly, remote-controlled toy car and Harry using the biggest gun of his career in the final scene. Otherwise, it's the same old, including more of Lalo Schifrin's music and more quotable quotes, as when Harry observes, "Opinions are like assholes; everybody has one."
"Swell."
Video and Audio:
Interestingly, this final episode is the least wide of the series, a 1.85:1 anamorphic ratio widescreen. But the picture quality is pretty clean, maybe a trifle too dark. The DD 5.1 sound did not strike me as being as all-enveloping as I remembered it. Still, it does well in keeping up with explosions and zinging bullets.
Extras:
"The Dead Pool" includes a new commentary by producer David Valdes and cinematographer Jack N. Green; plus a new, twenty-one-minute featurette, "The Craft of Dirty Harry," which takes us behind the scenes to the filmmakers who supported Eastwood in these movies. Finally, there are thirty scene selections and the usual assortment of spoken languages and subtitles.
Yet More Goodies:
In addition to the five movies, the "Ultimate Collector's Edition" box contains an assortment of further bonus materials. Here, you'll find the documentary disc "Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows," an eighty-six-minute biography of Eastwood covering his life from childhood through the year 2000, when Rhapsody Films, American Masters, and BBC Arena made it. The film is in anamorphic widescreen and includes twenty-three chapters and comments from just about everybody the man has worked with. Then, there's a replica Harry Callahan wallet with inspector's badge and identification card (very cute); five 5" x 7" lobby poster cards plus an exclusive Ultimate Collector's Edition card; a 19" x 27" poster map of San Francisco detailing Harry's hunt for Scorpio, the killer in "Dirty Harry"; a "personal message" from Clint Eastwood; and a forty-four-page, hardbound book of photos and information. Warner Bros. have packaged all of this in a handsomely embossed box, with an interior container and several Digipak foldouts. This is a class production all the way.
Parting Thoughts:
I spent a marathon few days watching all five "Dirty Harry" movies over again, enjoying some of them more than others. My ratings below are a composite for the series in general, but the Film Values would, in fact, vary from a high of "8" for the first "Dirty Harry" installment to a low of maybe "6" for "Magnum Force" and "The Dead Pool," with the others at "7."
Eastwood created a genuine American folk hero in Harry Callahan, and whether you like him and his Neanderthal ways or not, he's around to stay. DVD and Blu-ray may preserve him forever, like one of those giant mammoths found in the Siberian ice. It's pretty good preservation, too.
Go ahead: Make Harry's day.
As for bonus items, there are fewer on the four single discs than in the two-disc "Dirty Harry" set. For "Magnum Force" we find a new audio commentary by writer John Milius, quite illuminating in that Milius is not always as complimentary to the film as you might expect; a new, 2008 featurette, "A Moral Right: The Politics of Dirty Harry," twenty-four minutes; an eight-minute behind-the-scenes promo, "The Hero Cop: Yesterday and Today," that works with old newsreels and the present film; and the same trailer gallery of all five "Harry" films found on the other discs. In addition, we get thirty-six scene selections; English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese spoken languages; French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese subtitles; and English captions for the hearing impaired.
"THE ENFORCER"
The third "Dirty Harry" flick is "The Enforcer" (1976). This time the gimmick is that the department assigns Harry a woman partner, played by Tyne Daly, which, of course, annoys Harry no end. To be honest, this is the installment I always seem to forget, maybe because the franchise was by now a million-dollar business, the effectiveness of the action was already beginning to wear thin with repetition, and Eastwood seemed to be starting to go routinely through the form. Nonetheless, there's still excitement aplenty to keep one occupied, and Jerry Fielding's score, more overtly up-tempo jazzy than Lalo Shifrin's had been, should keep most folks awake.
Like the first "Dirty Harry," the script for "The Enforcer" bases its story line on another real-life San Francisco Bay Area circumstance. You may remember newspaper heiress Patty Heart's being kidnapped by and then supposedly joining in with a paramilitary organization known as the "Symbionese Liberation Army." In "The Enforcer" Harry and his new partner are up against the "People's Revolutionary Strike Force," a group that wants millions of dollars or it will blow up parts of the City. Harry blasts people away left and right, and his bosses, Capt. McKay in particular, (Bradford Dillman), chastise him for his extreme measures. Like "Magnum Force," "The Enforcer" lacks a strong, clearly defined villainous presence. Instead, we get a whole mess of evil doers with only a quasi leader to boo. It's not quite enough to make the film a favorite of mine, but Eastwood's flinty-eyed stare and snarling lip are still more than satisfactory when compared to most other tough-guy heroes, and his charisma alone carries the day. Ms. Daly suffers the same fate as most of Harry's partners, but it's fun while it lasts, and Harry finally gets two l's in his last name.
"She wants to play lumberjack; she's going to have to learn to handle her end of the log."
Video and Audio:
Again, the anamorphic Panavision screen size is about 2.35:1, this time with the picture being the cleanest of the first three films. It's a little glossy, but it is bright and free of noticeable blemishes. The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio seems the most subdued of the first three films, having less opportunity to display many surround effects, but when it gets moving it does fine.
Extras:
The major extras for "The Enforcer" are a new commentary by director James Fargo; a new featurette "The Business End: Violence in Cinema"; the five-minute vintage promo "Harry Callahan/Clint Eastwood: Something Special in Films," which is, unfortunately, not very special; and, again, a trailer gallery. Things wind down with spoken languages in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese; and subtitles in French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese, with English captions for the hearing impaired.
"SUDDEN IMPACT"
This is the only entry (1983) in the series produced and directed by Eastwood, and it finds Callahan looking a little older, his face a bit leaner, his hair a little thinner and grayer.
The plot device casts Eastwood's real-life flame, Sondra Locke, as his co-star. She plays Jennifer Spencer, an artist living in San Paulo (filmed in Santa Cruz, CA), who is killing off all the people who raped her and her younger sister one night on the beach ten years earlier. Back to harass Harry is Bradford Dillman, as much a villain in the series as anybody, and Pat Hingle as the sour-tempered San Paulo Police Chief. Since Spencer kills her first victim in San Francisco and the second in San Paulo, the S.F. Police send Harry to San Paulo to investigate, as much to get rid of him as anything else. Removing his presence from San Francisco delights his superiors no end, and it gives the audience a chance to see a new venue, Santa Cruz's famous roller-coaster and boardwalk.
The film stretches the believability factor to the limit, with a story that's all over the map; no matter where Harry goes or where he turns, he finds some bad guy to shoot. There's even a first: Harry scares a gangster to death! Eastwood's new catch word is "Swell," the body count is higher than ever, he's honed his snarl to perfection, and the ending is straight out of "High Noon."
"Go ahead. Make my day."
Video and Audio:
"Sudden Impact" has the widest screen size of the bunch, a 2.40 anamorphic ratio. The picture quality is also quite good, with natural colors (if often a bit too dark), very little grain except in certain nighttime scenes, and only a few shimmering moiré effects. The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound is good for directional gunfire at the very least.
Extras:
On "Sudden Impact" we get a new commentary by Richard Schickel; a new featurette "The Evolution of Clint Eastwood," twenty-five minutes long, tracing the growth of Eastwood from actor to director; and the same trailer gallery we've gotten used to. Rounding out the extras are a healthy thirty-seven scene selections; spoken languages in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese; and subtitles in French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese, with English captions for the hearing impaired.
"THE DEAD POOL"
The last "Harry" film Eastwood did was "The Dead Pool" (1988). It's pretty much more of the same: a new partner, new baddies, Callahan shooting up more people. But this time out we find two budding stars in the making: Liam Neeson as an obnoxious, egotistical horror-movie director and Jim Carrey (credited as "James Carrey") as a drugged-out rock singer. It seems somebody has been murdering celebrities, and Harry is on the list! A TV news reporter, Samantha Walker (Patricia Clarkson), tries to wine and dine Harry to ferret out a story, but she has about as much luck as a snowflake in July. There are two other firsts as well: a "Bullitt" type car-chase scene through the streets of San Francisco featuring Harry's automobile and a deadly, remote-controlled toy car and Harry using the biggest gun of his career in the final scene. Otherwise, it's the same old, including more of Lalo Schifrin's music and more quotable quotes, as when Harry observes, "Opinions are like assholes; everybody has one."
"Swell."
Video and Audio:
Interestingly, this final episode is the least wide of the series, a 1.85:1 anamorphic ratio widescreen. But the picture quality is pretty clean, maybe a trifle too dark. The DD 5.1 sound did not strike me as being as all-enveloping as I remembered it. Still, it does well in keeping up with explosions and zinging bullets.
Extras:
"The Dead Pool" includes a new commentary by producer David Valdes and cinematographer Jack N. Green; plus a new, twenty-one-minute featurette, "The Craft of Dirty Harry," which takes us behind the scenes to the filmmakers who supported Eastwood in these movies. Finally, there are thirty scene selections and the usual assortment of spoken languages and subtitles.
Yet More Goodies:
In addition to the five movies, the "Ultimate Collector's Edition" box contains an assortment of further bonus materials. Here, you'll find the documentary disc "Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows," an eighty-six-minute biography of Eastwood covering his life from childhood through the year 2000, when Rhapsody Films, American Masters, and BBC Arena made it. The film is in anamorphic widescreen and includes twenty-three chapters and comments from just about everybody the man has worked with. Then, there's a replica Harry Callahan wallet with inspector's badge and identification card (very cute); five 5" x 7" lobby poster cards plus an exclusive Ultimate Collector's Edition card; a 19" x 27" poster map of San Francisco detailing Harry's hunt for Scorpio, the killer in "Dirty Harry"; a "personal message" from Clint Eastwood; and a forty-four-page, hardbound book of photos and information. Warner Bros. have packaged all of this in a handsomely embossed box, with an interior container and several Digipak foldouts. This is a class production all the way.
Parting Thoughts:
I spent a marathon few days watching all five "Dirty Harry" movies over again, enjoying some of them more than others. My ratings below are a composite for the series in general, but the Film Values would, in fact, vary from a high of "8" for the first "Dirty Harry" installment to a low of maybe "6" for "Magnum Force" and "The Dead Pool," with the others at "7."
Eastwood created a genuine American folk hero in Harry Callahan, and whether you like him and his Neanderthal ways or not, he's around to stay. DVD and Blu-ray may preserve him forever, like one of those giant mammoths found in the Siberian ice. It's pretty good preservation, too.
Go ahead: Make Harry's day.
![Lost [TV Series]](/images/displaymedia.php?id=23770&sizew=70&cat=3)
Average user rating (1-5):
Not yet rated.
Not yet rated.
[release]23302[/release]