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.
Extras:
As for bonus items, there are fewer on the next four BD discs than on the fully-loaded "Dirty Harry" disc. On "Magnum Force" we find a new audio commentary by writer John Milius, quite illuminating in that Milius is not always complimentary to the film; 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, German, Italian, Castilian, and Portuguese spoken languages; English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Danish, Norsk, and Swedish subtitles; and English, German, and Italian captions for the hearing impaired.
"THE ENFORCER"
The third film 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 musical score, more overtly up-tempo jazzy than Lalo Shifrin's had been, should keep most folks awake.
Like the first movie, "The Enforcer" focuses 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, a 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 evildoers 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.
"Look: She wants to play lumberjack, she's going to have to learn to handle her end of the log."
Video and Audio:
Again, the Panavision screen size, about 2.35:1, looks good reproduced in VC-1 1080p. The picture is the cleanest of the first three films in the series and shows up quite well in high-definition. Colors are beautiful from the outset, with deep black levels. Although it's a tad soft and some faces are a bit dark, the overall impression is impressive. The sound comes in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 as well as Dolby Digital 5.1, and it seems the most subdued of the first three films, having less opportunity to display any surround effects, but when it gets moving it does fine. The TrueHD is smooth and easy, and the surrounds take care of several explosions effectively. Also, a nice touch, Harry throws away an apple he been eating, and it lands behind us. Cute.
Extras:
The major extras for "The Enforcer" start with a new commentary by director James Fargo. It's among the best of the lot as Fargo seems genuinely to enjoy talking about this movie. After that is a new, thirty-minute featurette "The Business End: Violence in Cinema," that briefly looks at a history of violence in motion pictures and its effects on audiences. After that is the five-minute featurette "Harry Callahan/Clint Eastwood: Something Special in Films," a vintage promo that is, unfortunately, not very special; and, again, a trailer gallery. Things wrap up with thirty scene selections; English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Castilian, and Portuguese spoken languages; English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Danish, Norsk, and Swedish subtitles; and English, German, and Italian 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.
"Sudden Impact" 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, about a 2.40 anamorphic ratio. The BD picture quality is probably the best of the lot, too, with bright, natural colors and very little grain except in a few nighttime scenes. The only minor flaws are that it's a bit too dark at times and too glossy at others. The sound, again in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and regular Dolby Digital 5.1 sounds better than the first three movies because it contains more surround information, more environmental and city noises, and strong gunfire with solid impact. In TrueHD it sounds better spread out among the front three speakers as well.
Extras:
On "Sudden Impact" we get a new commentary by Richard Schickel and a new documentary, "The Evolution of Clint Eastwood." The latter is twenty-five minutes long and traces the growth of Eastwood from actor to director. There are also a healthy thirty-seven scene selections, and spoken languages and subtitles in all of the various languages cited above.
"THE DEAD POOL"
The last "Dirty Harry" film Eastwood did was "The Dead Pool" (1988). It is 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. Seems somebody's 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 is another first, too: a cute "Bullitt"-type car chase through the streets of San Francisco featuring Harry's automobile and a deadly, remote-controlled toy car. Also, Harry gets to use the biggest gun of his career in the closing scene. Otherwise, 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 ratio widescreen. But the picture quality is among the cleanest in the group, although maybe a bit soft for high definition, with faces a tad dark. The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 sound is not quite as all-enveloping as I remembered it the first time around, but it does provide good impact, there's a wide front-channel stereo spread, and bullets zing by with authority.
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 gives us more information on the filmmakers who supported Eastwood. Finally, there's a "Dirty Harry" trailer gallery; thirty scene selections; and the usual assortment of spoken languages, subtitles, and captions for the hearing impaired.
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 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 a pair of Digipak foldouts for the discs. 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, particularly on Blu-ray disc.
Go ahead: Make Harry's day.
As for bonus items, there are fewer on the next four BD discs than on the fully-loaded "Dirty Harry" disc. On "Magnum Force" we find a new audio commentary by writer John Milius, quite illuminating in that Milius is not always complimentary to the film; 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, German, Italian, Castilian, and Portuguese spoken languages; English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Danish, Norsk, and Swedish subtitles; and English, German, and Italian captions for the hearing impaired.
"THE ENFORCER"
The third film 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 musical score, more overtly up-tempo jazzy than Lalo Shifrin's had been, should keep most folks awake.
Like the first movie, "The Enforcer" focuses 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, a 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 evildoers 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.
"Look: She wants to play lumberjack, she's going to have to learn to handle her end of the log."
Video and Audio:
Again, the Panavision screen size, about 2.35:1, looks good reproduced in VC-1 1080p. The picture is the cleanest of the first three films in the series and shows up quite well in high-definition. Colors are beautiful from the outset, with deep black levels. Although it's a tad soft and some faces are a bit dark, the overall impression is impressive. The sound comes in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 as well as Dolby Digital 5.1, and it seems the most subdued of the first three films, having less opportunity to display any surround effects, but when it gets moving it does fine. The TrueHD is smooth and easy, and the surrounds take care of several explosions effectively. Also, a nice touch, Harry throws away an apple he been eating, and it lands behind us. Cute.
Extras:
The major extras for "The Enforcer" start with a new commentary by director James Fargo. It's among the best of the lot as Fargo seems genuinely to enjoy talking about this movie. After that is a new, thirty-minute featurette "The Business End: Violence in Cinema," that briefly looks at a history of violence in motion pictures and its effects on audiences. After that is the five-minute featurette "Harry Callahan/Clint Eastwood: Something Special in Films," a vintage promo that is, unfortunately, not very special; and, again, a trailer gallery. Things wrap up with thirty scene selections; English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Castilian, and Portuguese spoken languages; English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Danish, Norsk, and Swedish subtitles; and English, German, and Italian 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.
"Sudden Impact" 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, about a 2.40 anamorphic ratio. The BD picture quality is probably the best of the lot, too, with bright, natural colors and very little grain except in a few nighttime scenes. The only minor flaws are that it's a bit too dark at times and too glossy at others. The sound, again in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and regular Dolby Digital 5.1 sounds better than the first three movies because it contains more surround information, more environmental and city noises, and strong gunfire with solid impact. In TrueHD it sounds better spread out among the front three speakers as well.
Extras:
On "Sudden Impact" we get a new commentary by Richard Schickel and a new documentary, "The Evolution of Clint Eastwood." The latter is twenty-five minutes long and traces the growth of Eastwood from actor to director. There are also a healthy thirty-seven scene selections, and spoken languages and subtitles in all of the various languages cited above.
"THE DEAD POOL"
The last "Dirty Harry" film Eastwood did was "The Dead Pool" (1988). It is 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. Seems somebody's 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 is another first, too: a cute "Bullitt"-type car chase through the streets of San Francisco featuring Harry's automobile and a deadly, remote-controlled toy car. Also, Harry gets to use the biggest gun of his career in the closing scene. Otherwise, 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 ratio widescreen. But the picture quality is among the cleanest in the group, although maybe a bit soft for high definition, with faces a tad dark. The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 sound is not quite as all-enveloping as I remembered it the first time around, but it does provide good impact, there's a wide front-channel stereo spread, and bullets zing by with authority.
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 gives us more information on the filmmakers who supported Eastwood. Finally, there's a "Dirty Harry" trailer gallery; thirty scene selections; and the usual assortment of spoken languages, subtitles, and captions for the hearing impaired.
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 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 a pair of Digipak foldouts for the discs. 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, particularly on Blu-ray disc.
Go ahead: Make Harry's day.
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[release]23304[/release]