BEFORE: I know there are 5 films in the "Dirty Harry" series, but I only have the first two, so that will have to do. TCM ran them on Clint Eastwood's 80th birthday, on May 31.
THE PLOT: Dirty Harry is on the trail of vigilantes who are going beyond the law to kill the city's undesirables.
AFTER: This is a film with several smaller crime "vignettes", (and no memorable quotes) and I'm not sure that the pieces add up to a coherent whole. Yes, there are vigilantes killing criminals, but while tracking them down, Dirty Harry also finds time to take out a couple of hijackers, foil a compete in a police marksmanship event, turn down the advances of his ex-partner's ex-wife, and then sleep with his upstairs neighbor. What, there were no kittens that needed to be rescued from a high tree branch? Focus, people!
Oh, I forgot, he also foils a robbery inside a store that only sells very breakable things, like china, glassware and lightbulbs. That way it looks so great when the bullets fly into the shelves...
Several of the minor characters make references to having never shot someone before - I suppose they're positioned as less manly foil characters for Dirty Harry, who's probably shot so many people he's lost count. Quien es mas macho?
No obvious connections to "Grand Theft Auto" tonight, except for a bit in the final showdown atop an aircraft carrier - come on, everyone knows you can't do stunt jumps on a police motorcycle...and maybe a car that's been taken to 8-Ball's garage, if you know what I mean.
Maybe I'm just not a "Dirty Harry" fan, but the only way to find that out was to watch the films...
Also starring Hal Holbrook (last seen in "Capricorn One"), Tim Matheson (last seen in "1941"), David Soul (last seen making a cameo in the "Starsky & Hutch" movie), Robert Urich, and a brief uncredited (and unclothed) appearance by Suzanne Somers.
RATING: 4 out of 10 bullet holes (but nice grouping!)
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