The archives continue to swell here at Shared Darkness, this time in the form of a DVD review of The Dirty Harry Collection, originally published upon its release in 2001. Still relevant in these troubled times, though, I’d argue… especially for when I begin my own campaign of justice against those who’ve crossed me. What… did I just type that? Nevermind, read on:
Queasy times usually spawn cinema of social justice with
heroes who kick ass first and take names later. Perhaps the most famous example
of this was Clint Eastwood’s steel-tough cop “Dirty” Harry Callahan, a
character who burst onto the scene in 1971 and eventually made ’80s cineplexes
safe for the jingoistic exploits and catchphrase quips of Sylvester Stallone’s
Rambo and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s various monosyllabic head-bashers. Taken
collectively, Dirty Harry, Magnum Force, The Enforcer, Sudden Impact and The
Dead Pool represent one of the more enduring anti-heroes of the past two
decades; as stand-alone films, of course, they are of various quality.
The best
of the bunch, the original finds Callahan on the heels of a man known only as
the “Scorpio Killer,” while The Enforcer, co-starring Tyne Daly, wrings a few
drops of contemporary intrigue with its focus on murderous political
extortionists. Available individually or as a complete boxed set, Warner Bros.’ The Dirty Harry Collection features Callahan the way fans want him — in crisp new digital
transfers. Appropriately, the DVD extras are strongest with the original film
and trail off somewhat thereafter. Period behind-the-scenes documentaries for
the first three films are desperately unhip, but still kind of interesting,
particularly to frame the films within the context of the times. The easily
navigable Dirty Harry disc has a slick new half-hour retrospective on the
series analyzing the character and his place in the action genre, and there are
also interesting interviews with Hal Holbrook, Ted Post, the aforementioned
Schwarzenegger and Robert Ulrich, as well as a “memorable lines” section. Of
course no Dirty Harry retrospective would be complete without some thoughts
from the man who made everyone’s day by first uttering, “Make my day…,” and Eastwood
delivers, with comments about Harry’s long-barrelled vision of justice both fun
and well-reasoned.