Dirty Harry

1971

102 mins

Directed by Don Siegel
89%
90%
Action
Thriller

Clint Eastwood is Dirty Harry, a Magnum-wielding take-no-prisoners San Francisco cop, in this 1971 crime classic. The American Film Institute... More

Clint Eastwood is Dirty Harry, a Magnum-wielding take-no-prisoners San Francisco cop, in this 1971 crime classic. The American Film Institute voted the character the 17th greatest movie hero ever, and the line "You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky? Well, do you ya, punk?'" the 51st best movie quote. There are four Dirty Harry sequels: Magnum Force (1973), The Enforcer (1976), Sudden Impact (1983) and The Dead Pool (1988).

Detective Harry Callahan is determined to bring in hippie-esque psycho killer Scorpio (Andy Robinson), even if he's got to break some rules in the process. Racing against a deadline to save a kidnap victim from suffocating to death and unbothered by the niceties of Miranda rights and search warrants, Callahan brings in Scorpio, only to see him released on technicalities. "The law's crazy," opines Harry in disgust, before taking it upon himself to ensure that Scorpio doesn't kill again."

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Dirty Harry | Ratings & Reviews

89_%54 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes® rating
90_%77,114 reviews
Audience score rating

"Clint Eastwood, in the title role, is a superhero whose antics become almost satire. Strip away the philosophical garbage and all that's left is a well-made but shallow running-and-jumping meller."

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Variety

"It's a bleak, uncompromising vision, executed with unsettling realism and imbued with an insidious aura of grime."

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Total Film

"What makes Dirty Harry worth watching no matter how dumb the story, is Siegel's superb sense of the city, not as a place of moods but as a theater for action."

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The New York Times

"If there aren't mentalities like Dirty Harry's at loose in the land, then the movie is irrelevant. If there are, we should not blame the bearer of the bad news."

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Roger Ebert

"Eastwood's Harry is iconic for a reason - he's a stunning example of ruthless machismo and armed cool. What's more, quotable lines aside, this remains one of the better cop movies out there."

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