Sudden Impact

Harry Callahan: “We’re not just going to let you walk out of here."
robber: “Who is 'we', sucker?"
Harry Callahan: “Smith...and Wesson...and me."

release year: 1983
genre: cop action
viewing setting: home DVD, 4/13/19 and 4/11/11 and 2/13/04

synopsis: Dirty Harry goes after someone who's executing seemingly random victims with two shots: one to the head, one to the crotch.

impressions: Pretty good despite the presence of an actress I can't stand. This was the one that saw the first actual use of "Go ahead...make my day." The plot involves a woman who was gang-raped, along with her little sister, ten years ago. Now the sister's a vegetable and the woman's got a gun and no remorse. Once again, Harry Callahan is put against someone who's actually doing the right thing, but who he's still supposed to arrest according to the law - the same law that usually puts the guilty back out on the street to commit more crime. This was the movie with the "Go ahead...make my day" line.

Harry's kill count: 15 (one by causing a heart attack!)

acting: Clint Eastwood is top-notch, especially with his defiance of the idiots who run his police department. Sondra Locke, though I dislike her, did a good job as a woman forced to become tough and heartless. Nick Dimitri, who played Charles Bronson's final opponent in Hard Times) is one of the assassins here.

final word: Good series entry with a disturbing plot.

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