From the moment it opens, showcasing a nocturnal San Francisco skyline through a magnificent aerial point of view, I knew I would be disappointed with the fourth film in the "Dirty Harry" franchise. Full disclosure: The first "Dirty Harry" film is one of my personal favorites. I consider it a masterpiece, from every shot, line of dialogue and musical cue. And it's the musical score in "Sudden Impact" that first led me astray. With its tacky 80s sound, the music during the opening credits made me realize how much I missed the proto acid-jazz sounds of the first film. I was shocked to discover that it was the same man, Lalo Schifrin (who did great music for another San Francisco cop drama "Bullitt"), who did the music for both films. I should also add that this is the only "Dirty Harry" sequel that I have seen, and after watching this one, I'm in no hurry to pursue the others in an effort to keep my love for the original alive.
"Sudden Impact" features an older and grumpier Inspector Harry Callahan still serving his swift brand of justice on the mean streets of the city by the bay. After giving an aging mobster a heart attack (a cameo from "The Godfather Part II"'s Michael V. Gazzo), Callahan finds himself constantly in the line of fire. "People have a nasty habit of getting dead around you," a superior officer tells him. To lose the heat, Eastwood is soon sent to a small coastal town to get background information on a previous homicide investigation he was working on in the city. Right as he rolls into town, Callahan proves his bosses' statement correct by driving past a robbery in progress in this sleepy little town.
It was at this moment that I completely gave up on the film. It's simply filled with way too many over-the-top moments and a corny sense of humor which don't bode well with its main storyline of a rape victim taking revenge on her perpetrators years later. Because of these two opposing moods, the film feels like it takes forever to get started, derailed by one action scene too many. I wasn't surprised to learn after the fact that the film was originally conceived as a vehicle for Eastwood's then girlfriend and collaborator Sondra Locke, and was only modeled into a "Dirty Harry" film after Warner Brothers responded to a fan poll that expressed interest in bringing back the series. If it were cut by about twenty minutes, the movie might be considerably better.
"Sudden Impact"'s only contribution to cinema is the famous line, "Go ahead ... make my day," delivered by Eastwood near the start of the film when confronting a robber holding a waitress hostage. The scene is familiar but it doesn't undermine the power of Eastwood's delivery, an iconic moment in an otherwise dull film. The line is delivered again during the film's climax to a similar effect. In fact, the whole climatic showdown and final set piece are very well done and almost redeem all that has come before it. However, the impact is tainted after wasting so much time on previous shenanigans and off the wall coincidences.
"Sudden Impact" features an older and grumpier Inspector Harry Callahan still serving his swift brand of justice on the mean streets of the city by the bay. After giving an aging mobster a heart attack (a cameo from "The Godfather Part II"'s Michael V. Gazzo), Callahan finds himself constantly in the line of fire. "People have a nasty habit of getting dead around you," a superior officer tells him. To lose the heat, Eastwood is soon sent to a small coastal town to get background information on a previous homicide investigation he was working on in the city. Right as he rolls into town, Callahan proves his bosses' statement correct by driving past a robbery in progress in this sleepy little town.
It was at this moment that I completely gave up on the film. It's simply filled with way too many over-the-top moments and a corny sense of humor which don't bode well with its main storyline of a rape victim taking revenge on her perpetrators years later. Because of these two opposing moods, the film feels like it takes forever to get started, derailed by one action scene too many. I wasn't surprised to learn after the fact that the film was originally conceived as a vehicle for Eastwood's then girlfriend and collaborator Sondra Locke, and was only modeled into a "Dirty Harry" film after Warner Brothers responded to a fan poll that expressed interest in bringing back the series. If it were cut by about twenty minutes, the movie might be considerably better.
"Sudden Impact"'s only contribution to cinema is the famous line, "Go ahead ... make my day," delivered by Eastwood near the start of the film when confronting a robber holding a waitress hostage. The scene is familiar but it doesn't undermine the power of Eastwood's delivery, an iconic moment in an otherwise dull film. The line is delivered again during the film's climax to a similar effect. In fact, the whole climatic showdown and final set piece are very well done and almost redeem all that has come before it. However, the impact is tainted after wasting so much time on previous shenanigans and off the wall coincidences.