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The Dirty Harry series
One man. One gun. One clear vision of right and wrong
First, I must apologize that this review will
be a brief synopsis of the entire set. Warner
Brothers sent screeners out very late -- only days
before sale to the general public. In order to
get this review up first, I did not get to spend as
much time as I would have liked watching each and
every movie in its entirety. Still, my review will
give you a very good idea as to the quality of this
collection.
It's amazing that it took Warner Brothers 4 years
to release this collection to DVD. After all, the
Dirty Harry franchise was huge success for
Warner Brothers between the years 1971-1988. Though
the films varied in individual success, some of the
most memorable lines in movie history came from these
films, including "Do you feel lucky, punk?" and
"Make My Day". This was the series that fans have been
patiently waiting for, and its an honor to finally
have this set in hand.
The Dirty Harry Series is part of the Clint
Eastwood Collection. Enclosed in a rather handsome
sturdy box is the 5 individual DVDs. Each DVD contains
the original poster art for that title.
When I first popped in Dirty Harry, I became
quite concerned. The opening sequence is not in
great shape. There is excessive grain and film wear.
This continues through the entire opening credits
with Harry Callahan (Eastwood) walking on a San
Francisco rooftop, and it makes you wonder how bad
the rest of this film is going to look.
Fortunately, as soon as the title sequence ends,
the film looks pretty decent. The picture is no
longer plagued by worn film elements, and instead,
we are treated to a very sharp and colorfully vivid
transfer with a very strong 2-channel soundtrack.
This is the very first time I have seen this
film in its proper widescreen presentation. One of
the advantages to seeing this film widescreen is that
in the Pan & Scan version you never got to see the
little "in" joke that I just discovered. Around the
corner from the bank that gets robbed, is a movie
theater marquee displaying "Play Misty For Me". It
appears on the right side of the screen, and probably
has been lost in all previous P&S transfers.
And what about that famous bank scene? After all
these years it was great to watch Harry intercept a
robber while giving his famous .44 Magnum dialogue.
Certainly one of the most memorable scenes in film
history.
The SUPPLEMENTAL area contains some interesting
documentaries. First up is an original 1971 featurette,
"Dirty Harry's Way", which takes us to San
Francisco and a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the movie
being filmed. More interestingly, the featurette compares
cop movies of the 30's and 40's (with scenes featuring
Cagney and Bogart) with the Dirty Harry of the 70's.
The quality of the documentary is in pretty poor shape,
but nevertheless, it is worth the watch.
A new documentary, Dirty Harry: The Original, has
been produced exclusively for this new DVD. It's a
lengthy time capsule look at all the Dirty Harry films.
Hosted by Robert Urich, this documentary
features new interviews with the many film directors
and stars of all 5 Dirty Harry films, including
Hal Holbrook, Patricia Clarkson and Evan Kim.
Of course, we get to watch Mr. Eastwood himself talk
about his recollections of the series. There's also a surprise
interview in the documentary that I will not
spoil for you, other to say that it's a huge
actor whose career was influenced by Dirty Harry.
The documentary is well produced and you'll just
love the fact that a collage of scenes are shown
against the hip music of In a Gada Davida.
Well done!
Interview Gallery consists of 10 short snippets
of interviews from 10 actors/directors/writers who
worked on the various films. Actor Hal Holbrook
talks about being happy he's finally recognized in a
film. Writer John Milius talks about how he
obtained the original .44 Magnum. Director Ted Post
talks about his ideas about heroes.
The disc is rounded out with a less substantial roundup
of extras such as Behind The Scenes and
On Location that are merely a few pages of text
that give tidbits of information about where the key
scenes were filmed or facts like Paul Newman originally
turning down the role as Dirty Harry. Memorable
Lines will give you word-for-word, the famous
lines uttered in the Dirty Harry film. Finally, the
original Theatrical Trailer is featured.
====================
Released in 1973, Magnum Force finds itself
looking at vigilante cops who take it upon themselves
to use their own methods to rid the city of criminals.
Hoping that Harry Calahan will embrace their tactics
becomes their biggest mistake.
The overall transfer quality is a noticeable improvement
over the first DVD. Picture is very sharp, clean, and
colorfully vivid. Most noticeable improvement is
in the audio. This is the first of the remaining 4 DVD
titles to be remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1. The
result is quite amazing for a film that was never intended
to have a 5.1 mix. There is abundant usage of the
surrounds, most notably as ambiance effects in crowds.
But take a listen to the scene where Harry Callahan is
forced to fly a jet airliner. The audio is pretty
intensified for a film of that age. We hear the low-bass
rumble of the airplane emanating from the subwoofer. We
hear the rear surrounds come alive as the jet engines
rev up and pass from the back soundstage to the front.
Included on this disc is a supplemental documentary,
The Hero Cop: Yesterday and Today, an
original promotional film from 1973 that uses newsreel
footage to compare law enforcement of the 1930s to the
law enforcement of the 70's. There are quite a few
behind-the-scenes shots of key sequences from this film
being shot, including the department store stakeout.
The documentary is in much better shape than the
original documentary shown on the Dirty Harry DVD.
Also included is a Theatrical Trailer and
the same On Location, Behind The Scenes and
Memorable Lines text features that I described
in the original Dirty Harry DVD.
====================
The Enforcer became the third film of the
Dirty Harry franchise, released in 1976. Teamed
with his first female partner, Tyne Daly
(I can't belive how cute she looked back then), Harry
takes on political extortionists.
The transfer quality is on par with the other DVDs
I have reviewed thus far. Transfer quality goes
from very good to excellent. I can't understand,
however, why this DVD shows another example of a
decent transfer except for the title sequence where
there is an abundant amount of film dirt and wear
present in the print. Otherwise, scenes like the
liquor store robbery near the beginning of the film
show off the overall clean clarity of the transfer.
Darker scenes, like ammunition being unloaded in a
warehouse, show excessive grain in the transfer.
Again, the new remastered 5.1 Digital Mix actively
uses surrounds for rear ambiance effects.
The Supplementals include another original
Harry Callahan documentary from that period that
shows the making of The Enforcer. Also
included: a Theatrical Trailer and
the same On Location, Behind The Scenes and
Memorable Lines text features that I described
in the prior Dirty Harry DVDs.
====================
Seven years have passed since the last Dirty Harry
film. Clint was releasing some of his most memorable
films of that period (Any Which Way but Loose,
Escape From Alcatraz, Firefox). It came to no
surprise that Eastwood eventually reprised his role
of Dirty Harry in 1983's Sudden Impact, that
involved itself with a vicious serial-killer on
the loose in San Francisco. This was the film that
made "Go ahead, Make My Day" the most repeated quote
of the decade (and decades to come).
The first inclination I had after peeking at all the
'Harry' films in order, is that Sudden Impact
has a far more modernized look of 80's filmmaking.
The sound is more robust, but unfortunately, the film
becomes more tired. Transfer is very good, particularly
with the many night scenes that make up this film.
For the first time, you notice that the excessive grain
is gone from these dark scenes resulting in smoother
detail.
The 5.1 Digital mix is extremely active with the
sound of bullets emanating from all directions.
Bass response was also more noticeable on this DVD
than with the others.
There is no included featurette in the Supplemental
area, but there is the usual Theatrical Trailer
as well as On Location, Behind The Scenes and
Memorable Lines text features that I described
in the prior Dirty Harry DVDs.
=====================
It didn't take more than two years for the
grey-haired Eastwood to return in The Dead Pool.
Harry Callahan must stop a sick secret contest to
murder local celebrities, which includes himself as
a target. This film features one of the very earliest
roles for Liam Neeson who plays a macabre film
Producer/Director.
This film would become the last of the Dirty Harry
series.
The transfer quality is on par with Sudden Impact.
Overall transfer quality is very good, with the night
scenes looking less grainy than the first three films.
The 5.1 mix is also average, with what I felt to be a
more subdued, less usage of the surrounds on this title.
There is no included featurette in the Supplemental
area, but there is the usual Theatrical Trailer
as well as On Location, Behind The Scenes and
Memorable Lines text features that I described
in the prior Dirty Harry DVDs.
Final Thoughts
Overall, this is the definitive package for Eastwood
fans. The transfers are quite good, and there is
extensive bonus features presented when available.
Put this one on your Christmas list!
------------------
Ronald Epstein (pronounced like the English "Ronald Epstein")
Circa 2000
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