Actor-Director Clint Eastwood is known for his appearance in a number of Spaghetti Westerns, including the Dollars trilogy as the Man with No Name. After this, Eastwood moved on to work on the antihero cop series Dirty Harry, playing the role of Harry Callahan who must use his methods to bring criminals to justice. Eastwood’s long career, working on over 50 films as actor, director and producer, has earned him four Academy Awards, four Golden Globes and even an American Film Institute Life Achievement Award.
The Dirty Harry franchise follows character Harry “Dirty Harry” Callahan, a homicide detective whose methods of policing are not only unorthodox, but his regular use of excessive force often gets him into trouble with his superiors. The series began in 1971 and didn’t wrap until the release of The Dead Pool in 1988. With a total of five films in the series, not all of them are bound to be winners, but how can we figure out which films are better than others? Here's where every Dirty Harry movie ranks.
5 The Dead Pool
Not to be confused with Marvel’s Deadpool starring Ryan Reynolds, The Dead Pool is the final installation in the series and at the bottom of the list. Dirty Harry makes his return after a successful conviction of a mob boss when Peter Swan, a horror filmmaker, develops a “dead pool" betting on celebrity deaths, and a serial killer begins to target those on the list, including himself. The Dead Pool featured a number of young, up-and-coming actors of the time, including Liam Neeson and Jim Carrey. The film was met with mixed reviews, with many feeling it to be the weakest in the series. As a result, The Dead Pool was the least profitable of the franchise. While many wondered if there would be any more additions to the series, Eastwood joked about a possible sequel, leaving the series to end with The Dead Pool.
4 Sudden Impact
While Harry Callahan is on a mandatory vacation for his violent approach to his police-work, he is curious about the murders happening around him. He takes a special interest in the case of Jennifer Spencer who was gang-raped ten years prior and now seeks justice for the unpunished crime by killing off her rapists one by one. As Jennifer and Harry build a relationship, Harry is forced to make a decision when Jennifer’s life is in danger once again. Sudden Impact was met with a great deal of commercial success, considering it’s the fourth installment in the series. The film is notorious for Eastwood’s catchphrase “Go ahead, make my day”, a slogan which Ronald Reagan used in a speech threatening to veto a legislation raising taxes.
3 Magnum Force
When a group of vigilantes starts executing criminals who’ve evaded punishment for their crimes, Harry Callahan believes they are taking things too far. Going against the orders of his C.O. Lt. Briggs, Dirty Harry investigates the gang, suspecting a cop to be behind the killings, his primary suspect being his ex-partner Charlie McCoy. The second installation in the series, Magnum Force launched a number of careers into stardom including David Soul, Robert Urich and Tim Matheson. Magnum Force was subject to a great deal of controversy over a specific scene where a prostitute is killed with drain cleaner that is said to have inspired the Hi-Fi murders, but the killers insisted they hadn’t seen the movie and if they had then they would’ve chosen a different method to murder.
2 The Enforcer
The Enforcer is the third film in the series and follows Dirty Harry after taken out of the homicide division after the use of excessive force. When the terrorist group The People’s Revolutionary Strike Force kidnaps the mayor and steals rockets, Harry and his new partner Kate Moore must do everything in their power to bring the terrorists to justice. While the film was criticized for creating “cartoony” antagonists, Tyne Daly was praised for her performance in the film. She’s not merely a female sidekick, but proves to be a worthy heroine, strong enough to face even the toughest of challenges. The Enforcer was the most commercially successful film of the franchise, grossing over 46 million USD.
1 Dirty Harry
The first in the series of films, the one that started it all is Dirty Harry. Cop Harry Callahan hopes to track down rooftop killer before the girl he’s kidnapped dies. When Harry finds the killer, he puts him back on the streets. The killer hijacks a school bus and Harry must go after him once more, knowing the only way to put a stop to the killer is to kill him. This begins the journey of Harry and shows him living up to his name. The film drew upon the actual cases of the Zodiac Killer, modeling the psychopath in the film after the real-life killer. The film was met with a great deal of praise, but was also met with a great deal of controversy, leading to a line of protestors at the Academy Awards calling Dirty Harry a “fascist pig”. Dirty Harry was also said to have inspired the real-life crime of the Faraday School kidnapping in which six children and a teacher were kidnapped in Australia.