Dirty Harry: The Ultimate Collection Blu-ray offers solid video and mediocre audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
This box set includes 'Dirty Harry', 'Magnum Force', 'The Enforcer', 'Sudden Impact' and 'The
Dead Pool'.
For more about Dirty Harry: The Ultimate Collection and the Dirty Harry: The Ultimate Collection Blu-ray release, see the Dirty Harry: The Ultimate Collection Blu-ray Review published by Sir Terrence on August 6, 2008 where this Blu-ray release scored 4.0 out of 5.
DigiBook
Warner Bros. | 1971 | 102 min | Rated R | Region free
| Jun 03, 2008
Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) is a tough, streetwise San Francisco police detective well known for his vicious take-no-prisoners attitude toward criminals. With the city of San Francisco being terrorized by the psychotic killer...
The Dirty Harry Collection
Warner Bros. | 1973 | 124 min | Rated R | Region A (B, C untested) | No Release Date
Mysterious murders of underworld figures are taking place all over San Francisco. Criminals who have escaped prosecution are getting the justice they deserve, the sort of justice you'd think Detective Harry Callahan would...
The Dirty Harry Collection
Warner Bros. | 1976 | 97 min | Rated R | Region A (B, C untested) | No Release Date
When Detective Harry Callahan stops a liquor store hostage standoff in his own no-nonsense way, he gets busted back to personnel. But not for long. When terrorists rob an arms warehouse and go on a bloody extortion spree, San...
The Dirty Harry Collection
Warner Bros. | 1983 | 117 min | Rated R | Region A (B, C untested) | No Release Date
Sensitive to outcries of police brutality, the superiors of San Francisco Detective Harry Callahan have sent him on an out-of-town assignment until things cool down. But wherever Harry goes, things just get hotter. Clint Eastwood...
The Dirty Harry Collection
Warner Bros. | 1988 | 91 min | Rated R | Region A (B, C untested) | No Release Date
Fame isn't San Francisco Detective Harry Callahan's style. He'd rather not be lumped in with a rocker, a film critic and a talk-show host. They're slain celebrities named in a mysterious betting pool. And Harry just joined the...
I must admit, I could not picture anyone but Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry. He fits this
role like a tailored glove snug over a hand. I was doing the research for this review, I was
surprised to find that Clint was not the original choice for this part. The role was written with
Frank Sinatra in mind, something I just could not imagine him doing in a thousand years. Frank
Sinatra turned down the role because of a broken wrist he had ten years before prevented him
from holding the handgun that was required in the film. It was also rumored that his father's
death prompted him to find less demanding roles. In spite of that, the November 9th 1970 Box
Office magazine touted the movie with Sinatra in the lead role. The original script was set out of
New York City instead of San Francisco, and was supposed to end with a police sniper taking out
Scorpio instead of Harry. One of the conditions for Eastwood accepting the role, was the change
in location from New York City to San Francisco. John Wayne was also considered for the role,
but was not offered the role because of his age. Marlon Brando was also considered, but nothing
came of that. Antagonist Scorpio character was based on a real life serial killer, the Zodiac killer
who was terrorizing the Bay Area at the time. Magnum Force garnered a lot of
negative publicity for inspiring the infamous Hi Fi Murders, based on the scene with the prostitute
being murdered by forcing her to drink Drano. This also the first time that Harry lost his
signature 44 Magnum revolver. He had to surrender it to his boss. The Enforcer
started out as "Moving Target" which was changed to "Dirty Harry III" and then to "The
Enforcer". It was supposed to be the last movie within a Dirty Harry trilogy, but a poll conducted
by Warner led to another installment of the series. The militant groups highlighted in the movie
are based on two real life militant groups The Symbionese Liberation Army (of Patty Hearst fame)
and the Black Panther Party. Sudden Impact was directed by Clint Eastwood himself,
and is best known for the famous line "Go ahead, make my day". In 2005, the line was voted as
the sixth most memorable line in cinema history by the American Film Institute. This movie
along with Magnum Force was also considered the dirtiest most violent films of the series. This is
also the second time Harry loses his gun, this time after being beat up on the boardwalk by Mick
and his gang. Quite a few scenes in this film were shot in Santa Cruz, a sleepy little beach town
on the California coast. Downtown Santa Cruz where a memorable chase scene occurred was
later destroyed by the Loma Prieta earthquake, which occurred on October 17, 1989 at
approximately 5:04pm. This film was also the highest grossing of the series raking in more than
sixty seven million dollars by the end of its run. The Dead Pool is the fifth and last set
of the Dirty Harry film series, and reaction to it was mixed. It was dismissed as formula driven,
while Roger Ebert gave it three and a half stars out of four, stating it was as good as the first film.
It is now considered as a cult classic by Dirty Harry fans. The movie was one of Jim Carrey's first
film roles, and the 1980's band Guns N'Roses makes a cameo appearance at the funeral of
Johnny Squares.
When I looked at the entire Dirty Harry film series, I see static but stalwart Harry with
characters, set pieces and backgrounds changing, but not much else, which creates a signature
formula that overall works.
Dirty Harry 1971 (102 minutes)
Director Don Siegel first introduces us to SFPD Inspector Harry Callahan in the movie Dirty Harry
made in 1971. He is a cop that is not quite rogue, but doesn't actually follow the rules either.
He has no time for rules that impede him from capturing criminals and street thugs, and either
taking them down, or putting them behind bars. Harry main task in Dirty Harry is to track down
a serial killer by the name of Scorpio, but he has to deal with robbers and criminals of whom he
handles by a shoot first, ask questions later policy. Based loosely on the Zodiac killer that
haunted San Francisco at the time, Scorpio is a killer that taunts the public and the police alike,
killing randomly, but choosing victims that create controversy as well as fear. Harry is determined
to bring Scorpio to justice, and does not mind breaking every rule in the book to do it. The
problem with this approach is that criminals are usually released on technicalities, which prevents
Harry from getting his satisfaction. In the end not even technicalities can prevent Harry from
getting his brand of justice.
Magnum Force 1973 (124 minutes)
Dirty Harry Callahan returns two years later in Magnum Force directed by Ted post. Harry is
working in surveillance where he runs into a series of killings that lead him to believe that a
policeman is involved. He meets four young recruits who look up to him as a hero of sorts, and
have taken up Harry's rogue behavior. They execute criminals who have escape conviction in
court. While Harry has his unique way of dispensing justice, he does not take kindly to the cold
blooded killings the cops are committing, and is resolved in stopping the acts any way he can.
The Enforcer 1976 (96 minutes)
Three years have passed since Dirty Harry last episode, and Harry is very unhappy with being
straddled with a new partner that just happens to be female. He also continues to battle with his
own irritated supervisors, frustrated by Harry's unethical way of dealing with criminals, and the
cost of his antics. As usual, Harry deals with criminals in his own way, shooting them up, and
taking no prisoners in the process. Harry and his partner Kate are tracking a very violent set of
criminals in the form of The Peoples Revolutionary Strike Force. They kidnap the Mayor, and take
him to their hideout on Alcatraz Island, where Harry has to deal them his unique brand of justice.
Sudden Impact 1983 (117 minutes)
It has now been twelve years since aging Harry beat down Scorpio, a group of rogue cops, The
Peoples Revolutionary Strike Force, and now has to deal with another mysterious killer. Harry is
still angering his bosses with his antics, but he almost seems tame and less angry compared to
his previous movies. Harry runs across a young woman Jennifer, who was gang raped and is
determine to get revenge on her attackers. Harry and Jennifer begin to have a relationship. As
usual Harry kills up every crooked thing in sight, which angers his bosses to no end, and prompt
them to re-assign him to get him out of the city. Harry is off to the city of San Paulo where he
pisses off the local Sheriff doing the same things he did in San Francisco. When Jennifer finds
herself kidnapped in San Paulo, Harry comes to her rescue, which means dead bodies
everywhere. The Dead Pool 1988 (91 minutes)
In the final film of the Dirty Harry series, Harry discovers a game called the Dead Pool, a game
where people bet on when celebrities will die. The game is eventually rigged when a killer begins
killing certain celebrities. Once again Harry has a new partner, thirteen thousand dollars in
damages to a squad car, angry bosses, and a new addition, a female reporter and love interest
who wants an exclusive story of Harry. As the murders continue, Harry finds that he and his
partner are part of the game as someone in an unmarked cop attempts to kill him and his
partner. Once again Harry has to take things into his own hands and end this murder spree.
This usually means lots of gunshots, knives, and a harpoon in this case.
All five Dirty Harry movies are encoded in 1080p, and are presented in VC-1 at a measured 2:35:1
aspect ratio. The only exception to the widescreen aspect ratio is Dead Pool which is framed at a
measured 1:85:1. Quite frankly all of the titles look fantastic, with Dirty Harry and Magnum Force
looking terrific, but with some warts. I saw some occasional cases of dirt and speckles, the dirt was
easy to spot, the speckles I had to look hard to find. Black levels are deep and solid, colors nicely
saturated, and flesh tones dead on accurate. Magnum Force looks as good as Dirty Harry, but it
appears it was shot with a softer focus. It is shot so soft, that it appears to have less resolution
(which may not be the case) than the other titles in this series. Colors do not appear as saturated
as they did for Dirty Harry, but are nevertheless quite pleasing to the eye. The Enforcer brings
quality video back into the picture, and the quality remains consistant through Sudden Impact and
The Dead Pool. Detail is excellent on these three, black levels solid, which gives great visual depth
to the picture. Warner has done a terrific job restoring and remastering this series, and should be
commended on their efforts.
The audio on the Dirty Harry film series comes in several auditory flavors. Each title includes an
English 5.1 TrueHD track; English Dolby Digital 5.1 at 448kbps, Japanese 1.0 at, Portuguese 1.0
Dolby Digital soundtracks at 192kbps. I chose to listen to the Dolby TrueHD and the DD 5.1 tracks.
Just like the video, the sound quality improves as the series progresses. However all of the titles
exhibit a front heavy soundstage with almost no surround support whatsoever. When the
surrounds are engaged during chase or action scenes, they are too low to be effective. Dialog was
always clear, but at times it suffers from poor integration with the visual environment. As a result
dialog sounds occasionally manufactured instead of natural. Panning and localization is excellent in
the frontal hemisphere, but does not extended rearward. In the first four movies, the LFE is
underutilized, but that changes somewhat on The Dead Pool. All of the soundtracks lack soundfield
cohesion, and that is made worse on the Dolby Digital 5.1 track, which sounds splintered and
skewed towards extreme localization.
As to be expected, this collector's edition is packed with tons of extras; enough to keep you busy
watching for hours. The breakdown is as follows; Dirty Harry (234 minutes total time)
Audio commentary by Richard Schickel
Featurettes: "The Long Shadow of Dirty Harry," "Dirty Harry: The Original," "Dirty Harry's Way"
Interview Gallery (includes interviews with Patricia Clarkson, Joel Cox, Clint Eastwood, Hal
Holbrook, Evan Kim, John Milius, Ted Post, Andy Robinson, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Robert
Urich)
1993 TV Special: "Clint Eastwood: The Man from Malpaso"
Trailer gallery Magnum Force (32 minutes total time)
Audio commentary by writer John Milius
Featurette: "A Moral Right: The Politics of Dirty Harry"
"The Hero Cop: Yesterday and Today"
Trailer gallery The Enforcer (36 minutes total time)
Audio commentary by director James Fargo
Featurettes: "The Business End: Violence in Cinema," "Harry Callahan/Clint Eastwood:
Something Special in Films"
Trailer gallery Sudden Impact (25 minutes total time)
Audio commentary by renowned film critic Richard Schickel
Featurette: "The Evolution of Clint Eastwood"
Trailer gallery The Dead Pool (21 minutes total time)
Audio commentary by producer David Valdes and Cinematographer Jack N. Green
Featurette: "The Craft of Dirty Harry"
Trailer gallery Box Set Exclusives
Bonus documentary: "Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows"
40+ page hardcover book
Wallet w/metal badge and removable laminated I.D. card
Five 5"x 7" Reproduction Lobby Poster Cards plus an exclusive UCE card
Scorpio Portrait of a Killer Poster-Sized (19" x 27") map of San Francisco detailing Harry's hunt for
the killer
Never-Before-Seen Production Correspondence
I must admit, I was never a fan of the Dirty Harry movies. I was too young when the first two
came out to watch them. As I got older, I found Dirty Harry movies too violent for my taste, until
now. After seeing the entire series, Dirty Harry just won a new fan. I loved all of the movies in the
set, some more than others, but all were entertaining nonetheless. I was also impressed at the
quality of the images I saw, which were excellent for the age of the films. Being a part time
resident of the bay area, I was also surprised how much the city of San Francisco has "grown up",
and how many landmarks on Market street are still there after all of these years. I highly
recommend this collectors edition to any and all Dirty Harry fan's out there, and those who are not
fans as well. Whew!
Amazon's Blu-ray Deal of the Week has the Dirty Harry Collection discounted to $28.99 or 55% off its $64.98 SRP. The 5 film set contains Blu-rays of the Clint Eastwood classics Dirty Harry, Magnum Force, The Enforcer, Sudden Impact and The Dead Pool.
Warner Home Video has announced that they will bring the 'Dirty Harry Collection' to Blu-ray on February 16th. Originally only available as the 'Dirty Harry: The Ultimate Collector's Edition' box set, this five-disc set will feature all five Dirty Harry films in ...
In day four of its "Movie Collections Week", Amazon is offering today 'Dirty Harry: Ultimate Collector's Edition', which only today can be bought on Blu-ray for $56.99, which works out at an average of $11.4 per movie. It might be noted that all deals of the day ...
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