Sudden Impact: Deluxe Edition (DVD)

SUDDEN IMPACT is the fourth of the five "Dirty Harry" movies released between 1971 and 1988. In many ways it is the most-action packed and the quotable, giving birth to the immortal line, "Go ahead -- make my day!" But it would be wrong to reduce this movie to a single quote or take it as a simple Clint Eastwood vigilante shoot-'em-up. This is dark territory indeed.IMPACT opens with a couple making love in the back of the car by San Fransisco Bay. In the midst of the lovemaking, the woman, whose face is unseen, executes the man with a pistol hidden in her purse. The close-up of her haunted, enamel-blue eyes tells us that this is more than a robbery or a professional murder: she is either crazy or driven by some deeper, all-consuming purpose. Naturally, homicide expert Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan (Eastwood) draws the case, but he's got his hands full dealing with diner hold-ups, a snotty drug-dealer with a taste for Molotov cocktails (the ubiquitous Kevin Major Howard), and Mafia goons looking to avenge Harry's treatment of their boss (Michael Gazzo of "Godfather" fame). So many corpses stack up around Harry that his exasperated boss (the wonderfully smarmy Bradford Dilman) banishes him to a small coastal NorCal town to "take a vacation," but no sooner does Harry arrive there than he busts up a bank robbery, which does not endear him to ferocious police chief Jannings (the familiar Pat Hingle). Not long after settling into town, he meets mysterious artist Jennifer Spencer (who else but Sondra Locke), and gets embroiled, against Chief Jennings' will, in the investigation of a series of brutal execution-style murders that match the M.O. of the Bay murder seen at the opening of the film. Harry soon realizes the victims are all related to each other in some way, and that the killer is no random psycho but a person exacting vengeance for some long-ago wrong. Trying to get to the bottom of this mystery stirs up the psychopathic Mickey (Paul Drake, in a terrifyingly scummy performance), who is part of the "gang" now being picked off and has zero intention of being the next victim. What's more, Harry is put in the position -- somewhat similar to that in MAGNUM FORCE -- of having to hunt down a vigilante whose motives are not only sympathetic, but (unlike MAGNUM FORCE), deeply personal.As I said above, SUDDEN IMPACT has more action than just about any D.H. film, with one gun battle or murder sequence following another from beginning to end, and yet the mood of the film is decidedly not that of an action movie. The brooding score and cinematography, the eerie flashbacks, the haunted eyes of the vigilante, and even the increasing uncertainty of Harry himself as to how to ultimately resolve the case strike me as pure, if extremely dark, drama. Make no mistake, this is a vicious movie, with several grisly executions (including one of a guy I sort of felt sorry for) and a brutal rape sequence -- hell, even Harry's DOG takes a beating! -- but it is definitely of a different cut (caliber?) than some of the more surface-shallow D.H. films like THE ENFORCER and THE DEAD POOL. For starters, the script is on a higher level than any of the series' entries since MAGNUM FORCE, and no, I'm not just referring to the verbal frosting, i.e. "Make my day!" or "I'll come back later when you're less bereaved." The Harry Callahan shown here, though as tough and dangerous as ever, is aging and increasingly world-weary and conflicted, as evidence by this interplay in the movie's early going:COP: Don't tell me this ----'s getting to you. Not Harry Callahan. Say it ain't so.CALLAHAN: No, this stuff isn't getting to me. The shootings, the knifings, the beatings. Old ladies being bashed in the head for their Social Security checks.Teachers thrown from fourth floor windows because they don't give A's. That doesn't bother me a bit. Or this job either, having to wade through the scum of this city. Being swept away by bigger and bigger waves of corruption, apathy and red tape...I'm talking about having our fingers in the holes while the whole damn dyke crumbles around us.IMPACT is not my favorite D.H. film (that honor would go to MAGNUM FORCE), and in many ways it is not even a "fun" movie to watch. The subject matter is too ugly, the killings too brutal, the overall tone too dark for it to be really enjoyable. And some of the "gang" (especially Audrie Neenan as Ray Parkins) are so disgusting it's almost as if they did their jobs too well -- you want to shower after they leave a scene. But it is precisely because of this that IMPACT has so much, well, impact. This is a movie about the ugliest parts of human nature, and it flinches about as much as Harry Callahan himself -- which is to say, not at all.

This review is not about the movie itself but the product on this page as advertised by the seller. It is FALSE ADVERTISING. These ‘Deluxe Edition’ DVDs are supposed to come with a special “bullet hole” sleeve (as clearly advertised in the picture on this page). I have all four other Dirty Harry movie in these ‘Deluxe Editions’ and they all have the special “bullet hole” sleeves. When I received this DVD it did NOT come in the unique “bullet hole” sleeve as advertised by the seller. Buyer beware, this seller is trying to pawn off a product they are deceptively advertising. False advertising always gets a one-star rating from me, no matter the nature or condition of the product delivered.

Well I am a sucker for ole Clint Eastwood movies and this one did not disappoint. If you can get past the low production value for films at the time, it is typical vintage Clint Eastwood and well worth the watch.

This Dirty Harry film was the 4th in the series of Dirty Harry which includes 5 films. It was produced and directed by Clint Eastwood whom also is the lead character, Detective Dirty Harry Callahan. This film was a little bit darker and more intense than the three films that lead up to it. It had a powerful leading lady role model: Sondra Locke. Her character was a little bit passive, demure, and completely brainwashed from the trauma of being gang raped as a teenager along side her little sister. The film techniques employed by Eastwood to portray her trauma were very sophisticated, a bit more so than what is seen in contemporary filmmaking. The darkness of her bondage to the trauma is counterbalanced by her dedication to the fine arts...but ten years after the sex crime was committed against her, she begins murdering the perpetrators one by one to avenge herself, and her sister, who has become a ward of the state of California. This film had some of the Dirty Harry staples but not in a way that made me feel disengaged or irked. Highly recommend.

My grandkids were over and we decided to watch a Dirty Harry type movie. We all enjoyed the movie. The movie is a little long.

Rogue SFPD Inspector #71, 'Dirty' Harry Callahan himself, returns in this somewhat ineffective entry in the popular action series.When Harry's harsh questioning gives an eldery mafioso a heart attack, the hitmen come gunning for revenge. Thankfully there is a murder case the brass can send Harry out of town to investigate. Too bad it shapes up to be a serial murder case linked to a small town's dark secret.Sudden Impact turns Dirty Harry into even more of a fish out of water by sending him to 'San Paulo' (which Northern California residents will recognize as Santa Cruz) to dispatch criminals. Malpaso regular Pat Hingle does a real nice turn as the small town Sheriff gnashing his teeth over Callahan's intrusive digging to find the nasty clues linking the killings, but Sondra Locke is wooden as the killer turned love interest. Though the film is filled with action and humor, visually stylish, and graced with another fine score by Lalo Schifrin, the script by Joseph C. Stinson is incredibly weak. Sure it has some classic dialogue, but the storyline is shoddy and Harry's character behaves in a manner not consistant with the personality established in the first three films. Only Eastwood's strong performance both as Harry and as director of the movie (I hesitate to call his bloody confection a 'film') save this from getting three stars. Recommended for fans only.

I have always liked his Dirty Harry movies. I saw them when they first came out and love to watch them again, and again.

OK Dirty Harry movie known mainly for Clint's line, " Go ahead, make my day".

I found this film very odd, there were moments that i liked but then it was tarnished by something like some unrealistic reaction or corny catchphrase that the film-makers have decided to bring in way to late for Harry. Rather than seeming like a bit of a dinosaur at times but tough and bad ass, Harry literally comes across as outdated in this movie; even with the villain being less of a villain than the terrorists and kidnappers of the previous movies. I guess it could be argued to be a harp back to the first Dirty Harry movie with one psychopathic bad guy, however the female in this film is much less gripping or involving, or randomly insane. Instead they try to create and force an ounce of sympathy for her for a variety of reasons creating an overall unbelievable character.

Sudden Impact tends to be treated as Eastwood's artistic failure at a point in his career when he had established a good reputation as a director. The reason is actually not the film itself but the attitude it takes towards vigilantism which it seems to support. In some places it actually owes more to Death Wish than the original Dirty Harry film. One might argue if that is so- at the end of the day it's a film about guilt, justice and retribution. For me, at the end of the day it's more empathy than sympathy. However, in view of all these arguments it is easily overlooked that sudden impact is an awfully well made film. Forget the "Go ahead punk, make my day scene", that's iconic but not original. But look at the views of San Fransisco taken from the air, zooming in on the city. The first 15 or 20 minutes are quite spectacular. Or have a look at the brilliantly made scene where Sondra Locke's character visits her mentally ill sister in hospital. Eastwood makes great use of the juxtaposition of faces. So all in all Sudden Impact is a very visual film that really shows how mature Eastwood is as a director. And if I remember correctly it was actually the first time Eastwood put that on screen albeit in an action film of debatable ideology. Also, I think this is the first well paced film Eastwood directed. Although Eastwood has enormous talent as a director, dramaturgy has always been his weak point (see Play Misty for me, Breezy etc.) Thepace of the narrative leads to the visual elements being well integrated into the film and not distracting from the story. The only thing that is really annoying is the farting dog.

dvd sticks a bit but passable, good film as always with clint eastwood

good movie and great actor !

A typical hard-hitting Eastwood film, when he was making this genre. In this far too politically correct world today it is a throw-back to a time when a more direct (not necessarily correct) approach had a more telling effect. It is an interesting film and shows off the target of his affections at that time, Sondra Locke.