Sudden Impact

"Dirty Harry" meets his match in a woman whose look at justice is much larger than his in "Sudden Impact," the 1983 film that is fourth in the franchise and the only one Clint Eastwood directed. TV Guide noted in their review, "One of the seamiest and most brutal of the lot, it's brimming with over-the-top gore, blistering action, and some hilariously foul-mouthed dialogue and one-liners, including the now-legendary "Go ahead...make my day," a threat that was quickly adopted by then-President Reagan." 

Jennifer Spencer, played by Sondra Locke, an artist who comes from the small seaside town of San Paulo, is trying to find and kill a group of men (Michael Maurer, Jack Thibeau, Paul Drake) and one lesbian (Audrie Neenan) who raped her and her sister (Lisa Britt) a few years before, leaving her sister completely comatose. When the body of a man from San Paulo is found in San Francisco with bullet holes in his groin and head, Frisco homicide detective Harry Callahan goes to San Paulo to investigate. Harry isn't welcomed by the local police chief Jannings, played by Pat Hingle, who specifically tries to keep him away from the case, but Harry is fearless. He meets up with Jennifer and falls in love with her, not knowing she's the murderer. Jennifer continues to murder the members of the gang one at a time, but when she gets to one of the last members, who turns out to be Jannings's son, she's attacked by Mick, played by Paul Drake, the most dangerous of the group. Mick kills Jannings and takes Jennifer to the beach to rape her again, but Harry shows up and kills Mick. Harry then puts Jennifer's gun on Mick, making it look like he had been the one killing the gang all this time, and lets Jennifer go. 

TV Guide noted, "SUDDEN IMPACT is a hard-hitting actioner in which Eastwood examines the darker aspects of Dirty Harry and comes up with a brooding, grim drama that probably comes the closest to the nihilistic tone which was set by director Don Siegel in the original. Like most of the films Eastwood has directed, the story deals with transference of guilt and twisted sexuality (not to mention the symbolism of Harry's new longer-barrelled Magnum .44 in a plot dealing with castration), and there is also the rather bizarre recurrence of having a character played by Sondra Locke--who was Eastwood's lover at the time--being brutalized and gang raped, something she was also subjected to in Eastwood's THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES (1976) and THE GAUNTLET (1977) (perhaps he was subconsciously trying to tell her something). Eastwood also throws in some unmistakable Hitchcock references, as the first murder takes place under the Golden Gate Bridge, which recalls VERTIGO (1958), and Jennifer sometimes bears an uncanny likeness to Tippi Hedren's cool blonde character in MARNIE (1964), while the finale takes place on a runaway carousel, a la STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (1951)." 

TV Guide went on to say, "Aided by ace cinematographer Bruce Surtees (nicknamed "The Prince of Darkness" for his ultra-noirish lighting, or lack thereof), Eastwood handles the visuals in a lean and dynamic manner that would make Siegel proud, but his control of the narrative is less successful and the plot is disjointed and overlong." Looking firm on giving non-stop excitement, the film make one high-speed, set piece after another in the first 45 minutes, which basically doesn't further the actual plot. However, they are engaging as Harry kills some criminals robbing a diner, crashes the wedding of a mob boss' daughter and causes the man to have a heart attack, is chased by some rookies who try to kill him by throwing molotov cocktails in his car, and breaks up a bank robbery the moment he arrives in San Paulo. TV Guide mentioned, "The cartoonish script boasts the usual outraged sentiments about revolving door justice and how criminals have more rights than victims, as well as a full quota of the kind of outrageously politically incorrect stereotypes that one could never get away with anymore. There's a bad-tempered female judge who lectures Harry about his tactics, a slew of criminal, jive talking blacks ("Whatcha doing--you pighead sucka"), and pasta-eating Mafiosi, and for good measure, a sadistic, ultra-butch lesbian who talks like a sailor and cackles with glee while Jennifer is being raped." However, Eastwood keeps his audience engaged at a fast pace and the series' formula of having an old man like Harry removing the warning tape and killing the criminals of the city remains irresistible. 

If you are a fan of the franchise after seeing the previous installments, you will not want to miss this one. Especially with the line, "Go ahead, make my day" said at the beginning of the film. Little known fact: people tend to mix up that quote for being in the first movie, when it was never said there. This film gets another recommendation from me, and I say definitely check this one out because you will love it a lot. 

Now look out next week for the finale of "Dirty Harry Month."