When a young rape victim takes justice into her own hands and becomes a serial killer, it's up to Dirty Harry Callahan, on suspension from the SFPD, to bring her to justice.
Eastwood the star needed a hit to bolster his flagging ratings; now that he's got it, maybe Harry will be put out to stud, with his Magnum.
– ,
Time Out,
24 Jun 2006
rotten:
By my count, more than a dozen people are murdered on camera, about half by Miss Locke and most of the others by Mr. Eastwood. This gives them something in common as lovers.
– Vincent Canby,
New York Times,
20 May 2003
fresh:
To all those cowboy movies we saw in our youth, all those TV Westerns and cop dramas and war movies, Dirty Harry has brought a great simplification: A big man, a big gun, a bad guy and instant justice.
– Roger Ebert,
Chicago Sun-Times,
23 Oct 2004
fresh:
This is the first entry in the series to have been directed by Eastwood himself, and action is put over with great force, if also with some obviousness.
– Variety Staff,
Variety,
26 Mar 2009
fresh:
It is viewed by many aficionados as the best of the five movies about the hard-nosed, authority-defying San Francisco cop.