"Dirty Harry" Callahan (Clint Eastwood) is at the scene of a crime in 'Sudden Impact'Image via Warner Bros.
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André Joseph
Published 31 minutes ago
André Joseph is a movie features writer at Collider. Born and raised in New York City, he graduated from Emerson College with a Bachelor's Degree in Film. He freelances as an independent filmmaker, teacher, and blogger of all things pop culture. His interests include Marvel, Star Wars, Ghostbusters, Robocop, wrestling, and many other movies and TV shows.
His accomplishments as a filmmaker include directing the indie movie Vendetta Games now playing on Tubi, the G.I. Joe fan film "The Rise of Cobra" on YouTube, and receiving numerous accolades for his dramatic short film Dismissal Time. More information can be found about André on his official website.
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When the legendary Clint Eastwood blasted onto the silver screen in 1971’s Dirty Harry, he seized the cultural zeitgeist as the ultimate outsider struggling in a justice system with which he disapproved. Though the character polarized critics leaning on opposite sides of the political aisle, audiences flocked to the theaters to see Harry Callahan not only bring down street scum with a powerful .44 Magnum but also to get a sense of how the San Francisco cop felt about the issues of the day. In making the transition into the Reagan-era ‘80s with 1983’s Sudden Impact, Eastwood’s iconic character faced his darkest chapter yet.
Marking Eastwood’s one and only Dirty Harry installment in the director’s chair, Sudden Impact was a sharp departure from the previous three installments, with Harry not investigating psychotic killers and badge-wearing vigilantes in the Bay Area. Instead, he goes outside his jurisdiction to meet Sondra Locke’s traumatized artist, who seeks violent revenge against the men who assaulted her, forcing the rogue inspector to be torn between his view of justice. While critics dismissed the film for its entertainment-first approach over the politically heavy original, holding a rotten 53% score on Rotten Tomatoes, Sudden Impact was the biggest box office success of the Dirty Harry franchise with $150 million worldwide. More than any entry in the series, the sequel will forever be remembered as the film that introduced the immortal catchphrase: “Go ahead. Make my day.”
What Is 'Sudden Impact' About?
As veteran Inspector Harry Callahan (Eastwood) deals with everything from diner thieves to the local mob, his superiors try to force him to take a vacation rather than fire him outright, since his methods “get results”. All that changes when he gets called to the crime scene of a man found brutally gunned down in his vehicle near the Golden Gate Bridge. The investigation leads Harry to the small Northern California town of San Paulo, where he comes into direct conflict with the local police chief, Jannings (Pat Hingle).
The murder in San Francisco is no random slaying. It’s just one of several killings at the hands of Jennifer Spencer (Locke), who was gang raped alongside her sister at the hands of a group led by sleazy local Mick (Paul Drake) and Ray Parkins (Audrie J. Neenan). The case is further complicated by Harry developing a relationship with Jennifer, unaware of her history and involvement in the murders. As Harry gets closer to the truth, Mick and Ray warn the remaining rapists about the trouble coming their way.
The Dirty Harry franchise is known for its graphic violence and socially-charged issues ranging from the politicization of the law to full-blown fascism. Sudden Impact pulls back from the politics to play the beats of a Death Wish-type thriller that never holds back. The screenplay by Joseph Stinson is largely split between the procedural course for Harry and the revenge quest for Jennifer. The latter side story is where Eastwood’s direction is made to be just as unsettling as another great crime story, The Accused, in dealing with the aftermath of a sexual assault. His most disturbing direction in the entire picture is the flashback of the aforementioned incident filmed around a campfire and juxtaposed with quick cuts of the amusement park rides and laughter above the terrifying moment. The sequence underscores that this is not the normal Dirty Harry story, but a traumatic tale of a woman forced to take matters into her hands after the very system Harry is critical of fails her.
How One Catchphrase Became a Staple of Pop Culture
Closeup of Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry, taking aim in 'Sudden Impact'Image via Warner Bros.
Even with its bleak tone, Sudden Impact is not without the crowd-pleasing elements to soften the gritty direction. Anytime the film turns its attention back to Harry, there are plenty of action-heavy sequences of the inspector dueling it out with the mob, chasing a robber on a bus full of seniors, and the addition of Harry’s pup with a weak bladder. Additionally, there’s no shortage of Eastwood one-liners to emphasize his disgust towards the bureaucrats in the police department, as well as the criminals that often get off on technicalities. These elements are franchise staples that Eastwood manages to preserve while telling a morally complex narrative.
The role that made Eastwood a global superstar delivered catchphrases that became staples of pop culture, including the original film’s “Do ya feel lucky?” and Magnum Force’s “A man’s got to know his limitations”. But Sudden Impact’s biggest highlight, in which Harry scowls at a sweaty hostage taker, “Go ahead. Make my day,” became more than a throwaway line. The scene would be featured in virtually every trailer and TV spot to the point where the public began to use it on the streets. Though various movies ranging from the Police Academy sequels to Back to the Future Part III parodied the line, “Make my day,” did not get truly immortalized until President Ronald Reagan quoted it in a 1985 speech about tax increases. Stinson would speak of the quote’s meaning in relation to Harry’s characterization in Mark Edlitz’s book Movies Go Fourth by "saying you do whatever you want to do because I know what I'm going to do. You could die, I could die, we could both die, you could give up. You’ve got a lot of choices. Make a choice."
Sudden Impact is streaming on Prime Video in the US.
Sudden Impact
Like R Action Crime Thriller Release Date December 8, 1983 Runtime 117 Minutes Director Clint Eastwood Writers Harry Julian Fink, Rita M. Fink, Joseph Stinson, Earl E. Smith, Charles B. Pierce, Chuck Pfarrer, Dean RiesnerCast
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Clint Eastwood
Insp. Harry Callahan
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Sondra Locke
Jennifer Spencer
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Pat Hingle
Chief Jannings
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Bradford Dillman
Captain Briggs
Sudden Impact follows Inspector Harry Callahan as he becomes embroiled in a complex case involving a woman taking justice into her own hands after a traumatic assault. As Callahan seeks to uphold the law, he navigates moral ambiguities in his pursuit of stopping a string of vigilante killings.
Genres Action, Crime, Thriller Powered by
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Clint Eastwood
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