Sudden Impact (1983)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Clint Eastwood

Writers:

Harry Julian Fink (characters)
Rita M. Fink (characters)

Release Date:

9 December 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Two killers are at large. One of them is Dirty Harry. [Video]

Plot:

A rape victim is exacting revenge on her agressors in a small town outside San Francisco. Dirty Harry, on suspension for angering his superiors (again), is assigned to the case.

Plot Keywords:

Rape | Revenge | Rape Victim | Police | Heart Attack

Cast

Clint Eastwood	...	Harry Callahan
Sondra Locke	...	Jennifer Spencer
Pat Hingle	...	Chief Jannings
Bradford Dillman	...	Captain Briggs
Paul Drake	...	Mick
Audrie J. Neenan	...	Ray Parkins
Jack Thibeau	...	Kruger
Michael Currie	...	Lt. Donnelly
Albert Popwell	...	Horace King
Mark Keyloun	...	Officer Bennett
Kevyn Major Howard	...	Hawkins
Bette Ford	...	Leah
Nancy Parsons	...	Mrs. Kruger
Joe Bellan	...	Burly Detective
Wendell Wellman	...	Tyrone

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:18 | Iceland:16 | New Zealand:R16 | USA:R (certificate #27193) | Sweden:(Banned) (original rating) | Finland:K-16 (1993) (cut) | Finland:K-18 (1984) (cut) | Netherlands:12 | Finland:K-15 (DVD rating) | Australia:M (TV rating) | Australia:R | Canada:R | France:-12 | Singapore:M18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 (DVD rating) | Sweden:15 (re-rating) (heavily cut) | UK:18 | West Germany:18 | Norway:18 (video premiere) (1988) (cut) | Norway:(Banned) (1984-2003) (cinema release) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Bowles Franklin Galleries - 765 Beach Street, Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The famous "Make My Day" sequence was filmed at a Burger Island restaurant in San Francisco. It is now a McDonald's.

Goofs:

Continuity: The bulldog changes sex; when urinating in Harry's room it is a male, yet when it warns Harry about the hitman behind the door it is a female.

Quotes:

Senior Man: Best dang bus ride since I got put in that damn home.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Material Girls (2006)

Soundtrack:

THIS SIDE OF FOREVER

Clint doing what he does best..

A rape victim is going around, bumping off her attackers one by one, having been denied justice originally. A rather unconventional detective, Callahan is put on the case.. but whose side will he take?

This is one of the most brutal films I've seen in quite some time. Virtually every scene seems to be a set-up for some punks to make the mistake of annoying our hero, who then proceeds to beat the living daylights out of them, or simply blows their heads off. I am 100% convinced that if any serving officer did what the Eastwood character gets away with in this film, he would not only be stripped of his badge, but also be looking at a considerable stretch in prison. Another striking aspect of the picture is the violence used against the fairer sex. The female cast members get punched in the face, kicked when on they're on the ground.. And that doesn't even include the constant flashbacks we get of Sondra Locke's sexual assault ordeal (We get one every time she carries out one of her revenge attacks on her aggressors). The misogyny displayed on screen is incredible and is unlikely to endear itself to anyone concerned about domestic violence.

So why am I recommending it? Well for a start, the film is well directed, with some very exciting gunfights and car chases which will keep you on the edge of your seat. But the main reason for watching is Clint himself, the evergreen icon giving us another classy performance as a veteran cop who might not share the ethics of the modern police force, but tends to do the job 10x better than his colleagues who do it all 'by the book'. If only we had someone like that here in Britain, perhaps this country wouldn't be the crime hotspot it is these days.. 6/10