San Francisco Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan must foil a terrorist organization made up of disgruntled Vietnam veterans. But this time, he's teamed with female partner Inspector Kate Moore, with whom he's not too excited to be working.
A threatening terrorist group called "The People's Revolutionary Strike Force" demand a ransom to be paid, otherwise they plan to blow the city apart. While Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) is in limbo following his unorthodox method during a robbery, he's sent to dispatch the terrorist group, by playing their game. This time, he has a new partner, Inspector Kate Moore (Tyne Daly), which might prove the task to be somewhat more difficult than ever, unless the two can work together.
The two militant organizations depicted in this movie, the People's Revolutionary Strike Force and Uhuru, were modelled after two real-life militant groups, the Symbionese Liberation Army (which kidnapped Patricia Hearst) and the Black Panther Party. See more »
Goofs
In the raid on Mustapha's hangout we see both SWAT and the regular officers with assault rifles. Regular police officers did not carry high powered rifles until after the North Hollywood shootout at the botched bank robbery in 1997. However, SFPD did not have a full time SWAT team then. Regular officers would carry the their SWAT gear in the patrol cars and deploy as needed. It is possible that the officers in regular uniforms could have been SWAT team members deploying from their patrol duties. See more »
The Network Television version that aired on ABC had alternate footage filmed for some scenes:
-When Harry shoots the criminal in the crotch at the beginning, the TV version switches to an angle shot from the top of the stairs so you don't see the bullet impact
-Harry says "personnel? that's for [idiots]!" instead of Assholes
-During the board test before officer Moore walks in, there is an alternate shot of Buster Novy to obscure the Cop saying "do something god dammit!"
-When Harry grabs the phone out of Bressler's hands, he says "I'm coming down there myself! You better have those files open..." then it cuts to an alternate angle from behind Harry slamming the phone down on the receiver, cutting his "you pencil pushing son of a bitch!" completely
-Harry says "Oh no" instead of "oh shit" upon seeing he has to work with officer Moore.
-Nudity during the chase when the criminal and harry fall into the bedroom is censored
-There is a close up/alternate shot of one of the mayors bodyguards being shot in the head so you don't see the blood when he's shot See more »
The third film in the series finds Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) going up against a group of crazed Vietnam vets who take the Mayor hostage and demanding money for him before they not only kill him but blow up the city. With a new partner (Tyne Daly) at his side Harry must try and find out who the group is.
This here is quite as good as the previous film but it's certainly still a winner as everything that makes the series so memorable is on display here and considering it's the third film in the series, it's still rather impressive how fresh the lead character is as well as the story. I think it's fair to say that the story is "B" movie material but it's still very effective and it's certainly good enough to hold your attention from start to finish and of course there are a few twists thrown in as well.
This third film gives Harry a female partner, which allows for various sexist scenes that could only work in a film from this era. The different sex really adds quite a bit to the movie since it does get the laughs that you'd expect in certain scenes but it's also a refreshing take on the genre. By this time the Dirty Harry character was already iconic so the toughness of that character mixed well with the female officer here. It certainly doesn't hurt that Eastwood and Daly have so much chemistry together. The two of them are very effective in their roles with Eastwood clearly at ease playing this tough-as-nails cop who doesn't everything his way. The supporting cast also offers up good performances from Bradford Dillman, John Mitchum, Albert Popwell and Harry Guardino.
THE ENFORCER contains all the elements that made the first two films great entertainment. Of course you get a pretty simple story of good versus evil but what makes it so well here is how it's set up. The opening sequence is downright violent and the cold-blooded nature of this group just makes you hate them to the point where you can't wait to see Harry get revenge. The film also offers up some pretty exciting action sequences including one of the great foot chases ever captured. Add in the top-notch cinematography and the great jazz score and THE ENFORCER is another success.
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The Enforcer (1976)
*** (out of 4)
The third film in the series finds Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) going up against a group of crazed Vietnam vets who take the Mayor hostage and demanding money for him before they not only kill him but blow up the city. With a new partner (Tyne Daly) at his side Harry must try and find out who the group is.
This here is quite as good as the previous film but it's certainly still a winner as everything that makes the series so memorable is on display here and considering it's the third film in the series, it's still rather impressive how fresh the lead character is as well as the story. I think it's fair to say that the story is "B" movie material but it's still very effective and it's certainly good enough to hold your attention from start to finish and of course there are a few twists thrown in as well.
This third film gives Harry a female partner, which allows for various sexist scenes that could only work in a film from this era. The different sex really adds quite a bit to the movie since it does get the laughs that you'd expect in certain scenes but it's also a refreshing take on the genre. By this time the Dirty Harry character was already iconic so the toughness of that character mixed well with the female officer here. It certainly doesn't hurt that Eastwood and Daly have so much chemistry together. The two of them are very effective in their roles with Eastwood clearly at ease playing this tough-as-nails cop who doesn't everything his way. The supporting cast also offers up good performances from Bradford Dillman, John Mitchum, Albert Popwell and Harry Guardino.
THE ENFORCER contains all the elements that made the first two films great entertainment. Of course you get a pretty simple story of good versus evil but what makes it so well here is how it's set up. The opening sequence is downright violent and the cold-blooded nature of this group just makes you hate them to the point where you can't wait to see Harry get revenge. The film also offers up some pretty exciting action sequences including one of the great foot chases ever captured. Add in the top-notch cinematography and the great jazz score and THE ENFORCER is another success.