Clint Eastwood’s iconic ‘Dirty Harry’ hits the mark, and then some, in 4K Ultra HD
- Craig Shapiro
- May 7
- 5 min read
Updated: May 8
4K ULTRA HD REVIEW / HDR SCREENSHOTS
“Uh uh. I know what you’re thinking. ‘Did he fire six shots or only five?’ Well to tell you the truth in all this excitement I kinda lost track myself. But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you’ve gotta ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?”
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“DIRTY HARRY”
4K Ultra HD; 1971; R for violence, nudity, and language; Digital copy via Amazon Video (4K), Apple TV (4K), Fandango Home (4K), Movies Anywhere (4K), YouTube (4K)
Best extra: The new short feature, “Lensing Justice: The Cinematography of Dirty Harry”
“FASCISTIC”? Hard to believe, but that was how some critics reacted to “Dirty Harry.”
No, “Dirty Harry” was reactionary, a product of its time. The nation’s crime rate had been rising for decades and had jumped 11 percent in 1970, the year before Clint Eastwood and director Don Siegel, his frequent collaborator (they did five movies together), got to work.
The movie was cathartic, too. The Bay Area was still reeling from the “Zodiac” murders when San Francisco Police Inspector Harry Callahan, packing serious heat and a disregard for procedure, set his sights on a sadistic serial killer calling himself “Scorpio.” When the dust settled, Eastwood had created his most iconic role, one that he’s spent his career dismantling.
(Footnote: Frank Sinatra and John Wayne were among the first choices for the role. Seriously!)
(1-3) In the opening sequence, Scorpio (Andrew Robinson) guns down a woman (Sandra Benson) swimming in a rooftop pool. (4-5) Harry is summoned to the mayor’s office to meet with the Chief of Police (John Larch, left), Lt. Bressler (Harry Guardino) and the mayor (John Vernon).
So why does “Dirty Harry” still hit you in the gut? Well, there’s no denying that our corrupt, self-serving, collective house could use a thorough top-to-bottom cleaning. The No. 1 reason, of course, is — anyway you cut it — it’s a taut, tense classic that set the template for just about every wannabe vigilante flick that’s followed.
But as “Lensing Justice: The Cinematography of Dirty Harry,” a new feature on this Warner Bros. release, makes clear, Eastwood and Siegel had another collaborator: Bruce Surtees. Known as “The Prince of Darkness,” Surtees was a major player in the evolution of the “Eastwood style” (he shot nearly a dozen movies). Part Western, part film noir, his work on “Dirty Harry” was muscular, gritty and rough, like the time it represented.
It wasn’t just the deep shadows, silhouettes and Surtees’ unconventional lighting that exposed San Francisco’s underside. His wide-angle shots, especially those sweeping over the city’s rooftops, make the City by the Bay feel ominous and oppressive even in broad daylight. Likewise, his up-angle shots of Eastwood leave no doubt that Harry means business.
As one participant puts it, Surtees’ camerawork was “anti-Hollywood,” and with it he laid out a canvas on which he and Siegel found the language to — right — represent the time.
(1-3) Harry stops for lunch when he stops a bank heist and explains the damage that a .44 magnum can inflict to one of the robbers (Albert Popwell). (4) Reni Santoni is Harry’s partner, Chico.
VIDEO/AUDIO
“Dirty Harry” (2.35:1 aspect ratio) was scanned in 8K from the 35mm original camera negative and graded in HDR10 and Dolby Vision (Digital). The results speak for themselves: The shadows pulsate and the cobalt skies of San Francisco, with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background, could not possibly be more blue. Contrasts are mostly sharp, colors are nicely saturated and detail is excellent — just check out Harry’s herringbone sport coat. And as other reviews have noted, the grain this time around has been noticeably tamped down.
On the flip side, those same reviews have also pointed out that the image isn’t 100 percent perfect. A few soft spots remain and the edges of some frames soften, too. You can also spot some crowning around Harry’s head now and then. That said, those are anomalies. “Dirty Harry” looks absolutely fine.
There are a couple of audio choices — Dolby Atmos and 2.0 mono DTS-HD Master Audio. Since “Dirty Harry” was released theatrically in mono, the nod here goes to the latter. Nothing’s missed, from Harry’s clipped dialogue to the blasts from his .44 magnum, which, by the way, sent my dog flying into my lap. That said, the Atmos mix gives the score by Lalo Schifrin (“Mission: Impossible”) a wider, deeper ride.
Everything was encoded onto a 100 GB disc, with the video bitrate averaginh in the low 70 Megabits per second. The HDR10 peak brightness tops out at 3947 nits and averages 411.
(1-3) Scorpio targets another victim but is foiled and later chased down by Harry and Chico. (4-5) Mrs. Russell (Mae Mercer, right) looks on as the police examine the body of her 10-year-old son, another victim of Scorpio.
EXTRAS
“Lensing Justice” clocks in at under 10 minutes, but makes the most of its running time. The same can’t be said for the other new feature, “Generations and Dirty Harry” (6 minutes). All fluff, it adds zilch to the conversation. It’s not new, but the documentary “Clint Eastwood: A Cinematic Legacy - Fighting for Justice” (17 minutes) makes its disc debut.
The other extras have been picked up from earlier releases. Tops among them is the lively, insightful commentary by the late critic and Eastwood biographer Richard Schickel. You’ll also find the in-depth PBS “American Masters” retrospective “Clint Eastwood: Out or the Shadows” (97 minutes) narrated by Morgan Freeman; the features “Dirty Harry’s Way” (1971), a promotional short with Eastwood and Siegel interviews, and “Dirty Harry: The Original” (2001), hosted by TV actor Bob Urich (“Spenser: For Hire”); and another documentary, “Clint Eastwood: The Man from Malpaso” (58 minutes), part of the A&E “Biography” series.
— Craig Shapiro
(1-4) After keeping watch for Scorpio, Harry delivers a $200,000 ransom to the killer, who leads him throughout the city to make sure the inspector is acting alone. (5-6) Harry finally tracks down Scorpio but he’s freed by the D.A. because Harry didn’t read him his rights.
(1) Undeterred, Harry keeps tabs on the nut job. (2) After paying a man to beat him up, Scorpio is swarmed by the media at the hospital, where he claims Harry is responsible. (3-5) Scorpio hijacks a school bus and its driver (Ruth Kobar), but that doesn’t stop Harry either and the two again come face-to-face.
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