Sudden ImpactGo ahead, make my day
That quote is what most people even know about at all aboutthe Dirty Harry series. Eastwood returnsand takes on the director’s chair (as well as 60% of the film’s profits) forthe biggest, most successful film in the Dirty Harry franchise. While not close to being the best of theseries, its nowhere near as boring and dull as the previous entry. Its almost a completely mindless, satisfyingwatch akin to that of Rocky IV. In order to get some reliable bread winners into thetheaters in the early 80's, Warner Bros coaxed the magnum back into Eastwood’shand to continue the series. Reportedlyhe got the lay of the land at Warner with guaranteed future projects to direct andpoints on box office totals. And withthat, Dirty Harry returned.
Eastwood’s domestic partner at the time, Sondra Locke, had ascript at Warner Bros for her that was restructured to become a Dirty Harryfilm. This would be the final of six filmsthe partners did together. Sudden Impact’s story is one that is relegated mainly to procedural dramason network television nowadays and rarely pumped into feature lengthblockbusters. It's the basic tale ofrape-revenge, in which the victim strikes back after ten years. Using a .38 snub nose revolver, Locke’s characterleaves one bullet in the genitals and one in the head. Is it just me, or are Sondra Locke’scharacters raped in just about every film her and Eastwood have done together? The film is another story of vigilantism in the series, butall three have had different aspects. Thefirst was about Harry’s methods to solve a case in time to save a life, the second is stopping vigilantes for killing people where they believe the courts failedand Sudden Impact brings raperevenge. In this one Harry decides tolet the vigilante walk, believing what she did was for the greater good.
Harry racks up another corpsed partner in this one. The partner is quite notable. Horace is played by Albert Popwell,graduating from his steady increase in screen time per film. In the original, he was the bank robbing thugwho received the famous “Do you feel lucky?” speech. He played the pimp in Magnum Force, and the leader of the Black Panther-like group in The Enforcer. Of note, Popwell died in both even numberedfilms. Popwell was to appear in the nextfilm, The Dead Pool, but had to backout due to some scheduling conflicts. The film’s famous line “Go ahead, make my day” was made evenmore prolific when Ronald Reagan used it in a speech in 1985. Eastwood himself also used it in politicswhen running for mayor in Carmel, CA (“Go Ahead – Make Me Mayor”). AFI also posted the line as the sixth mostfamous film line of all time.
Sudden Impact isn’t incredibly dumb, its just kind of verybasic, but popping. Eastwood prevents itfrom ever being boring by forcing action sequence at every sign of a possible lagin the film. Some are over the top, someare silly, some work really well. Itsnever dull. The character of HarryCallahan is also pretty much played as a characature of what he truly was inthe first three films. That said, itsactually a fun watch. Most of thesupporting cast is colorful enough (Audrie Neenan is so good, you’ll want tosmack her yourself), even if Sondra Locke can’t quite pull her scenes in thefilm. If you've seen films like Rocky IV, and you enjoy it for what itis, you’ll have no trouble taking a liking to Sudden Impact.
Next Up: THE DEAD POOL
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