Dirty Harry

Inspector Harry Callahan, a San Francisco cop with little regard for rules but gets the results, is tasked with tracking down and catching a serial killer calling himself Scorpio, who murders his victims at random creating a panic in the city.

Magnum Force

Callahan is on the trail of vigilante cops going beyond the law to rid the city of its criminals.

The Enforcer

Harry’s latest case pits him against a terrorist organization made up of disgruntled Vietnam veterans. Not only must he work to stop them, but he’s assigned a rookie female partner that he's not too excited to be working with.

Sudden Impact

In order to escape the heat in San Francisco after derailing a criminal investigation, Harry is sent to investigate several deaths in small town outside the city, which turns out to be the work of a rape victim is exacting revenge on her aggressors.

The Dead Pool

Callahan must stop a deranged and secret contest to murder local celebrities, which he himself is a target of.

THE VIDEO

All five of the pictures are mastered in 1080p in the VC-1 codec with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, except for The Dead Pool which is at 1.85:1. The pictures have gone through a hi-def restoration process and each of them look spectacular, but especially Dirty Harry, the oldest of the bunch. Time and again, when older pictures are coming out on Blu-ray we are seeing just how much life these new transfers can add to old negatives.

Dirty Harry has excellent colors which are lush and vibrant with spot on flesh tones. Black levels are excellent showing great detail and depth. Magnum Force comes close to Dirty Harry, but it appears as if the picture was shot a little softer than Dirty Harry and there are numerous scenes that seem slightly out of focus, so much so I wound up getting close up on the screen to verify what I saw at my seat.

The Enforcer, Sudden Impact and The Dead Pool bounce back with sharp and detailed transfers, improving on the color fidelity of Magnum Force. While the pictures on discs two through five have excellent colors, they are not quite as saturated as those on Dirty Harry. Detail is excellent however, in the transfers of discs two through five, especially noting their age. Black levels are excellent showing great depth and detail. The night time flyover of San Francisco in the beginning of Sudden Impact and again in The Dead Pool provides an excellent test of your display to see how much detail is evident and how crisp the lights are in the night.

THE AUDIO

The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtracks are very front heavy, remaining in the fronts for most of the pictures. The surrounds engage during some of the more action oriented and chase scenes, but it doesn’t provide a terribly convincing soundstage. The front channels display excellent panning and localization of effects and music, but you never forget all the sound is coming from the front. Lalo Schifrin’s scores on the first two discs come across crisp and clear in the highs and mids.

Bass levels are fair without being overbearing and this is where the soundtracks date themselves. ADR is noticed at times, but vocals otherwise were normal sounding. The surrounds and subs finally get utilized on The Dead Pool soundtrack, but they aren’t as cohesive as a more recent soundtrack. While I could localize the sounds, it just wasn’t a convincing sound field.

PACKAGING

All five movies are housed inside an attractive box with a great front cover. The back cover displays a picture of the entire set spread out and details on the bonus material, while the disc specifications are printed on the bottom panel. Opening the box reveals two separate digi-packs containing the films, a lavishly produced 40+ page hardcover book that includes a wide variety of information on the films (including body counts for all) and rare photos from the set.

What gives this set it’s “Ultimate Collector’s Edition” moniker is the inclusion of several neat collector’s items. A small black box houses a new and personal introduction to the set by Clint Eastwood, six postcards, a city map pin-pointing Scorpio’s kills, a fun replica of Harry’s inspector badge inside a wallet, and a number of replicas of internal Warner memos (a very rare and cool idea, not to mention making for an insightful read).

THE EXTRAS

Individual theatrical trailers for all films are included on each disc, although for unknown reasons disc 4 does not.

The bonus material is presented in 480i/p standard definition video. Audio is available in Stereo and Mono, while optional subtitles include the following languages: English, French, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, German, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese and Swedish (Movie and Select Bonus Material).


DISC 1:  Dirty Harry

Commentary by Eastwood biographer Richard Schickel: Schickel turns in an excellent commentary on the movie tying it into Eastwood’s career and its place in cinematic history. There are pauses along the way, but these are only to allow us to enjoy a certain scene followed by the commentary.

Dirty Harry: The Original (29:45) finds Robert Urich narrating this retrospective feature with Eastwood, Ted Post, Milius, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Andy Robinson and others contributing. The participants talk about the genesis and making of the pictures, the character and the themes, most of which is expanded upon in the other pieces on this and other discs.

Dirty Harry’s Way (7:06) is a vintage promo piece for the movie discussing the toughness of the character and introduces the supporting cast. It also ties Harry Callahan to his cinematic progenitors. The rough looking film in this piece helps us to appreciate just how nice the new transfer is.

The Long Shadow of Dirty Harry (25:31) features numerous screenwriters, directors, actors and critics who comment on the impact of the character of Harry Callahan and how this picture reflected the world at the time. This is an excellent piece spotlighting the sociological and legal mood of the country at the time as well as going into how Harry and his trademark lines have entered into the pop lexicon.

Clint Eastwood: The Man from Malpaso (58:08) is a 1993 retrospective piece on Eastwood and his career with interviews with numerous colleagues and peers. Eastwood discusses his growing up and entrance into show business and his career which makes this a good primer on him.

Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows (86:48) is another retrospective on Eastwood’s career done by the BBC for the American Masters series in 2000.

Interview Gallery (27:25) with Patricia Clarkson, Joel Cox, Clint Eastwood, Hal Holbrook, Evan Kim, John Milius, Ted Post, Andy Robinson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Robert Urich: These are extended interviews picked from the first three docs on this disc as well as a couple new ones. They discuss Harry and Clint as well as Clint’s career. You can watch them together or individually.

DISC 2:  Magnum Force

Commentary by John Milius: Chunks of dead air plague this track, but Milius tries to tie together the first picture and this one. He is quick to point out all the symbols and the underlying themes of the picture, which we, as astute viewers, should have already picked up on.

A Moral Right: The Politics of Dirty Harry (24:15) is similar to The Long Shadow of Dirty Harry. It is an excellent piece that really delves into all those moral, political and sociological questions brought up in the pictures, but specifically the first two. Milius, Eastwood and a slew of other notable screenwriters, directors and writers comment on Pauline Kael’s labeling of the film as fascism, the extreme left and right viewpoints depicted and the impact of the character and the films. A great piece that could have easily been two hours and I’d have been glued to it.

The Hero Cop: Yesterday and Today (8:03) is a pseudo-documentary on cops and robbers and crime and punishment and Harry Callahan’s role in it. This is a vintage piece from the time of the filming of Magnum Force and it is an enjoyable look at the process.


DISC 3:  The Enforcer

Commentary by Director James Fargo: Unfortunately not a terribly informational track, and Fargo interjects trivia more so than discussing the finer points of the plot or characters.

The Business End: Violence in Cinema (30:09) features Eastwood and various writers and actors discussing violence in general and how it figures into the Dirty Harry pictures. Another interesting aspect brought up by these pictures is explored in depth. Since the late sixties and early seventies were a revolutionary time for violence in the cinema this is the perfect set of movies to explore this theme of our changing society.

Harry Callahan/ Clint Eastwood: Something Special in Films (6:00) is a vintage doc piece on the making of The Enforcer with behind the scenes footage and interviews.


DISC 4:  Sudden Impact

Commentary by Richard Schickel: Shickel livens up on this commentary, and his enthusiasm matches Eastwood’s jump start of the franchise. While there are still gaps in the dialogue, Shickel goes into more depth than the previous commentary spending more time on Eastwood at that point in his career.

The Evolution of Clint Eastwood (25:43) is yet another retrospective on Eastwood that follows up more on his more recent pictures, from Unforgiven through Million Dollar Baby.


DISC 5:  The Dead Pool

Commentary by cinematographer Jack N. Green and Producer David Valdes: the two contributors turn in a pretty good commentary, discussing the production, the characters and the greater plots of this and other Dirty Harry pictures.

The Craft of Dirty Harry (21:39) provides some background on the cinematographers, editors, and finally, composer Lalo Schifrin and others who contribute to these pictures success. I’m a geek for cinematographers and composers, so I was well pleased with this doc. This is a fine way to round out the set.
 

FINAL THOUGHTS

This is an incredible set, hands down. The effort and time put into this release is highly appreciated and the bonus material is incredibly valuable.