Dirty Harry - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

When you look at the bedth of a legendary actor and filmmaker like Clint Eastwood, it’s easy to get lost trying to determine the best films of their expansive catalog. Eastwood’s efforts in front and behind the camera yield numerous standout performances. Alongside his time as The Man With No Name, “Dirty” Harry Callahan stands out among Clint’s most iconic roles. Spread through five features, his time as San Francisco’s toughest cop leaves an indelible mark on the tried-and-true Cop Thriller sub-genre. Clint’s adventures with .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world all started in 1971’s Dirty Harry from director Don Siegel.

A sniper’s bullet kills a random woman in a swimming pool. Leaving behind a cryptic message for the police with the signature “Scorpio,” San Francisco is caught in the grip of a madman (Andy Robinson). The only guy tough enough for the job is Detective “Dirty” Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood). As Scorpio’s crimes escalate and his demands for ransom increase, Harry will walk the thin line between the law and justice to stop this killer's reign of terror. 

Excusing the sequels, looking at Dirty Harry straight on is something of a test of taste and moral ethics. The film was made at the height of the Zodiac killings taking obvious inspiration from those crimes (among other notable killers of the era). It was also made at a time where crime was at an all-time high with law enforcement seemingly unable to get control of the situation. This is where Harry Callahan is something of a street justice antihero. A cop with a badge and a massive over-powered sidearm, he doesn’t fear wading into any situation and is ready to use deadly force when necessary. 

The film plays to the ambiguidy of justice and the law in the face of excessive police use of force. That’s no better personified than the moment Harry tortures Scorpio for the location of the kidnapped girl. As the audience of an action movie thriller, we want that fantasy of a cop getting the job done his way with an almost Punisher-like efficiency and lethality. The film even portrays the prosecution as ineffectual extolling the idea that the accused killer has rights that superseed those of the victim in a sort of "guilty until proven innocent" mindset. Thus we start to teter into the mentality that Harry’s actions are above the law because he’s dispensing actual justice. (This is a stance the sequel Magnum Force would walk back quite a bit). Is it “just for entertainment” or is there more to the film than that? The answer to that will likely depend on your predilictions. 

In my eyes, Dirty Harry and the sequels are just exceptiobnally well made pulp novel and crime comic book films. As Eastwood would basically allude to in various interviews, they’re his comic book movies. Having turned down the lead in Superman: The Movie, Eastwood never showed any real interest in the superhero genre and he didn’t need to. Dirty Harry and the sequels are his comic book fantasy action films. I remember as a kid my local comic jockey talking to someone about the rumor of Eastwood doing a "Dark Knight Returns" film and into the Batman Beyond years, he was a fun piece of fan casting. But as I said, the Dirty Harry movies are his comic book pulp novel films. They’re the films where he plays a larger than life police officer doing things his way with big-stakes action scenes.

Ultimately, Harry Callahan feels like the character Eastwood was born to play. The project made the rounds to the likes of John Wayne, Burt Lancaster, and Frank Sinatra but it was fated to be Eastwood’s complete with steely squint and intimidating snarl. Andy Robinson delivers a chilling turn as Scorpio, a maniac who kills for the fun of it and getting off on the power he wields. All the more chilling is he’s never given a name. He’s just “Scorpio.” Reni Santoni makes for a strong partner for Harry as Chico, the Sociology major who still believes in the system. Other notable appearances in this first film include John Vernon, John Larch, Harry Guardino, John Micthum, and Josef Sommer. Also keep an eye out for Albert Popwell as the bankrobber who also made appearances as different characters in the sequels Magnum Force, The Enforcer, and Sudden Impact. 

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray 
Dirty Harry makes us feel lucky with its first 4K UHD Release from Warner Bros./SDS. A single disc 4K UHD + Digital release, the film and bonus features occupy a Region Free BD100 disc and is housed in a basic black 4K case with identical slipcover. The disc loads to a static image main menu with standard navigation options.

June 2008 seems like forever ago, but that’s when we first got Don Siegel’s Dirty Harry on 1080p Blu-ray. That VC-1 encoded release was just, okay. It wasn’t amazing, it had issues of its own, but it was a nice step above the previous DVD. Now some 17 years later we’re getting a very welcome reason to upgrade with a new 2160p HDR10 transfer. Right from the jump, I was immediately impressed how much better resolved the film grain is. In the old Blu-ray it looked rather gloopy and inconsistent. Now grain is nice and tight and clean looking without appearing to have been egregiously scrubbed away or removed. Facial features, hair styles, Harry’s herringbone jacket, all come through with much better clarity free of a lot of the grit and speckling that marred the previous transfer. It looks like they’ve even removed the strange spot that appeared when Scorpio was searching for his next victim at around the 20 minute mark. Some soft shots remain, some edges of the frame in some scenes remain softer than other moments, but as far back as I can remember seeing the film on various video formats, that’s always been the case. Some optical transitions still stand out quite a bit as visual quality can dip, but there doesn’t appear to be any bitrate modulation for those moments. The HDR10 grade isn’t too aggressive but it really lets the colors pop nicely and naturally. Primaries get their due attention while skin tones appear a bit more healthy without looking too red or pinked compared to past offerings. All around a very healthy and welcome upgrade to the naturally gritty Bruce Surtees cinematography.

On the audio side we have a pair of listening options; a new Dolby Atmos mix and the “Original Theatrical Audio” presented as a DTS-HD MA 2.0 track. First thing’s first, let's start with that 2.0 audio. The good news here is that it does indeed sound to be sourced from the original mono mix in a 2.0 encoding! The tell is the gunshot sound effects are different from the Atmos and the previous Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track on the old Blu-ray. I very much liked this mix, I think the only time I ever heard it was the lone film print screening I ever saw about ten years ago. It doesn’t sound quite as overworked and I like the presence of the original sound effects. 

Now for the Atmos mix, we have what sounds like a slightly rejiggered version of the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix from so long ago. Now there’s a little more activity pushed into the height channels, but not so much that’d you’d take great notice of their activity. Likewise the surround presence is still a bit incidental but has a little more presence and distinction from the old 5.1 track. The reworked sound effects are still present, but compared to something like The Terminator they’re not as obnoxiously out of place. The best thing I can say for this new Atmos mix is the priority and placement of the Lalo Schifrin score is stronger and more balanced than the old 5.1 and offers plenty of LFE for those bass notes and tones. When Scorpio is on the rooftop and about to kill one of the guys on the park bench, how the music swells into the channels as the bass thumps away was a real treat. At the end of the line I have to give the 2.0 track the edge just for sounding more natural to the film, but the Atmos is a good way to go if you feel the need.

Adding to the overall quality of this release, Warner Bros. has gone and added a nice package of new and archival extras. We’re getting two new featurettes here, one is a generational look at the fans of Dirty Harry that’s a bit frivolous and light. The next is a nice look at the work of Bruce Surtees and his visual influence on the film. After that we’re getting a bunch of the previously offered extras from past editions and Eastwood box sets. My only irritation is how the interview gallery was handled, they’re not played successively and instead are individual hits, so every time you watch one you have to hear that silly hissing menu slide away sound effect. The only notable omission from this set is the 25-minute archival featurette The Long Shadow of Dirty Harry, but I imagine WB is probably saving that for the inevitable Dirty Harry 4K collection box set. 

• Audio Commentary featuring Richard Schickel
• NEW Gernations and Dirty Harry (HD 6:15)
• NEW Lensing Justice: The Cinematography of Dirty Harry (HD 7:54)
• American Masters Career Retrospective: Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows (SD 1:26:57)
• Clint Eastwood: The Man from Malpaso (SD 58:07)
• Clint Eastwood: A Cinematic Legacy - Fighting for Justice (HD 17:33)
• Interview Gallery:
• Patrica Clarkson (SD 2:04)
• Joel Cox (SD 3:34)
• Clint Eastwood (SD 5:38)
• Hal Holbrook (SD 00:42)
• Evan Kim (SD 2:08)
• John Milius (SD 3:45)
• Ted Post (SD 1:02)
• Andy Robinson (SD 2:03)
• Arnold Schwarzenegger (SD 3:02)
• Robert Urich (SD 2:40)
• Dirty Harry’s Way (HD 6:58)
• Dirty Harry The Original (SD 29:43)

Dirty Harry is Eastwood at his grittiest. As a cop thriller that played into the sentiment of the time and exploited real-world crimes, it’s a visceral experience. It didn’t have the sheen and polish like so many of the cop films of the era. Right from the start we’re brought into the killer’s world and it’s chilling. Whether or not it needed sequels, it got them and for the most part they’re all very good (maybe not The Dead Pool) and they exploit Eastwood’s natural instincts as a lead. Now Don Siegel’s thriller is here on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray home video and the film truly comes alive with a striking HDR10 transfer. Audio fiends will be happy to hear the original theatrical audio is alive and well on this disc and Atmos junkies will get to enjoy a solid listening option as well. Bonus features is a terrific mix of brand new featurettes and a trove of archival extras. Here’s hoping we get those sequels on 4K soon - Highly Recommended