“A man’s got to know his limitations”
This was the second film in the four-pack I recently purchased on digitally remastered Blu-ray.
I must have watched this film at least half a dozen times growing up. It is one of the quintessential Dirty Harry movies and in my mind, is a classic. This one is about some rogue rookie police officers who are going around on motorcycles killing a lot of people. Will the lieutenant put Dirty Harry on the case? Well, really he didn’t have much of a choice. Early on there was a really cool scene where a group of terrorists hijack an aircraft and Dirty Harry non-challantly boards a plane as the captain and begins the take-off procedures. You were wondering was he actually going to attempt to fly this thing? When the proper time comes, he takes both of the bad guys out, because that is what Dirty Harry does.
The leader of the motorcycle police gang was played by David Soul who was later known for his role in the police tv series drama, “Starsky and Hutch”. He was a sharpshooter who ends up defeating Dirty Harry in the department shooting contest. By this point, Harry already suspected him and may have let him win in order to shoot his gun and later pick up the slug. He is eventually cornered by the gang and offered a spot within which he promptly declines.
Spoilers…
Eventually, it is revealed that the police captain was the figure responsible for the rogue motorcycle do-gooder gang. As Calahan points a gun at Dirty Harry while he is driving with the intention of killing him, Dirty Harry overpowers him and expels him from the vehicle, freeing him up to get the rest of the motorcycle gang which he was in pursuit of. Miraculously at the end of the movie Calahan resurfaces with a gun pointed at Dirty Harry. Harry slips a bomb in the car as Calahan drives away. When it exploded the film concludes, with the final words being, “a man’s got to know his limitations”. To me this was hilarious and further cemented Clint Eastwood as the badass I know him to be.
Highly recommended.
*****
