Dirty Harry (1971) Filmmakers react! 1st Time Watching for MAJOR!!

It's the cop movie that changed all cop movies. Yes we're back to our old Friend Clint Eastwood, kicking ass and taking names, in the one that started em all. Think of every cop show/movie before this, and everyone after, this film changed the way we think of cops, and more importantly how cops were portrayed.
Enjoy my friends.
Also Please check out my short film "Strangers in the Night:" on the Screamfest Homepage you can find it here.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRL3H...
Anyway Go on a an 80's ride of Nostalgia enjoy your favorite films asI did. Watch comment like subscribe! Do all the things which make us happy
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[@jammygitt]

The pull back helicopter shot from the football field after Harry shoots Scorpio and stands there stepping on the leg wound (not given justice here) is one on my favorite shots in movie history,

[@Kenny-ep2nf]

it's such a good shot aye

[@scgreek1114]

So many reactors comment on how dark older movies appear. These films were made for cinema-only viewing, where brightness and black levels were much better than they are in a small screen and a well-lit room. Compression from streaming services exacerbates the problem. "Dark as Hell" simply wasn't a thing when viewed in the theatre as intended.

[@jenniferadam8052]

Yeah I don't know if some of these younger reviewers get that!

[@mgman6000]

I agree it wasn't that dark when I saw it when it came out maybe you guys need to watch film noir movies to get it

[@ericelander9936]

Major, Major, Major... you have much to learn. The darkness fits the story perfectly. The cesspool of SF - to say nothing of what it's become now. When this movie came out everybody in my school, from elementary to HS, could recite the .44 mag speech. Still want to own one. We would all count the shots in the shootouts - First one was six, second definitely only five. Until the last one when the punk ate it.Great movie, Magnum Force equally good. The last three aren't at the same level but it's CLINT EASTWOOD!

[@karimhicks8376]

And Dianne Fienstien only stirred the growing problem.., like back in the 80's, when she devoldged the type of shoe that THE NIGHT STALKER, Richard Ramirez was wearing, in which the FBI TOLD HER & HER STAFF, TO KEEP HER MOUTH SHUT!!!

[@Noel-ji8nm]

These two clowns are clueless.

[@Al_NERi]

Thanks. Ngl the constant carping about the low lighting in back alley street locations is both irritating and discrediting in my view.

[@mgman6000]

@@Al_NERi I agree I prefer watching reactions from younger people who haven't even heard of these movies instead of "experts" that laugh and criticize them A lot of filmmakers used techniques they learned from the film noir movies of the 40s and 50s

[@corvuslight]

As kids, we all knew the Dirty Harry speech... "Well do ya, punk?"

[@Kenny-ep2nf]

lol based

[@nicholasbartonlaw341]

There are so many powerful handguns used in movies nowadays, it is easy to overlook how profound it was for Harry to use a .44 Magnum revolver. At the time this was filmed there just weren't a lot of powerful handguns portrayed in crime movies and television shows. Both in films and in real life most cops carried far less powerful .38 caliber service revolvers, even the detectives. The guns carried by cops in the movies the French Connection and Bullitt, and are .38 revolvers. In rural areas, you may have had law enforcement using .357 Magnums, but hardly any law enforcement was using the .44 Magnum. At the time, the USA was at the height of expanding criminal rights, with some even thinking we were going too far in tying the hands of law enforcement (as if you can ever have too many rights), and there was tremendous pressure on the police to not use excessive force and to ensure they weren't infringing rights. Enter Harry with his .44 Magnum which was a statement that Harry (1) did things his own way rejecting what the system expected him to do (2) didn't care what others carried, he hated perpetrators with guns and used a gun that would not just wound them but obliterate them, (3) and he was not your neighborhood cop writing traffic tickets. Also, you didn't mention it, but what makes this movie really work is Andrew Robinson's mesmerizing crazed performance of the villain, Scorpio, that provides the exact type of villain to serve as a counterweight to Harry.

[@JoelCraike]

Dirty Harry is my all time favourite movie

[@Kenny-ep2nf]

definitely one of the best franchises ever

[@carlomercorio1250]

French Connection is a film you need to see; also an early-70s gamechanger

[@robabiera733]

A product of its time, along with "The French Connection", "Serpico", and, of course, "The Godfather." And remember, guys, Steadicam didn't come around until '76.

[@styles2980]

Dirty Harry, great series that was the birth of many successful tropes used in modern police movies. I can think of a couple of scenes that are re-imagined for later films. ( I won't explain, I don't want to give spoilers)

[@linkloudenback8359]

This was at a time when natural lighting was a big thing. It looks better in a theater on the screen from a actual projector not on a television or monitor.

[@Kenny-ep2nf]

Correct

[@Peter-pj4zj]

This movie created it's own genre. They called it an urban western. Like letting Wyatt Earp loose in the big city.

[@Kenny-ep2nf]

yeah it fits that title perfectly

[@Kenny-ep2nf]

Thanks for reacting to this masterpiece guys, I really enjoyed seeing you both watch it for the first time and comment on most scenes. Have you seen the sequels yet?

[@Widkey]

Sometimes it is that dark in real life.. you can't see the villain your shooting at 3am in the morning.. happens all the time.. the fact that you as an audience member can't see the villain puts you in the main character's shoes, he can't see him either. The movie is not going to coddle you.

[@Kenny-ep2nf]

yeah I like how the movie kinda puts us in the main characters shoes

[@bronson1392]

I love the gritty documentary shakes and lack of light adds to the claustrophobia. We don’t need wizard of oz lighting.

[@matthewstroud4294]

Guys, I totally respect the criticisms you have as film makers. It is too dark and some of the directorial choices are weird. But I still love this film, as much as anything for the pure heroism of standing up to non-objective law and political pragmatism. I hate the Mayor in this more than I hate the Killer. Harry is not the typical anti-hero mixed character that plagues most of Eastwood's projects. The High Noon ending is great too. You can read his mind "I've had enough of this shit". Also, did you notice that the bit when Harry tells the Mayor about the guy with the butcher knife, is parodied in The Naked Gun, where Frank Drebin explains "when I see 5 weirdos dressed in togas, stabbing a guy in the middle of the park, in full view of a hundred people, I shoot the bastard, that's my policy". Of course, it was an open air production of Julius Caesar. Get Carter (1971) would be a great one to get your takes upon.

[@majormoviemadness9927]

I love it too, major just didn’t go for it

[@michaelblaine6494]

“You killed 5 actors,good ones” The last part’s great the way it makes it seem like had they been bad actors they may have been more understanding🤣

[@thefincapaloma]

Second that, Get Carter is great.

[@Noel-ji8nm]

@@majormoviemadness9927 Major is clueless.

[@majormoviemadness9927]

@@Noel-ji8nm well I’m not gonna go that far

[@luvlgs1]

in the theater you can see in the dark . but everybody who reacts to this movie on the small screen complains about it being too dark. i wonder why it hasn't been digitally altered somehow to make it more visible on the small screen. keep on rockin

[@majormoviemadness9927]

Yeah someone else mentioned something like that

[@waylonbocephus]

Frank Miller actually was pretty inspired by Dirty Harry when he wrote The Dark Knight Returns.

[@michaelblaine6494]

That’s why we always thought Clint would be great in the live action adaptation until he aged out. Even 10 years ago he could’ve pulled it off. The characterization was pretty much Dirty Harry in a cape and cowl

[@waylonbocephus]

@@michaelblaine6494 actually the idea of him playing an old retired batman like how Kevin Conroy did in Batman beyond I think would be pretty epic. Then the ages even match up well to that Bruce. But that would required writers to actually put work into something which they seem allergic to nowadays.

[@zufgh]

And of course, That Yellow Bastard in Sin City was written as Miller's version of the final Dirty Harry movie, being so dissatisfied with how The Dead Pool turned out.

[@michaelblaine6494]

The Lethal Weapon jumper scene was an intentional homage to the scene in this,this did originate many cop movie tropes of the next few decades

[@thefincapaloma]

I love Dirty Harry. I see the point regarding the lighting and cinematography though. I don't think you should put too much blame on the cinematographer. Both the director, Don Siegel and Clint Eastwood were notorious for having a lean and mean style, mostly to keep the budget low and profits high. But, I have come to appreciate it as a style in it's own right. Don Siegel became a mentor for Clint Eastwood and much more influential than Sergio Leone. You should check out their first outing, Coogan's Bluff. It came out a year or two before Dirty Harry and was kind of a Dirty Harry prototype, less killing though, and it has a clear arc for the Eastwood character. I believe Major will appreciate it more. Another classic that should fit neatly into your current theme is Escape from Alcatraz. A more obscure but interesting film is The Beguiled, which Sofia Coppola remade a few years back. There is more, but I need to stop rambling and get to bed. Thanks again for a great reaction video. It is to my benefit that Major is a "movie history illiterate", but come on man, what do they teach in film school:-)

[@drcornelius8275]

I understand the critic of the darkness of the film at times but I also think it adds to the first person experience as well. Most movies are way too bright during night scenes now. Also, that rating of 2.5 is complete nonsense considering how groundbreaking this film was in so many ways. Hell, just the long hot dog eating action with the bank robbers shot at the beginning is worth that score. If you watch, he's literally chewing that huge bite of dog the entire time.

[@youngwes79]

I love all the locations filmed in San Francisco throughout this whole movie. Kezar Stadium the football field, where the 49ers used to play and Mount Davidson with the big cross just a to name a few spectacular locations of the city in this movie.

[@williamjones6031]

1. The late John Vernon (mayor) played Dean Warmer in Animal House. 2. Andrew Robinson was great in this thing. 3. A movie that is "Dirty Harry-ish" with Eastwood and Sandra Locke; is "The Gauntlet". It's a good flick 4. I saw this in the theater when I was 10 and it blew me away. 5. If/when you watch this again I dare you NOT to count Harry's shots in the final sequence.

[@petedepledge519]

Andrew was also awesome in Deep Space Nine.

[@jammygitt]

Andy Robinson was so good as the lsycho he freaked out Clint in real life who kept as much away from him as possible in their down-time between tskes, according to Robinson

[@garymathena2125]

It's interesting watch people complain about the cinematography of this movie, well people will be watching it a LONG time in the future. I guess that says a lot all by itself. Also says a lot about critics too.

[@geoffmason7215]

dear me the dialouge makes this movie with dirty Harry and all the character interaction the action overload still ends up secondary the sequels that followed were a definate MUST

[@Kenny-ep2nf]

is the dead pool your favorite Dirty Harry sequel?

[@MikkoSimila]

Dirty Harry Trivia: Clint didn't like ending of Dirty Harry where he throws away his badge, and he and director had converstations and arguments about what would be best ending. Throughout the story, Harry grows increasingly frustrated by the justice system, as despite the fact Scorpio is clearly guilty, he keeps being given a pass. Harry tossing his badge both underlines his disillusionment with the system - where he turned to vigilantism just to ensure Scorpio couldn't escape again - and acts as an homage to the ending of 1952 Western High Noon. Eastwood felt Harry throwing away his badge sent the wrong message to the audience and from his perspective, he thought Dirty Harry's ending told viewers the character was quitting. Clint also felt like Dirty Harry could be franchise. However during filming, one day Clint Eastwood decided that Harry should throw away the badge after all. You could argue that Harry frustration to the byrocracy of western soceity law system ultimately changed Clint Eastwood's mind about the ending.

[@MikkoSimila]

21:50 Clint Eastwood himself jumped on that moving bus. And was hanging on that bus roof. the star's longtime stunt double Buddy Van Horn commented on Eastwood's dedication to doing his own stunts. "I've tried to talk him out of it sometimes, but not very successfully most of the time," Van Horn said. "He went 'n' did 'em anyway, several of 'em. He's been banged up a few times.

[@Kenny-ep2nf]

Clint's the terminator

[@kennethcamilleri4678]

The mayor was also the principal in Animal House…..

[@OpenMawProductions]

11:00 Makes no sense to call Harry fascist. He's anti authority. One of the sequels is specifically about that, actually. The irony of some of those pretentious critics of the time is they don't realize that cops like Harry, although they may be outside the law legally, and they go against the system, even the really good parts like innocent until proven guilty... Sometimes there is an ethical dilemma that a person can face. A point where you just have to take matters into your own hands. Sometimes the law is the law, and justice is something else entirely. We're really lucky now, but the world of the 1970s gave us Dirty Harry and Death Wish. Those movies existed because crime was so rampant. It was bad. We're all too young to remember 50 years back. Murder, robbery, rape, they were all through the roof. By the tail end of the 80s and the 90s we saw dramatic drop offs in crime. Characters of this sort were born from the frustrations and fears of those times. I, personally, would recommend watching the rest of the series. You really can't go wrong with Dirty Harry.

[@SMtWalkerS]

Check the other comments. I saw this in the theater for the first time. The dark scenes were much more visible and striking in a theater, seen with real film. The filming seems much more reality based (the shaking, camera, filming in vast outdoor city settings) compared to the artificiality of studio movies of previous decades.

[@Kenny-ep2nf]

seeing it in theaters must have been epic as

[@SMtWalkerS]

@@Kenny-ep2nf It was! With the huge screens that they used to have, popcorn, soda, and your boyfriend next to you, and "Dirty Harry" starting. So, so great.

[@Kenny-ep2nf]

@@SMtWalkerS heaps of nostalgia aye, they don’t make movies like that anymore

[@karimhicks8376]

That is NOT a stiletto, it was a switch blade.! A big difference!!!

[@Kenny-ep2nf]

yessir

[@eddhardy1054]

11:18...If Scorpio was a modern sniper i don't think he'd be using a submachinegun 🤔

[@Kenny-ep2nf]

sounds scary

[@linkloudenback8359]

These movies were were supposed to be edgy. Like Tarantino’s movies but they were done first. It’s kind of a shame that done earlier so get the full effect of story telling. But it’s still shows that it was a head of it’s time. I think Eastwood really took inspiration from the dollars movies and applied it to his own style of movies that why their edgy at least at the time.

[@Kenny-ep2nf]

yeah I like these edgy movies

[@shermanlin5554]

The black actor who "gots to know" if Harry has any bullets left later was Harrys partner in one of the sequels.

[@Kenny-ep2nf]

nice, did Harry recruit him later on?

[@jammygitt]

Not true. He did return to play the pimp,, in the follow up Magnum Force, who pours Draino down the throat of one of his women and is taken out by the vigilante cops. Harry had a blsck partner in the third movie The Enforcer but if wasn’t that dude. Oh, the guy was also in another Clint movie, Coogan’s Bluff with Clint which is an amazing movie.

[@Kenny-ep2nf]

@@jammygitt Thanks for clearing this up

[@frankburmaster6689]

2.5? Nope. Groundbreaking movie on how cops were portrayed. Eastwood was perfect choice after many big stars turned it down.

[@br1729]

Let me guess, these guys love all the "character development" in Tarantino's films.

[@WerewolfReaper]

200 k in 1971 would be almost 1.5 mil today

[@2715bunky]

I don't think that modern TV screens are as efficient in low light scenes from this time.

[@Kenny-ep2nf]

yeah that's a reasonable thing to think

[@TheHeater90]

I like the darkness in the film because it's like, "Oh, you can't see what's going on? F*** you, neither can the characters." Then in certain moments, like when we only see Scorpios eyes watching Harry, the image is that much more startling because of all the darkness around it, or when the other cops turns on all the stadium lights, it's such a cathartic feeling, almost feels like someone opened a window in a stuffy room. The killer is now exposed and can no longer hide in the darkness he'd had the advantage in. This much darkness wouldn't work for most films, but for this one I think it REALLY does. It works better here, for instance, than in Pale Rider, but this film is even darker, as it should be. If you can't see how much of a masterpiece this is, there is little hope for you.

[@Kenny-ep2nf]

yeah I like dark settings as well at times

[@jamescronan7220]

$100,000 then is worth about $750,000 now.

[@majormoviemadness9927]

I know it just sounds funny. Almost like Austin powers “1 million dollars!”

[@milesdust3465]

Who composed that amazing intro-music?🙂

[@waylonbocephus]

Sweet. The Dirty Harry really is a noir film as compared the rest which are more crime and action movie. One of my favorite movies of all time too so this is a win win for me.

[@Kenny-ep2nf]

One of Clint's most memorable roles aye

[@jammygitt]

Gentlemen - another great Clint movie that would be well worthy of a review is COOGAN’s BLUFF!!

[@altaclipper]

I'm curious. Why would a scene that takes place in the dark be lit like it's happening in some other place? I think that, as well as the "amatuerish" cinematography, are directorial choices. Don't like it? There are lots of other movies you can watch.

[@chuckleezodiac24]

right on, bro. complaining about the darkness in the night scenes and calling Don Siegal an amateur reveals that they don't know much about cinema. my opinion is that their opinions aren't worth a shit. even Pauline Kael, who in 1972 condemned DH as a "deeply immoral movie" was able to recognize it as "directed in the sleekest style" and as a "stunningly well-made genre piece."

[@altaclipper]

@@chuckleezodiac24 But they are “filmmakers”.

[@DNulrammah]

The rifle that Callahan used on the roof was chambered in .458 Winchester Magnum. Imagine the recoil. Talk about overkill.

[@Kenny-ep2nf]

LOL heaps

[@nadronnocojr]

100,000$ is equal to 756,000$ today , Average house was 12,000, a hamburger was 11 cents

[@Kenny-ep2nf]

bloody inflation

[@karimhicks8376]

Dirty Hary, had taken inspiration from the ZODIAC SERIAL KILLER CRIMES.

[@Kenny-ep2nf]

correct

[@waylonbocephus]

So the gun Vlint is using in this film is actually a Smith & Wesson Model 29 in 41 Magnum which is no joke but it isn’t actually a 44 in this movie.

[@linkloudenback8359]

It’s understandable that this doesn’t have the same provocative reaction today as it did then.For the time it was really controversial for the use of violence and the social commentary. Even though I was a kid when I first saw this back in the 70’s it was totally different from what the normal movie was considered. Again this was back when some film makers were on a natural lighting kick. It’s not really good for the small screen but it’s better on a big screen from a projector because of the back lighting of the projector. They didn’t plan on it being seen on TV or on tapes or dvds. These older movies weren’t made for viewing other then the theater.

[@arconeagain]

And here we are, 52 years later, yet only one of the several, consecutive racial slurs was bleeped. You've got to ask yourself one question (not you, personally).

[@Kenny-ep2nf]

@@arconeagain LOL never gets old

[@jonathanlay8746]

WB!

[@joecrazy9896]

Hope you guys continue this because the second movie is my personal favorite from the series.

[@Noel-ji8nm]

No it's not lol.

[@Kenny-ep2nf]

I think the dead pool is the best of the 5 but I can see why you like the 2nd one

[@michaelgehrke8272]

I briefly considered giving your review a thumbs down after major's rating, but we're all entitled to our opinion I guess. Even if major is dead wrong in his rating of this film.

[@majormoviemadness9927]

I agree

[@jenniferadam8052]

2.5! No way! It's a 5 for me!

[@ronaldbeam8603]

You guys should watch The French Connection. Another great cop movie.

[@shasta810]

A great movie no one reacts to. most of these channels are stuck in the same greatest hits movie list crap. these guys are rare to actually get away from the same old script. French connection is one of the best movies of the 70s and just an outstanding film all around.

[@Kenny-ep2nf]

did they get inspiration from Dirty Harry?

[@rileyindieman1]

Just plain, simple Garak.

[@dannyc.jewell8788]

A couch is a way of sitting example I couched on the hay stack ,you are couched on the sofa

[@TheCaptainSlappy]

MADNESS.

[@user-cz5bx5pq5v]

Nightime is DARK.. NO Harry doesn't like it "Just like the killer likes it" !! Harry actually has a sense of right and wrong and feels a sense of obligation.. Quit whining! Anyone who thinks Harry is boring has NO room in my reactions .

[@mgman6000]

You are probably watching a cleaned up version for TV broadcast that's why there are dumb remarks, you should always review the actual movie also a $100 k back then is equivalent to over a million today

[@jay4vice]

THIS IS A 1970''S MOVIE tHEATER FILM. THAT'S WHY SCENES WERE TOO DARK.

[@trevor_phillips213]

You guys should react to The Wolf Of Wall Street 2013 and The Sting 1973

[@richarduusijarvi6170]

Stop complaining about the light in Eastwood/Surtees movies and look up Bruce Surtees, the prince of darkness🎬🎥

[@majormoviemadness9927]

I think that was Gordon Willis but he’s a dp what do you expect?

[@MrRondonmon]

@@majormoviemadness9927 I have had this theory for 50 years about why this movie so many dark shots, I think most people saying it was cheaper to make, this or that are in error. Right or wrong, I think they wanted to add suspense, those dark alleys etc. had people feeling on edge, even though nothing much happened. Old black and white films used lights and shadows, here I think they were trying to create atmosphere. I am glad their "new technic" didn't become all the rage, LOL. I hated the dark, hell I once thought my old TV had to be on its death bed watching this. All new fads don't work out.

[@user-cz5bx5pq5v]

EVERYONE LOVES HARRY.

[@Kenny-ep2nf]

I definitely do haha

[@rebelvinny7661]

Can you react to heat

[@Zack_410]

It is an American fascist film no doubt. But it's still damn good and entertaining.

[@Kenny-ep2nf]

One of the best movies ever

[@tymphuket7243]

they cut the n word out,uve lost me

[@perrymalcolm3802]

Sooo u traded the Old Man Beard?!

[@Kenny-ep2nf]

this a quote?

[@borisbrosowski6630]

This is lazy reviewing. The movie was shot to be projected into dark cinema rooms. So the only way to actually see it is in a darkened room on a big screen. I did so last week and was VERY impressed with all the information that was and was not hidden in the darkness. Watching this movie on a small screen in a lit room is not very helpful.

[@tbone35453]

Am I crazy, or is 'Hot Mary' not that hot?

[@majormoviemadness9927]

Your crazy

[@Kenny-ep2nf]

maybe both lol

[@moebees3060]

You guys are clueless.😊

[@Kenny-ep2nf]

lol

[@danielstartek9729]

Hey Major Movie where's Sergeant Film?

[@majormoviemadness9927]

No nco’s here only lt or above