The Enforcer

[Brendan]

Well today I re-watched The Enforcer. Now, the last time I saw it, was quite a few years ago, so I forgot most of it.

Today when I was watching it, I realized it isnt that bad of a movie.

Its just, well, Harry didnt seem like the Harry from 'Dirty Harry'. He seemed more loosened up and he was cracking more jokes.

I dont know, maybe its just me.

But I must admit, there was one scene near the begining when Harry was being demoted to personal, that made me laugh. He said "Personal is for a**holes!" then the cheif said, "I worked personal for 10 years!!" then Harry stood there with a blank expression on his face and just said, "yah". It was quite amusing.

The performances were "marvelous" all around, but the movie still didnt seem to do it for me.

I tried Matt. I will admit, however, that, yes, I was hard on it during the Eastwood Film Survivor.

Its not my favourite Dirty Harry[/b] movie, that one is held by, well, Dirty Harry of course . But it does replace The Dead Pool as my fourth favourite Harry movie. So there you go Matt.

Maybe in the next Eastwood film survivor, I wont be so fast to knock it off the island.

[Holden Pike]

I think you're probably insane if any movie other than The Dead Pool is fifth on your list of favorite Harry Callahan flicks.

I'd rank The Enforcer fourth as well. It's not a bad movie, but it doesn't have the darkness of Sudden Imapct or the cleverness of Magnum Force. Tyne Daly was good and Cint is Clint, but the plot line was definitely on the hoaky side and insufferably dated.



And Nightwing, why didn't you post this in the Dirty Harry Forum?!?  

[Brendan]

And Nightwing, why didn't you post this in the Dirty Harry Forum?!?  

Good question. I really dont know. Maybe it has something to do with the new board? OR maybe its just becasue when I logged on, I saw 'General Discussion' first and just decided to post it here.

The Moderators can move it if they want.

[Agent]

Maybe you're still shaken up over that fender-bender yesterday(?)  

[Holden Pike]

Oh, they shall, my friend. They shall.

[Holden Pike]

See.  

[Brendan]

Thanks Holden.

And Agent, that accident could be a possbility.

But, either way, The Enforcer, I believe, still isnt one of Eastwoods best movies.

[Christopher]

The Enforcer is one of my favorite Harry sequels. I also really like Magnum Force a lot. I like the Harry's from the 1970's more than the '80s. (This is all starting to sound really familar to me, like maybe I posted these same thoughts on the old board) I don't want to take anything away from Sudden Impact or The Dead Pool because I've always had a lot of fun watching them as well.

[little_bill]

i'm gonna get hell for this  but  i actually rank them in the order they came out, i like enforcer, i think it shows harry in a different situation, female partner and demoted and then promoted, its kinda cool to see the character handle the situations, the character of harry calaghan in enforcer for me was always the closest to the original dirty harry, something to do with th edetermination and the way he threw away his badge at the end of DH but seemed to be playing happy camper in MF he was back to being grumpy mean and nasty in enforcer.
just my opinion anyway

[Agent]

Yeah, first impressions can stick with you permanently, especially if you first saw certain  Eastwood films as a young kid. I recall The Enforcer being a big deal on primetime network television in the 70s, the “ABC Movie of the Week” (or whatever network it was broadcast on), with TV Guide featuring a half page article on the movie . So watching that with everyone crowded around the big TV in the living room made it all the more exciting. I also recall Play Misty, Beguiled, Joe Kidd, Thunderbolt, High Plains, etc, that were big events on network primetime TV back then (several years before cable was even heard of by most households). I mean, with no video players on the market yet, you made time to watch those because who knew when they’d be broadcast again?

Guess what I'm trying to say is, alot of semi-corny Eastwood films today (like Enforcer), were big deals in the 70s, since the chance to view them wasn't too often.

Man, how times have changed.  

[Walt]

The Enforcer while it may be the weakest of the original three movies is head and shoulders over Sudden Impact and The Dead Pool .
It's got good villains, a decent partner and a suitably downbeat 70s ending . It also features one of the best set pieces in the series when Harry drives through the shop window 44 Magnum blazing .

[Smith&Wesson44]

I think of Enforcer as the weakest of the series.  By that I mean slight on action and more focused on character development (Harry's reaction to a female partner, Moore trying to gain Harry's respect).  But it has my favorite scene of any DH...the Tiffany's scene where he beats the bloody blue hell out of the pimp and the bouncer.

[MikeyJ86]

The Enforcer is my favorite Dirty Harry movie!  I think the dialogue between Harry and his new female partner is enjoyable, and it's wicked cool how Harry bloows the last bad dude away with a bazooka after his partner gets shot.

Dirty Harry is my second favorite only because the Scorpio killer is such an annoying bastard; It's very gratifying when he gets shot.

[Brendan]

The Enforcer is my favorite Dirty Harry movie!  I think the dialogue between Harry and his new female partner is enjoyable, and it's wicked cool how Harry bloows the last bad dude away with a bazooka after his partner gets shot.

Dirty Harry is my second favorite only because the Scorpio killer is such an annoying bastard; It's very gratifying when he gets shot.

The bazooka was a sell-out tactic. I didnt like it one bit. It seemed like they were trying to make Harry a 'Rambo' type guy by making him use the bazooka. Pathetic and lame.

And Scorpio is supposed to be an annoying bastard. That was the character, you wanted him to get what he deserved, and that happened.

[ajay]

nightwing. whenever i think of enforcer one thing which comes to my mind is the conversation that takes place  regarding the personel dept, and the expressions by clint  thereafter. enforcer is good but nowhere near dirty harry or magnum force.

[Brendan]

I wasnt saying the whole movie was a sell-out becuase of the bazooka scene, just that one part. It was a sell out ending. A very disapointing ending from my point of view.  

[KC]

The bazooka was a sell-out tactic. I didnt like it one bit. It seemed like they were trying to make Harry a 'Rambo' type guy by making him use the bazooka. Pathetic and lame

Hmm, Nightwing, since the first "Rambo" film came out in 1982 ... six years after The Enforcer ... it seems reasonable to assume that whatever the filmmakers' intent was with the LAWS rocket, it was not to make Harry Callahan a "Rambo type guy."

[Brendan]

I was just using Rambo as an example. I knew the movie came out way after The Enforcer.

What I was saying, was that they were trying to make some huge action hero that would go around with a machine blowing people away, getting pumped full of bullets, but still going on. The first John Rambo/John McClaine if you will.

I felt as though, they ruined part of the Harry character for me when they made him use that rockett launcher.

All was fixed though, with that elevator scene and then the coffee shop scene in Sudden Impact.

[Matt]

What I was saying, was that they were trying to make some huge action hero that would go around with a machine blowing people away, getting pumped full of bullets, but still going on. The first John Rambo/John McClaine if you will.

   I don't see it.  I mean, not even close.   Harry was never "pumped full of bullets", but he did take a bullet here or there... he took one in Dirty Harry... and still kept "going on."  Doesn't make him a "Rambo type," does it?   What's so bad about him using the Laws rocket?  It was part of the storyline, it didn't just come out of nowhere like the harpoon gun in The Dead Pool.

But, I guess this just had to become another thread comparing Eastwood to either Schwarzenegger or Stallone.  That's been going on since you started posting regularly... even if there IS no comparison.  

[Christopher]

The harpoon gun in The Dead Pool was overdoing it a little, the rocket in The Enforcer was convenient.

I just noticed this from Smith&Wesson's post from a little while back:

I think of Enforcer as the weakest of the series.  By that I mean slight on action and more focused on character development.

This is something that I've always liked about the Harry movies from the '70s in general. They aren't as focused on action the way Sudden Impact and The Dead Pool are. In those last two, you get the feeling people are getting shot just for the spectacle of it.
Usually, I can't decide which movie to put second on my list of favorites from the series, The Enforcer or Magnum Force. I like both just about equally.