Dirty Harry Movie Challenge: Explain the difference

[rr-electricangel]

First find what is 'off' about these two screenshots...  


Magnum Force: Callahan fires his Model 29 during the police competition combat course



http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Magnum_Force

Ans: Harry's gun is shorter. Now for the challenge. Why is it shorter? Please elaborate as much as you like. (This should be so easy for all of you that saw Magnum Force).

[KC]

Well, if no one else is going to take this one, I'll oblige ... Harry's gun is shorter in the second picture because it isn't HIS gun. It's Davis's .357 Magnum, which the site rr-electricangel links to (the Internet Movie Firearms Database, invaluable) identifies as a Colt Python. Harry asks to fire it after Davis defeats him in the shooting competition, and deliberately misses with one shot, so he can recover the slug later on and analyze the ballistics.

For those who may not be familiar with it, here's a link to the "Eastwood" category in the Internet Movie Firearms Database:

http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Category:Clint_Eastwood

[rr-electricangel]

Well Hallelujah!!  EXCELLENT KC!! I was getting worried. I almost decided to reword my challenge because I thought it was confusing or not interesting enough. Well done! If anyone wants to create another Dirty Harry movie challenge I'm game.  
Remember: You have 5 movies to choose from. 

[KC]

Well, let's try another kind of Dirty Harry challenge ...

What's the difference between these quotations? Again, elaborate as much as you like. I'm assuming everyone here knows "the difference" as in which happens where in which movie.

"Uh-uh, I know what you're thinking. Did he fire six shots or only five. Well, to tell you the truth in all this excitement I've kinda lost track myself. But being this is a .44 Magnum— the most powerful handgun in the world—and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?"

"Uh-uh, I know what you're thinking, punk. You're thinking did he fire six shots or only five. And to tell you the truth I've forgotten myself in all this excitement. But being this is a .44 Magnum—the most powerful handgun in the world—and will blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself a question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?

[exit00]

ok, since I didn't see the first trivia question soon enough to answer.. I figure I better answer this 2nd one.

In Dirty Harry, the first quote is when he shoots the bank robber in the beginning and the second quote is before he kills Scorpio.
I remember distinctly that he calls Scorpio "punk" twice.....

[KC]

That's correct, of course, but I had hoped for a little more elaboration. How does the "punk" react in each case, and what happens to him? How is Harry's delivery of the lines different in each case?

[rr-electricangel]

I like this one. In the first one Harry is rather calm and smug. The bank robber (on the ground and bleeding) asks Harry to tell him if the gun is empty. Harry smiles, aims and pulls the trigger. Since Harry was already out of bullets the bank robber responds with a few choice curse words. In the second one Harry is enraged. Scorpio (also on the ground and bleeding) is not really scared. Scorpio reaches for his gun and Harry pulls the trigger. This time there is one more bullet in the chamber. Scorpio is killed. Harry delivers the line with a lot more attitude. In some sense he is daring Scorpio to reach for his gun by the way he says the word PUNK. You could have easy replaced the word with @#!hole and it would of felt the same.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xjr2hnOHiM



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4jZ7rtWnvs



 

[KC]

That's very good. I think of that little speech as a challenge. In the first case, the bank robber doesn't accept the challenge—he isn't feeling lucky—and lets Harry take his gun ... but he still "gots to know." And Harry, who of course hasn't forgotten a thing in all the excitement, answers him.

Scorpio, however, IS feeling lucky and accepts the challenge ... with fatal results.

Does anyone else have a challenge for us? This isn't really trivia, because we all know these films so well, just a chance to talk about some of the things that make them so effective.

[rr-electricangel]

Never thought of it that way KC. Scorpio did think he was lucky. These challenges don't have to be scene specific. I wouldn't mind a challenge that forces me to guess a little. Here's another easy one.

What different catch phrase does Harry say in each film? Which one is your favorite and explain why?

[KC]

Bump!

I didn't see your latest challenge, rr-ea, because you put it in an edit ... so it wasn't showing up as a "new post."

These challenges don't have to be scene specific. I wouldn't mind a challenge that forces me to guess a little. Here's another easy one.

What different catch phrase does Harry say in each film? Which one is your favorite and explain why?

Anyone?

[rr-electricangel]

Looks like no one remembers or simply do not like this challenge. While catch phrases were all the rage in cop movies Dirty Harry made them memorable. Here they are in case anyone was curious...

1) Dirty Harry: " I know what you're thinking. "Did he fire six shots or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?" (version 1)

2) Magnum Force: "A man's got to know his limitations."

3) The Enforcer: "Marvelous."

4) Sudden Impact: "Go ahead, make my day."

5) The Dead Pool: "You're $#!t out of luck."

[KC]

So, which one is your favorite, rr-ea? And why?

[rr-electricangel]

LOL.    I never thought I'd answer my own challenge but here it goes. To be honest it is Sudden Impact with "Go ahead, make my day." This was the catch phrase that got me into Dirty Harry. I'm not sure if I had even seen the other previous films at that point. I remember seeing pieces of them but I never saw them from beginning to end. I was only 13 at the time so I wasn't exactly a movie critic yet. I have a much better sense of all of them now. David Soul was sort of a hero to me because of Starsky & Hutch. I built several Ford Gran Torino models as a kid. I did NOT like his character being killed in Magnum Force. That is probably why I didn't like Dirty Harry right away. By the time Sudden Impact came out I was hooked. As Harry puts it (in Magnum Force) "Nothing wrong with shooting as long as the right people get shot." From there on I got it...

[Lin Sunderland]

I have two equally favourite catch phrases.

Magnum Force: "A man's got to know his limitations."
and
The Enforcer: "Marvelous."

The first one because it is true and fits a lot of situations and the other because it always makes me smile.

[bdc28]

I have one.... 

How were political ideologies switched between characters....from the original DIRTY HARRY to MAGNUM FORCE?

[Perry]

 " Try knocking on the door" certainly has profound results since Harry did get lucky without using his 44.