| Sudden Impact | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster byBill Gold | |
| Directed by | Clint Eastwood |
| Screenplay by | Joseph Stinson |
| Story by |
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| Based on | |
| Produced by | Clint Eastwood |
| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Bruce Surtees |
| Edited by | Joel Cox |
| Music by | Lalo Schifrin |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
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Running time | 117 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $22 million[1] |
| Box office | $150 million[2] |
Sudden Impact is a 1983 Americanneo-noiraction-thriller film, the fourth in theDirty Harry series, directed, produced by, and starringClint Eastwood (making it the onlyDirty Harry film to be directed by Eastwood himself) and co-starringSondra Locke.[3] The film tells the story of a gang-rape victim (Locke) who decides to seek revenge on her rapists 10 years after the attack by killing them one by one. Inspector Callahan (Eastwood), famous for his unconventional and often brutal crime-fighting tactics, is tasked with tracking down the serial killer.
The film is notable for the catchphrase "Go ahead, make my day", written byJohn Milius[citation needed] and uttered by Clint Eastwood's gun-wielding character at the beginning of the film as he stares down an armed robber who is holding a hostage. This is the lastDirty Harry film to featureAlbert Popwell. It is also the second film in the series to featureBradford Dillman, although in a different role than the one inThe Enforcer, and the third to be scored byLalo Schifrin. Character actor and Eastwood's friendPat Hingle is also in the film ; he had performed alongside Eastwood inHang 'Em High (directed byTed Post, who would also directMagnum Force, the second entry in theDirty Harry series) andThe Gauntlet (directed by Eastwood, and featuring Sondra Locke as well). At 117 minutes, it is the second longest film of the series afterMagnum Force.
In 1973, artist Jennifer Spencer and her sister, Beth, aregang raped; the attack leaves Beth in acatatonic state. Ten years later, Spencer uses a.38 Special to kill George Wilburn, one of the rapists, inSan Francisco and returns to her hometown of San Paulo,[a] looking for the remaining criminals. Meanwhile, InspectorHarry Callahan is frustrated when another judge dismisses a case due to his direct methods. At his favorite diner, Callahan foils a robbery, killing three criminals in the process. He later causes local crime lord Threlkis to suffer a fatalheart attack after insulting him in front of his family at his daughter's wedding.
Unable to fire him because his methods "get results", Callahan's superiors instead order him to take a vacation. Four of Threlkis's hitmen eventually attack him. Callahan takes down three, while the fourth escapes. Later, the suspect from the dismissed case and his friends throwMolotov cocktails into Callahan's car. Acting inself-defense, he kills his attackers. To get Harry out of sight until the furor dies down, Callahan is sent to San Paulo.
Upon arrival, Callahan chases down a robber. The reckless but successful pursuit angers the San Paulo police. While jogging with hisbulldog, Meathead (a gift from fellow SFPD colleague, Horace), Callahan accidentally runs into Spencer. On returning to his room at a motel, he is targeted by the surviving Threlkis hitman, who is killed by Callahan. Meanwhile, Spencer kills Kruger, a second rapist. Callahan recognizes themodus operandi, but Lester Jannings, San Paulo's police chief, refuses to work with him.
Callahan learns both victims are friends of Jannings' son, Alby. Ray Parkins, the female member of the gang of rapists, figures out they are being targeted, and warns two of the remaining men, Tyrone and Mick. At an outdoor cafe, Callahan meets Spencer again. Over drinks, he learns that she shares his emphasis on results over methods when seeking justice, to a point, but he adds the caveat "'til it breaks the law." Callahan reveals that he is investigating Wilburn's murder, which rattles Spencer. Later, he finds Tyrone dead.
To be more protected, Mick stays with Parkins at her place. While visiting them for questioning, Mick attacks Callahan. After Callahan subdues Mick and takes him to the police station, Spencer guns down Parkins.
Callahan and Spencer meet again and sleep together. On his way back to the motel, Callahan notices her car, which he had seen earlier at Parkins' place. Returning there, he finds Parkins' body. Two of Mick's friends bail him out of jail. Meanwhile, Callahan's partner Horace arrives at the motel to celebrate the easing of tensions in San Francisco. He meets Mick and his henchmen, instead, who have been waiting to spring an ambush. Mick's gang kills Horace andneuters Meathead with aswitchblade. They then beat up Callahan before throwing him off a pier, presuming he will drown.
Spencer arrives at the Jannings home with the intention of killing Alby, another one of the rapists. To her surprise, Alby, like her sister, is catatonic; a guilty conscience caused him to attempt suicide, which left him with permanentbrain damage. To protect his own reputation and his only child, Jannings refused to jail the guilty parties. He convinces Spencer to spare Alby's life and promises Mick will be punished. Mick and his henchmen, however, arrive and capture Spencer, using her gun to kill Jannings.
Enraged at what happened to Horace and Meathead, Callahan goes after Mick's gang with his.44 Automag. The gang brings Spencer to the boardwalk for another rape but are startled by Callahan's apparent return from the dead. Callahan chases Mick after killing his henchmen. Mick drags Spencer to the top of aroller coaster, where she breaks free. Callahan shoots Mick, who falls from the top of the coaster, crashes through the glass roof of thecarousel below, and is impaled on the horn of its unicorn.
As the local cops deal with the crime scene, Spencer asks Harry, "what happens now?" Before he can answer she makes a angry tirade against him talking aboutrights andjustice, saying he will never understand. A policeman informs Harry they've found a .38 on Mick.Ballistics, Callahan replies, will prove that "his gun … was used in all the killings," telling the cop that, "it's over." Callahan and Spencer leave the crime scene together.
The script was initially written byCharles B. Pierce and Earl E. Smith for a separate film for Locke, but was later adapted into aDirty Harry film byJoseph Stinson.[4] Filming occurred in spring 1983.[5] Many of the film's scenes were filmed in San Francisco andSanta Cruz, California.[6] The scene where Harry chases a bank robber in the downtown business district offers a rare glimpse of the area before it was devastated by theLoma Prieta earthquake of October 17, 1989. Footage for the robbery in "Acorn Cafe" was shot at Burger Island, later a McDonald's and now the site of a hotel, at the corner of 3rd and Townsend in San Francisco.[7]Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk was the amusement park where the climactic scene was filmed.[8] At this point in his career, Eastwood was receiving a salary that included 60% of all film profits, leaving the other 40% for the studio. Estimates had Eastwood earning $30 million forSudden Impact.
It was Locke's last film to be widely released.[9] Perpetuating a career-long pattern that saw her playing protagonists much younger than herself,[b] at 39, Locke was older than the group of actors cast as the rapists and 21 years older than the youthcatcalling her near the start of the movie. She was six years older than Audrie Neenan, though the character of Parkins is clearly meant to be older than Spencer. Moreover, the actress who played Locke's sister was 11½ years her junior.
Sudden Impact is the third film of the series to be scored byLalo Schifrin (Jerry Fielding was in charge of the music on the previous film).
In its opening weekend, the film took $9,688,561 in 1,530 theaters in the US.[13] In total in the US and Canada, the film made $67,642,693, making it the highest grossing of the five films in theDirty Harry franchise.[5][14] The film also surpassed the $63.6 million gross ofThunderball (1965) to become the highest-grossing fourth installment of a film in the United States and Canada.[15] Worldwide, it grossed more than $150 million.[2]
Review aggregation websiteRotten Tomatoes retrospectively gave the film a score of 52% based on 42 reviews. The consensus reads: "Sudden Impact delivers all the firepower – and the most enduring catchphrase – fans associate with theDirty Harry franchise, but it's far from the best film in the series."[16]
Vincent Canby criticized the film, stating: "The screenplay is ridiculous, and Mr. Eastwood's direction of it primitive, which is surprising because he has shown himself capable in such films asThe Outlaw Josey Wales andThe Gauntlet. Among other things, the movie never gets a firm hold on its own continuity. Sometimes scenes of simultaneous action appear to take place weeks or maybe months apart."[17]Roger Ebert was more positive, awarding three stars out of four; while noting that the film was "implausible" with "a cardboard villain", he also praised it as "aDirty Harry movie with only the good parts left in" and "a great audience picture."[18]Variety noted that "everything is pitched for maximum action impact, so audiences should feel they got their money's worth," but also thought that the action scenes put "too much reliance on characters, particularly Harry, being in the right place at the right time."[19]Gene Siskel of theChicago Tribune gave the film two stars out of four and wrote that nothing in theDirty Harry sequels "has ever come close to the evil Scorpio in its portrayal of a bad guy. Because of that they are lesser films. We never feel that Harry is in any real danger."[20]Kevin Thomas of theLos Angeles Times slammed the film as "the exploitation picture at its most nakedly manipulative," which "doesn't just exploit sex and violence but also audience prejudices toward minorities. (True, Callahan's partner, played by Albert Popwell, is black, but he's around only briefly.) That it exploits with sleek cinematic skill—not to mention a great deal of righteousness—makes it all the more reprehensible."[21] A negative review fromPauline Kael inThe New Yorker remarked that the film "might be mistaken for parody if the sledgehammer-slow pacing didn't tell you that the director (Eastwood) wasn't in on the joke."[22]
Sudden Impact is best remembered for Harry'scatchphrase, "Go ahead, make my day". United States PresidentRonald Reagan used the "make my day" line in a March 1985 speech threatening to veto legislation raising taxes.[5][23] When campaigning for office as mayor ofCarmel-by-the-Sea, California, in 1986, Eastwood used bumper stickers entitled "Go Ahead — Make Me Mayor".[5]
Excerpts from the dialogue of the French-dubbed version can be heard in the movieLa Haine (1995).
The film is recognized byAmerican Film Institute in these lists:
"Make My Day" is anovelty song recorded by American country music artistT. G. Sheppard featuring Clint Eastwood.[25] It was released in February 1984 as the second single from the albumSlow Burn. The song reached #12 on theBillboardHot Country Singles & Tracks chart.[26] The song was written byDewayne Blackwell.
Sudden Impact, made five years earlier, had by then earned more than $150 million.
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