reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (09/05/84)
"Yep, it's another "Dirty Harry" look-alike ..."
Terry Laskodi
I can understand not liking "Tightrope", though I did like it a lot. It
is not really accurate to criticize it as a "Dirty Harry" lookalike, though.
Let's take a look at similarities and differences:
Similarities:
1. Clint Eastwood stars in both.
2. Both are about cops.
3. Both cops are divorced.
Well, that's about it for similarities, and I've included the similarities of
style and tone as well as those of plot. Now for other side.
Differences:
1. Dirty Harry movies are all extremely violent. The purpose of these
movies is to give Eastwood as many chances as possible to blow
away scum who obviously don't deserve to live. To make their
worthlessness clear, show more violence, with the scum killing
other people. "Tightrope" has a fair number of dead bodies,
but the only explicit violence is at the very end.
2. Dirty Harry is a loner without any emotional ties, except maybe
to his partner. Block, in "Tightrope", is a father who
obviously loves his kids very much and loved his wife very
much, too.
3. Dirty Harry operates in complete contempt of the law. He'll get
the bad guys any way he can; if he has to break some laws to
do it, tough luck. Fans of these films would say he prefers
justice to law. Opponents say that what's really operating
is revenge. Block is pretty much by the book. Any laws he
breaks have little or nothing to do with solving the case.
Even under extreme provocation, he doesn't go out by himself
to kick some ass. He follows procedures.
4. A few teases in "Sudden Impact" to the contrary, Dirty Harry
isn't really interested in sex. It takes out too much time
which could be spent blowing holes in people. Eastwood's
character in "Tightrope" is extremely interested in sex.
5. Dirty Harry's partners are marked for death the moment they
get assigned to him. Block doesn't have a partner as
such, and the cops he works with aren't set up just to get
knocked down.
6. Dirty Harry lives in a simple, black and white world. Block
doesn't.
I could go on, but I guess you get the point. "Tightrope" is not really
an action thriller. It's rather more psychological. If you don't like that,
OK. Personally, I think that it's a much better film than any of the Dirty
Harry pictures (with the exception of the first one, which benefited from
fine direction by Don Seigel). At any rate, it isn't trying to be a Dirty
Harry type film, and it seems unfair to judge it as such. By the way, it
made $20 million in 10 days, which is the best opening for any Clint Eastwood
picture. I guess someone else likes it, too.
--
Peter Reiher
reiher@ucla-cs.arpa
{...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiherhawk@oliven.UUCP (09/18/84)
> 3. Both cops are divorced.
I just saw the original. I think he said his wife died. (While talking to his
partners wife)
The "Dirty Harry" Dirty Harry and the "Sudden Impact" Dirty Harry are two
different people. Looks to me like they discovered that the blowing away side
of "Dirty Harry" was the most popular part and decided it was the part to center
more films around.
rick
--
[hplabs|zehntel|fortune|ios|tolerant|allegra|tymix]!oliveb!oliven!hawklmaher@uokvax.UUCP (09/21/84)
< "Do you feel lucky, bug?" > Re: "Tightrope": >/***** uokvax:net.movies / ucla-cs!reiher / 5:19 pm Sep 18, 1984 */ > > "Yep, it's another "Dirty Harry" look-alike ..." > Terry Laskodi >Similarities: > > 3. Both cops are divorced. No, Harry Callahan's wife is dead. He mentions it to his partner's wife in the first movie. This was my major point, so haters-of-magnum-action can stop here if they like. >Well, that's about it for similarities, and I've included the similarities of >style and tone as well as those of plot. Now for other side. > >Differences: > > 1. Dirty Harry movies are all extremely violent. The purpose of these I would hardly say extremely, certainly not for the first movie. All the bloodshed in all four movies put together would equal a few minutes of The Wild Bunch, which is *my* idea of an "extremely violent movie." > 2. Dirty Harry is a loner without any emotional ties, except maybe I agree with this. Dirty Harry isn't even all that close to his partners. Considering their mortality rate, a wise choice. > 3. Dirty Harry operates in complete contempt of the law. He'll get > the bad guys any way he can; if he has to break some laws to > do it, tough luck. Fans of these films would say he prefers > justice to law. Opponents say that what's really operating > is revenge. Harry follows the letter of the law, and what he sees as the spirit - to protect the public. Note that where Harry transgresses is against court decisions that view a trial as a technical exercise in detail, not a search for truth. In the first movie, Harry let the bank robber fire at him *first* before he fired back. There are very few officers who would've given a man with a shotgun that much of an opportunity. > 4. A few teases in "Sudden Impact" to the contrary, Dirty Harry > isn't really interested in sex. It takes out too much time This is a little overstated. And Block's preoccupation with sex is partially a result of working vice. > 5. Dirty Harry's partners are marked for death the moment they > get assigned to him. Block doesn't have a partner as > such, and the cops he works with aren't set up just to get > knocked down. What were the guards on Block's house for if not to get killed? I agree with your conclusion that "Tightrope" is psychological, and is much better than any of the Dirty Harry pictures except the first one. There's going to be a fifth in the series released this Christmas, I think. But they're going steadily downhill. Now that we've seen Harry with the Auto-Mag he should be retired. What is he going to use in the next film, a .460 Weatherby Magnum? ("This is the most powerful rifle in the world. A single shot will blow her head off, and if there were an elephant standing behind you it'd blow his head off too. So you've got to ask yourself one question, punk: Do I feel stupid?") :-) Actually I liked Magnum Force ("A Man's got to know his limitation."), but they should have stopped there. Carl ..!ctvax!uokvax!lmaher