Ass Whoopin Wednesdays: Sudden Impact (1983)

This year we’ve been exploring films that I have never seen for a challenge that I have been doing for another blog. So, we’ve been exploring the Dirty Harry collection which stars the legendary Clint Eastwood (The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly) as Harry Callahan. For this week’s Ass Whoopin Wednesday film, we are checking out the fourth film in the series in Sudden Impact. Jennifer Spencer (Sandra Locke) and her sister were brutally raped by some men years ago, but the men never went to jail for it. Now years later, she is on the hunt for revenge which in turn grabs the attention of Harry Callahan (Eastwood). When things begin to heat up, he is forced on a “vacation” to Sao Paulo, California where he investigates the case in the small town that is linked to the crime in San Francisco. The film also stars Pat Hingle (Batman Forever) as Chief Jannings, Bradford Dillman (Escape From The Planet of the Apes) as Captain Briggs, Paul Drake (Beverly Hills Cop) as Mick, Audrie Neenan (Doubt) as Ray Parkins, Jack Thibeau (Escape From Alcatraz) as Kruger, Albert Popwell (The Enforcer) as Horace King, Wendell Wellman (Sommersby) as Tyrone, and the film was directed by Clint Eastwood. Before we get into the review of the film, let’s check out some stats:

So in our third Dirty Harry film, how did Harry Callahan do as far as the stats are concerned? As far as knockouts/kills, he has about 21 of them while there is still no origin story. I put down that he had no love interest because as far as the film went, it seemed that he didn’t have any and as far as we can see it was a one night stand (so that answers the sexual conquest question). I kind of dropped the ball on the hurt question because his good friend or partner is killed when he comes to visit and his new pet Bulldog is hurt as well and the big boss definitely gets what’s coming to him. I was surprised at first to see that Clint had directed the film, but then again why wouldn’t he t this point. This wasn’t his foray into directing anyways so it only seems natural at this point in the series. Callahan is still taking people out one by one and thee San Francisco PD an District Attorney still hates him for it. The film has plenty of action scenes to please any Dirty Harry fan, but it some of the shots of the film I love like the sequence when Harry comes back to save the day. I loved the look of that sequence which is why I chose it for my stats above. On a side note, I noticed that Albert Popwell has now played three different characters (A pimp, social activist, and a cop) in the series. I just thought that was a cool tidbit. I definitely enjoyed this one better than The Enforcer, but the first two are still gold. With that being said, I am going to go ahead and give this film four fists out of five for a final grade.