The Enforcer

R

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1h 36m

Action

Mystery & Thriller

List

69%

39 Reviews

Tomatometer

59%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Police officer "Dirty Harry" Callahan (Clint Eastwood) is reassigned from homicide to personnel after his latest use of excessive force. Meanwhile, a terrorist group calling themselves the People's Revolutionary Strike Force organizes a series of crimes in San Francisco, hoping to enrich themselves. When they kidnap the mayor (John Crawford) and steal rockets and rifles for their next attack, Harry and his new female partner, Inspector Kate Moore (Tyne Daly), must stop the terrorists.

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Critics Consensus

Though the slightest hints of series fatigue begin to emerge, The Enforcer delivers riveting action and better humor than its predecessors.

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Brent A

40% rating ... The third edition of the Dirty Harry films doesn't do much to intrigue. Outside of Clint Eastwood's character, I feel like everything lagged.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

12/23/23

Full Review

Matthew D

Dirty Harry has to deal with his sexism against women in the police force. Director James Fargo's action thriller The Enforcer (1976) sees Dirty Harry having to shoot Vietnam Veterans turned terrorists alongside contending with his misogyny against women getting promoted to inspector for field service. Fargo's direction is steadfast and engaging. It's interesting to see hiring quotas for five men and three women being required to get promoted to the rank of inspector at Harry's San Francisco Police Department. Harry is skeptical of inexperienced officers taking the field and getting themselves or their partner killed, but they also make it clear he's biased because of his spiteful sexism. Watching Dirty Harry grow up a bit is a nice change, especially after Magnum Force makes him reconsider the ethics of blindly shooting criminals for nearly any offense. The Enforcer sees Dirty Harry mature, while still providing brutal shootouts with plenty of gunfire. Writers Stirling Silliphant, Dean Riesner, Gail Morgan Hickman, and S.W. Schurr came up with a neat idea for Dirty Harry's third film. I liked Harry having to investigate murders and robberies committed by radicalized Vietnam Veterans. It's a very right wing fantasy to shoot liberals, but the villains in The Enforcer are radicalized criminals and way far left to the point of being Communists. I really enjoyed the critique of Dirty Harry as a sexist pig. Dirty Harry and Magnum Force portray Harry Callahan as a trigger happy racist, but he's also a general sexist man. The Enforcer takes on his hateful biases with clever writing. The woman made his partner is smart and competent and Harry learns to respect her as a human being and woman, besides being a capable officer of the law. Harry feels considerably more sensitive emotionally here in The Enforcer, while still tough enough to shoot a revolver bullet into the head of any foes. Editors Joel Cox and Ferris Webster keep a steady pace with slick cuts that focus on faces. I like how fast the gun quickdraw shots feel. The autopsy, rocket demonstration, and endless shootouts are all fun. Cinematographer Charles W. Short uses still wide shots to allow us to see all the action and sets with ease. The majority of shots are these excellent close-ups of Clint Eastwood's scowl. I like the attention to how Harry and Kate both feel or react to their varying insults, suggestions, or admiration. Clint Eastwood is tough and cool as Inspector Dirty Harry Callahan. His ruthless chases, shrewd insight, quickdraw pistol skills, cunning quips, and fearsome demeanor is always entertaining. Eastwood makes The Enforcer a formidable Dirty Harry sequel worth seeing. Clint Eastwood really is captivating as Dirty Harry with his intimidating interrogations, slick quickdraws, fierce gun firing in shootouts, fast car chase driving, and gripping hard boiled personality. Tyne Daly is cute and persistent as new Inspector Kate Moore, who has to get Harry to respect her and stand up for herself. She is smart and increasingly capable of helping in the field. Eastwood's hard glares next to her open faced astonishment is hilarious. I like that she doesn't just take his verbal abuse and ridicule. She makes for a relatively more memorable partner than the first two guys. Harry Guardino's Lieutenant Al Bressler, Bradford Dillman's Captain Jerome McKay, and John Mitchum's Inspector Frank DiGiorgio are great supporting cops for foils against Eastwood. Albert Popwell is engaging and intelligent as the informer and radical leader Big Ed Mustapha. Stunt actors Buddy Van Horn, Bob Herron, and Anthony Cecere pull off high speed chases, fights, shootouts, and explosions with skill. Composer Jerry Fielding's high octane jazz is so pretty and enthralling. The brisk, hectic jazz drumming to the delicate piano or the boisterous horns are killer. In short, The Enforcer is all killer and no killer with plenty of drama, comedy, and action all packed into a tight 96 minutes. The Dirty Harry series rules so far.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/02/23

Full Review

Les N

The first attempt to get a female into a franchise. Good attempt.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

11/17/23

Full Review

Red T

The acting isn't bad but not as good as the first two. Harry can come off in this one as more mean and arrogant at times which he never did in the first two. His partner isn't bad and is definitely the most memorable of all of them he's had but the way shes used isn't to the full potential and instead is treated in a very token womanizing way but more than that there isn't as much chemistry between Harry and her as there needs to be and I'm not sure why. It should work well and is a solid idea on paper but it doesn't as much as it should. The villains aren't bad but no where as memorable as Scorpio or the Cop Gang. Everyone else is not bad either. The cinematography is ok. The camerawork is basic, the San Francisco setting isn't as memorable as the last two, and the action scenes are of varying quality. The rooftop chase went on too long, the end fight was actually solid, the sex parlor was stupid and out of place, the hostage situation at the start was a bit over the top and there are a couple of scenes that just felt out of place like the nun with the shotgun and again the scenes with Harry and Moore don't the banter that Lethal Weapon has for a buddy cop film. The music isn't bad but easily the weakest of the three. The rooftop chase scene funk music felt really out of place but oddly I remember it. The editing isn't bad nor the pacing. This feels like is a very early buddy cop film and has great underlying commentary potential which it does with hit or miss results in addition to telling the terrorist main story. I do like Moore but she needed to be used more, with better chemistry, less out of place scenes, and more focus on weaving the women being able to have a chance with the terrorist story. Even though the ending is the best part it has hit or miss results throughout. If your a die hard fan of Eastwood, Dirty Harry, or Cop Films than check this out. It's a entertaining time, otherwise just sticking to the first two would suit most.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

05/18/23

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damian l

It was a taut action movie with great performances

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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kevin o

...this is a real 70s hard edged cop thriller. Eastwood in his prime.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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James Fargo

Director

Clint Eastwood

Insp. 'Dirty' Harry Callahan

Tyne Daly

Insp. Kate Moore

Harry Guardino

Lt. Al Bressler

Bradford Dillman

Capt. McKay

John Mitchum

Insp. Frank DiGiorgio

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Pauline Kael

New Yorker

... Magnum Force, was poorly made but did have some cheap nastiness; the third in the series, the new. The Enforcer, doesn't have the savvy to be sadistic. It's just limp.

Jan 23, 2024

Full Review

Chris Bennion

Times (UK)

... A straightforward cop thriller, but also a historical snapshot of American manhood dealing with the rising wave of feminism.

Sep 9, 2022

Full Review

Variety Staff

Variety

The spitball script [from a story by Gail Morgan Hickman and S.W. Schurr] lurches along, stopping periodically for the blood-lettings and assorted running and jumping and chasing stuff.

Jun 26, 2008

Full Review

Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

It's truly very violent, but it is also tremendously effective. [Full review in Spanish]

Aug 15, 2023

Full Review

Steve Warren

The Barb (Atlanta)

If you like Clint Eastwood, San Francisco and or blood, you know you'll enjoy it. If you like subtlety, you know you'll do better to stay at home and watch the Beverly Hillbillies.

May 9, 2023

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Tyne Daly's fine performance as a committed policewoman served as a warm-up for her star-making role on TV's Cagney and Lacey.

Rated: 3/4

Dec 16, 2021

Full Review

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Synopsis

Police officer "Dirty Harry" Callahan (Clint Eastwood) is reassigned from homicide to personnel after his latest use of excessive force. Meanwhile, a terrorist group calling themselves the People's Revolutionary Strike Force organizes a series of crimes in San Francisco, hoping to enrich themselves. When they kidnap the mayor (John Crawford) and steal rockets and rifles for their next attack, Harry and his new female partner, Inspector Kate Moore (Tyne Daly), must stop the terrorists.

Director: James Fargo
Screenwriter: Harry Julian Fink, Rita M. Fink, Gail Morgan Hickman, S.W. Schurr, Stirling Silliphant, Dean Riesner
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Production Co: Warner Bros., Malpaso Company
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 22, 1976, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2009
Runtime: 1h 36m
Sound Mix: Mono

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