Dirty Harry (1971)
Let’s start with the gold standard. ‘Dirty’ Harry Callahan, played by the iconic Clint Eastwood, was the police officer who decided to not let political correctness get in the way of combating evil in the city of San Francisco. The film clearly had inspiration from the real Zodiac murders that were never solved. Since our own law enforcement couldn’t curb their citizen’s fear, the city and in some ways the country was in desperate need of a heroic figure to tackle such problems. America didn’t need another fictional superhero flying across the sky, we needed a hero based in reality that could actually help make our cities safe again. Harry Callahan was that guy. Over the course of five films, Harry stopped at nothing to make sure villains got what they had coming. It all started with Don Siegel’s 1971 Dirty Harry, a film that is still relevant today.
