The only film in the Dirty Harry series directed by star Clint Eastwood and the only film in the series not set in San Francisco, Sudden Impact stands easily as the darkest picture of the five.

The film follows a woman named Jennifer Spencer (Sondra Locke) who, along with her younger sister, was gang raped outside a carnival one night years ago. Her sister was left catatonic and Jennifer wants revenge. While Jennifer starts murdering the rapists one at a time, San Francisco Police Department Detective Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) has left the courthouse where his case against a hood named Hawkins (Kevyn Major Howard) was thrown out to grab a coffee at his regular diner. While he's in there, an attempted robbery plays out by Harry stops it thanks to his handy .44 Magnum.

Shortly after, Callahan pressures a mobster named Threlkis (Michael V. Gazzo) at his granddaughter's birthday party and the old guy dies from a heart attack. Callahan's superior officers take issue with his tactics and force him to take a vacation but not before Harry gets to investigate the murder that Jennifer was responsible for from the other night. While out trying to get some rest and relaxation, Callahan is attacked by Hawkins and a few of his pals. The top brass finally bring Callahan back on the force and send him to San Paulo to investigate a rash of killings that have taken place there, and it just so happens that Jennifer has gone that direction herself, supposedly to paint the local carousel. As Callahan starts putting the pieces of the puzzle together the bodies start pilling up. He finds himself not only trying to solve the murder case but also trying to survive attacks from Threlkis' men and having to play nice with the local police on top of that.

Sudden Impact is an interesting film in that it forces Harry Callahan to evaluate the case and to in turn decide for himself what true justice really is. One side of him sees things through the eyes of a police officer and needs to enforce the law, while the other side is completely sympathetic to Jennifer's quest for vengeance. This gives Callahan a little more humanity than we've seen prior and as his relationship with Jennifer evolves throughout the film we're able to understand where he's coming from enough that it all fits. That's not to say that Sudden Impact doesn't pack as much of a punch as the earlier entries in the series as it's literally action packed to the point where so much happens to Callahan that it almost becomes farcical.

Eastwood's penchant for directing violent cinema is very apparent here but on the flip side, so is his sense of control and this is evident not only in the action scenes but also in the quieter moments in the film and in the character development. This makes Sudden Impact an atypical Dirty Harry film as it really gives Callahan a lot more personal growth and depth than we'd seen up until this point in the series. Many of the typical elements are still there - the one liners ('Go ahead, make my day.'), the shoot first and ask questions later mentality, the poignant violence, and the attitude - but we see Callahan as a man more than a machine.

On top of the interesting character development the film is stylish and slick looking. The cinematography is great and the picture contains some truly tense scenes (the flashback to the gang rape is particularly harrowing). Eastwood is as strong a lead as he's ever been here and he plays Callahan incredibly well. His interplay with Sondra Locke is honest and believable and the supporting performances all fit in nicely with story and the atmosphere. Lalo Schifrin's score suits the picture perfectly and adds to the sense of menace that make some of the key scenes as effective as they are and ultimately Sudden Impact holds up very well as a quality slice of drama and action.

Video:

Sudden Impact hits DVD in a very nice anamorphic widescreen transfer framed at 2.35.1 preserving the film's original aspect ratio. Compared to the previous release (which looked just fine), this new transfer is a noticeable improvement as it shows better detail and more robust colors. There aren't any problems with mpeg compression artifacts nor is there much in the way of edge enhancement to complain about. This is a very dark film, stylistically speaking and in terms of content, so it's important that the black levels are strong and thankfully it would seem that those responsible for the transfer kept that in mind as the dark scenes look just fine here. There's a little bit of grain and the odd speck of print damage here and there but not enough of it to warrant a complaint. Overall, fans should be quite pleased with the way that the movie looks on this DVD.