Eastwood debuts his most popular non-western anti-hero in splendid form here, courtesy of Don Siegel's gritty direction and some iconic, oft-quoted talk about the size of Clint's handgun.
As Dirty Harry Callahan, he's willing to stop at nothing to get criminals off the streets. From the opening prelude of a bank robbery and attempted suicide, to the main chase to find a ruthless serial killer who's sniping at random victims, Harry gets the job done.
Along with the macho posturing, Dirty Harry is also a great city movie, with San Francisco used to full effect, and looking especially wonderful in this format.