THE ENFORCER

title: THE ENFORCER

year: 1978

cast: Clint Eastwood, Tyne Daley, Bradford Dillman, Pepe Serna

rating: ****

Third entry in the Dirty Harry series pits iconic Clint Eastwood against a group of Vietnam Vet revolutionaries who... well, they like killing and blowing stuff up. Like other DH films, the main plot, teased in the intro, sustains in the second half: after Harry battles various petty hoods stupid enough to try. Tyne Daley is a nicely balanced non-pushy feminist sidekick, both assertive and vulnerable... the action is perfectly sporadic, the dialog is fun and pulpy, the soundtrack cool and funky, and Bradford Dillman makes for a great jerk cop-boss, more of a thorn in Harry's side than the main killers, all ending up in a nifty shootout on Alcatraz isle.