Although perhaps "simplistic" and overdone by today's standards, Dirty Harry franchise was an extremely popular in the 70's, and Eastwood was the number one box office draw during that time. Gosh, I remember the long lines waiting to get into the theater.

Keep in mind RR that, during that era (and probably into the 80's) there were movies making "statements" (of sorts) of corruption within our police/judicial systems. Even still, how many times we the public, criticize people for "getting off scott free?" Even though we can't condone vigilante justice, or Harry's way of doing things, it was great to escape into a fantasy that we probably have all wished for at some time or another: kick the bad guy's ass and the laws be damned! I can't see that kind of film being "big" today, but it seemed to fit in with the times.

While Dirty Harry was a fictional rogue/kick-ass cop, there were other movies such as "Justice For All" and another Pacino movie, "Serpico", which was based on a true story, that at the time, shocked most people that our justice system could be so corrupt. I think these all were a sign of the times we lived in.

Yea, outdated now, but man, it sure was appealing at the time. I actually prefer the Dirty Harry series to the Spaghetti western series.

TIS

P.S. Fitting in this thread..I started to watch "The Italian Job" which was on tv last night. I probably got halfway through it and fell asleep . The storyline was good and I'm anxious to see it all the way through.