X
  • 1983
  • R
  • Warner Bros.
  • 1 h 57 m
  • 1983
  • R
  • Warner Bros.
  • 1 h 57 m

Summary The fourth of the Dirty Harry films starring Clint Eastwood, and the first of them to be directed by Eastwood. In it, a rape victim is exacting revenge on her aggressors in a small town outside San Francisco. "Dirty" Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood), on suspension for angering his superiors (again), is assigned to the case.

Directed By: Clint Eastwood

Written By: Harry Julian Fink, Rita M. Fink, Joseph Stinson, Earl E. Smith, Charles B. Pierce, Chuck Pfarrer, Dean Riesner

  • 1983
  • R
  • Warner Bros.
  • 1 h 57 m
  • 1983
  • R
  • Warner Bros.
  • 1 h 57 m

Sudden Impact

Metascore Mixed or Average Based on 13 Critic Reviews
52
User Score Generally Favorable Based on 19 User Ratings
6.5
My Score
Hover and click to give a rating Saved

Where to Watch

Summary The fourth of the Dirty Harry films starring Clint Eastwood, and the first of them to be directed by Eastwood. In it, a rape victim is exacting revenge on her aggressors in a small town outside San Francisco. "Dirty" Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood), on suspension for angering his superiors (again), is assigned to the case.

Directed By: Clint Eastwood

Written By: Harry Julian Fink, Rita M. Fink, Joseph Stinson, Earl E. Smith, Charles B. Pierce, Chuck Pfarrer, Dean Riesner

Where to Watch

Top Cast

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View All Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Mixed or Average Based on 13 Critic Reviews
52
46% Positive
6 Reviews
38% Mixed
5 Reviews
15% Negative
2 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Mixed or Average Based on 13 Critic Reviews
52
46% Positive
6 Reviews
38% Mixed
5 Reviews
15% Negative
2 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
75
A viscerally effective, fast paced thriller.
By James Berardinelli FULL REVIEW
70
The film is split down the middle, with many elegant symmetries and curling plotlines bridging the two halves: one part is a bracing, funny, almost Keaton-esque comedy starring Harry as a deadpan center of disaster; the other is a brooding, brutal film noir, starring Sondra Locke as a vengeful femme fatale.
By Dave Kehr FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

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User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 19 User Ratings
6.5
47% Positive
9 Ratings
53% Mixed
10 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings

User Reviews

 View All
User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 19 User Ratings
6.5
47% Positive
9 Ratings
53% Mixed
10 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings

There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.

63
Wonderfully directed - the interiors are lit like Caravaggio, the action sequences are smooth as a well-oiled .38) - but is less than wonderful, unless you're the kind of moviegoer who loves to cheer when human "vermin" gets its guts blown out. [10 Dec 1983]
By Jay Scott
60
The trouble with Sudden Impact is that it has the makings of a fascinating, multileveled melodrama, but settles for crude, comic-book detail. Eastwood doesn't want to let down his Dirty Harry fans, but at the same time he wants to take this character into deeper and murkier waters. The result is curious, a disquisition on the justice of revenge written with a spray can. [12 Dec 1983, p.109]
By David Ansen
50
The real problem here is technical; Eastwood the director is far less sure-footed than he was with the likes of Play Misty for Me or The Outlaw Josey Wales.
FULL REVIEW
40
Unfortunately, it fizzles after a fast-paced, action-packed, full-of-business-and-bullets beginning...It's not the fault of Eastwood the actor, who's still every bit the spaghetti samurai. It's Eastwood the director, with his flashbacks and symbolism, who misjudges the pace."Sudden Impact probably isn't worth a few dollars more.
FULL REVIEW
30
The screenplay is ridiculous, and Mr. Eastwood's direction of it primitive, which is surprising because he has shown himself capable in such films as ''The Outlaw Josey Wales'' and ''The Gauntlet.''
By Vincent Canby FULL REVIEW
See All 13 Critic Reviews

Details

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Production Company Warner Bros., The Malpaso Company
Release Date Dec 9, 1983
Duration 1 h 57 m
Rating R
Genres
Tagline Two killers are at large. One of them is Dirty Harry. [Video]
View All Details

Awards

Jupiter Award
• 2 Nominations
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
• 1 Nomination

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