Overview: Academy Award winner Clint Eastwood stars as no-holds-barred San Francisco cop Dirty Harry Callahan in this action thriller that began an action franchise.

When detective Harry Callahan is assigned to pay extortion money to a serial murderer, the payoff goes wrong. Now with the life of a 14-year-old girl at stake, Callahan refuses to allow anything--including the law--to keep him from stopping the killer.

The film is directed by Don Siegel. The screenplay is by Harry Julian Fink, R.M. Fink, and Dean Riesner from a story by Harry Julian Fink and R.M. Fink. The film is produced by Don Siegel. Dirty Harry stars Clint Eastwood, Andy Robinson, Harry Guardino, Reni Santoni, and John Vernon.

Three films from legendary filmmaker Clint Eastwood – Dirty Harry, The Outlaw Josie Wales and Pale Rider (40th anniversary), will be released for the first time on 4K Ultra HD and Digital on April 29th, 2025.

4K UHD Blu-ray Verdict: Warner Bros. Entertainment is expanding their 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray catalog offerings this month with the release of the much beloved Dirty Harry (4K Ultra HD + Digital) in the expansive 4K Ultra HD video format this April 29th, 2025.

For my money, this Dirty Harry (4K Ultra HD + Digital) sharpness takes a fairly large step forward from others in their 4K Ultra HD catalog and even comes with HDR (High Dynamic Range) for the complete 4K Ultra HD experience, of course.

So, what we have is Dirty Harry presented to us as a one-disc with a sheet for a Digital HD Copy. Other stand out points you should know are: Codec: HEVC / H.265, Resolution: Native 4K (2160p), HDR: HDR10, Aspect ratio: 2.40:1 and Original Aspect ratio: 2.39:1.

Featuring Dolby Vision and HDR10 for brighter, deeper, and way more lifelike colors, as with most all 4K UHDs, everything that we watch features these qualities - but somehow, this film gloriously shines within them all.

Noticeably crisp with the overall clarity receiving an obvious boost here on this release, what is more is that it is enjoyably noticeable. For as well as some new nuances to the somewhat drab palette courtesy of Dolby Vision, we also get to witness sudden bright pops of color, which makes the eyes draw in, for sure.

One of those moments is Clint Eastwood’s daring bus roof stunt which exemplifies his commitment to performing his own stunts, adding an extra layer of authenticity and excitement to the film. As Scorpio hijacks the bus and speeds under the bridge, Callahan’s decision to jump onto the vehicle’s roof, despite the inherent dangers, displays Eastwood’s willingness to push the boundaries of his physicality for the sake of the scene.

The fact that Eastwood performed this stunt himself without the use of a stand-in shows his dedication and fearlessness as an actor.

As for the audio, well we get the plentiful choice of: English: Dolby Atmos, English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 and English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono.

Overall, this is a very strong 4K HDR Blu-ray presentation, and, for the most part, the audio track remains fairly similar to its DTS-HD counterpart; with much of the action occupying the surrounds with outstanding directionality and placement where effects flawlessly pan between the sides and rears.

As for the film itself, well, the film opens with a shot of a memorial wall in praise of the San Francisco Police officers who lost their lives in the line of duty, a SFPD badge is prominent as the camera scrolls down the ream of names on the wall.

Cut to a rooftop sniper shooting a girl taking a swim in a swimming pool, cut to the coolest looking cop you have ever seen making his way to the rooftop scene, he stands and surveys the whole of the San Francisco bay area, this is, his area, and we know we are in for a very special film indeed.

Dirty Harry is now something of an institution, the film that pushed the boundaries of cops Vs bad guys movies, some of the films dialogue became part of modern day speak, and the film that propelled Clint Eastwood into the stratosphere of super stardom.

Often wrongly tagged as a fascist film, I think it’s more a cynical look at the rights of criminals because Harry is everyone who has ever been a victim of crime, he will do what it takes to take down the criminals festering in society, you break the law and Harry will get you any way he can.

Here Harry is on the trail of Scorpio, a ruthless sniper killing at random, Scorpio kidnaps a teenage girl and demands $200.000 from the city or she will die in the hole he has her buried in. Harry is just the man for the job of delivery boy and this sets the wheels in motion for what becomes a personal crusade for Harry to take Scorpio down at all costs.

Director Don Siegel crafts a masterpiece here, creating a western within the big city landscape, the pace is energetic at times yet reeling itself in to provide genuine suspense when needed. Siegel should also be praised for sticking by Andy Robinson as Scorpio for it’s an insanely great performance from him, but it might never had happened since Robinson was petrified of guns, but Siegel stood by him and coaxed him thru it.

The result is a maniacal turn that scares and amuses in equal measure, witness his mad singing during a bus kidnap scene, you won’t know whether to laugh or be afraid.

Yet as good as Robinson is, he gives way to a seamless piece of magnificence from Eastwood as Harry Callahan, note perfect and enthusing the role with the right amount of dynamic cool and gusto, it’s no surprise that the character became a cinematic legend after such a great acting performance.

Finally I must mention the wonderful score from Lalo Schifrin, jazz/electro/beat combinations segue perfectly into each scene with maximum impact to cap off one of the finest films of the 70’s, and if you don’t believe me then you go argue with Harry!

Dirty Harry 4K Ultra HD contains the following new and previously released special features:
• Commentary by Richard Schickel
• Generations and Dirty Harry - NEW
• Lensing Justice: The Cinematography of Dirty Harry - NEW
• American Masters Career Retrospective: Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows
• Clint Eastwood: The Man from Malpaso
• Clint Eastwood: A Cinematic Legacy – Fighting for Justice
• Interview Gallery
Patricia Clarkson
Joel Cox
Clint Eastwood
Hal Holbrook
Evan Kim
John Milius
Ted Post
Andy Robinson
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Robert Urich
• Dirty Harry’s Way
• Dirty Harry: The Original