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Dirty Harry is packaged in a two-disc set; the other four titles are single-disc editions. Various extras (some held over from previous DVD versions) include audio commentaries, featurettes on the character's lasting influence, the controversy surrounding his moral outlook, and the debate over violence in cinema, the 1993 TV special Clint Eastwood: The Man from Malpaso, and a trailer gallery containing previews of all five flicks in the series. The box set also contains a bonus disc featuring the 2000 documentary Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows, a hardcover book filled with movie stills and trivia, five lobby card reproductions, a replica of Harry Callahan's wallet with his I.D. card, and more.
Dirty Harry: ***1/2
Magnum Force: ***
The Enforcer: ***
Sudden Impact: ***
The Dead Pool: **1/2
Extras: ****
HIGH NOON (1952). The favorite of many U.S. presidents (including Bill Clinton, who's interviewed in one of the accompanying features) yet detested by (among others) John Wayne, Francois Truffaut and influential critic Andrew Sarris, High Noon has long been considered one of the greatest Westerns ever produced by Hollywood. Yet as a film scholar notes in one of the bonus features, it's a movie disliked by many cineastes who otherwise love Westerns, with a primary gripe being that it's a social drama only masquerading as a dusty oater. I've always enjoyed the picture but also find it grossly overrated, though the social drama isn't the reason: In fact, the film's standing as an allegory for the Communist witch hunts paralyzing Hollywood at the time is one of the most interesting things about it. Writer Carl Foreman, who would shortly become one of the victims of the despicable blacklisting, teamed with director Fred Zinnemann to craft this tight (85 minutes) tale about sheriff Will Kane (Gary Cooper), who, minutes after his wedding (to a Quaker woman played by Grace Kelly) and retirement, learns that an old enemy has just been released from jail and is returning to town on the noon train to join three others in gunning down the marshal. Since the town owes Kane for cleaning up its lawlessness years earlier, he figures rounding up a posse won't be a problem; unfortunately, no one is willing to stand by his side. High Noon unfolds largely (but not precisely, despite claims to the contrary) in real time, but it's the film's brevity that prevents it from soaring, since the stripped-down narrative generally allows only the widest of brush strokes when it comes to painting the characters and their situations. Cooper's performance is masterful, however, as is cinematographer Floyd Crosby's stark compositions. Nominated for seven Academy Awards (including Best Picture), this won four statues, for Best Actor, Film Editing, Original Score, and Original Song for "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin')," performed in the movie by Tex Ritter.
Most of the DVD extras are held over from the 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition from six years ago. Bonuses include audio commentary by the offspring of the principal talents (Maria Cooper-Janis, Jonathan Foreman, Tim Zinnemann and John Ritter – yes, that John Ritter), a 50-minute look at the film's production and enduring legacy, a making-of piece, and Tex Ritter's performance of the hit title tune on TV's The Jimmy Dean Show.
Movie: ***
Extras: ***
JUMPER (2008). A stateside underachiever but a worldwide hit, this fantasy flick may be based on the novel by Steven Gould, but while watching it, I felt like I had jumped back in time to 1986 and was again catching Highlander during its original theatrical run. Jumper is Highlander for a new generation: a cheesy, globetrotting film that was guaranteed to be savaged by most critics (which it was), but also a mindlessly entertaining yarn likely to lead to a string of sequels and/or TV adaptations. Hayden Christensen, still struggling with that wooden aspect of his acting, plays David Rice, a kid who discovers he has the ability to "jump" to any location on the planet in a matter of seconds. In a nice if cynical twist, he doesn't use his powers to benefit mankind; instead, he's too busy robbing banks in order to finance a lifestyle reserved for the rich and famous. But his partying days come to an end once he encounters Roland (Samuel L. Jackson), a member of a secret society which has spent centuries trying to wipe out all jumpers. David receives some helpful pointers from a more seasoned jumper (Sean Connery's regal Highlander role, here reimagined as a surly punk played by Jamie Bell), but they may not be enough to prevent Roland from drawing David's innocent girlfriend (Rachel Bilson) into the fray. As a heady piece of sci-fi philosophy, Jumper burrows no deeper than the ends of the eyelashes, as director Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity) and scripters David S. Goyer, Jim Uhls and Simon Kinberg are content to make a movie that offers little more than surface thrills. But on that level, it's a fairly effective action tale, with some nifty effects and enough international locales to power a few Bond films.
