Pour out your indignation upon them, and let your burning anger overtake them. -Someone has to do it-

Dirty Harry review by Matthew B. Peterson

I will focus on the following two themes:
1. The Angel of Yahweh
2. Light vs. darkness

The Angel of Yahweh is what jumped out at me almost from the very start of the movie. Dirty Harry is kind of this mysterious figure that appears on the scene and is always very clear about his mission, which is first and foremost to eradicate evil within “the rules”. Dirty Harry does things his way and he doesn’t flinch when he is face to face with evil. He does not show respect for his superiors, even though he obeys “the rules” most of the time. He does not want to give an inch to the criminal element. He just wants to get the job done.
The Angel of Yahweh (pre-incarnate Christ) performs many functions in the OT, including delivering God’s judgment. He is sometime has a sword (Numbers 22:23) and is described as the commander of the Lord’s army (Joshua 5:14). He slaughtered 185,000 (2Kings 19:35) troops of the Assyrian army. I believe that Dirty Harry best fits as the Angel of Yahweh, who delivers justly deserved wrath and at the same time saves the ones who need saving.

Inspector Callahan’s real character is established during his first clash with the criminal element (bank robbers). There is no hesitation on his part and is he is clear minded as to what he must do. He yells “halt” to the bank robbers to who respond by opening fire on him which turns out to be a really bad idea for them. In this encounter with evil, Dirty Harry is wounded, but it doesn’t even put a dent in his mission. In fact he is finishing his hot dog! The audience really sees this is no ordinary cop, especially when he mentally tortures the only bank robber left alive by pulling the trigger while knowing his gun was empty.
During the first encounter between Dirty Harry and Scorpio we see a clash between the evil one and Jesus. Scorpio intentionally shoots out the Jesus Saves sign (The audience is understands that Scorpio is 100% dead set against Jesus) while laughing and a cop ends up dead due to the shootout instead of the targeted priest (Once again depicting ultimate sacrifice cops may have to make). At this point, Dirty Harry is still playing by “the rules.”

The 2nd encounter between Dirty Harry and Scorpio is pivotal and explicitly makes it crystal clear to the audience who Dirty Harry is and who Scorpio is. Dirty Harry already knows the girl is dead, but goes through with his mission anyway. He relinquishes his sword or in this case his .44 Magnum, doing exactly what Scorpio demands. Facing the huge cross and looking up (is this an allusion to Matthew 26:39?) Inspector Callahan takes the full onslaught of Scorpio. He is relentlessly beaten into the fetal position and we see the full monstrosity of Scorpio, who just wanted to make sure he told Dirty Harry that the girl was dead before he killed him (Scorpio represents true evil by killing the 10 yr old boy and the 14 year old girl). After Dirty Harry is saved by his partner (I believe this was the primary mission of his partner in the movie) he stabs Scorpio in the leg and then passes out, representing his “death.” Upon awakening, Dirty Harry is now transformed into a 100% instrument of divine judgment. From this point on, Scorpio is now on the run with Dirty Harry closing in. No more “rules.”

We see righteous indignation poured out on Scorpio in the scene in the football stadium. This is where the light and darkness theme comes in especially focused on John 3:19-20. Despite the fact that Dirty Harry has two broken ribs and a swollen face, he stops at nothing to find Scorpio. He scales the fence (the quickest way in the stadium) and after a short pursuit, he flushes Scorpio into the open field and “fatso” throws the flood lights on exposing Scorpio. He not only wounds Scorpio, but brings suffering on him until he gets the information he wants. We also see what happens when the evil one comes face to face with the Angel of Yahweh in the light. Scorpio pleads, begs and becomes a complete coward, because he knows who he is and what he has done and he knows who Dirty Harry is and what he will do. Notice the contrast and building of the encounters between Dirty Harry and Scorpio up to this point. They meet in darkness, on the terms of Scorpio culminating in this passion, death and resurrection portrayal. The rest of the movie, except for the scene in the strip club is played out in the daylight. Most importantly their last meeting takes place in the daylight and just maybe with Scorpio being cast into the dark water, we see the triumph of the light over darkness.

The last encounter between Dirty Harry and Scorpio is very clear. When Scorpio first sees Dirty Harry, he just cannot believe his eyes, thus exclaiming “Jesus.” He both acknowledges and curses Dirty Harry as the Angel of Yahweh, who by the way is sporting the shades in this scene. We know from the Scorpio’s past record that he will kill the children on the bus and so does Dirty Harry, who saves them and the boy taken hostage on the peer by pouring justly deserved wrath via .his 44 Magnum. There are no rules this time, only pure wrath. In the end, the evil one is defeated by the Angel of Yahweh (1 John 3:8: “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”)

Since there is never a question concerning Dirty Harry’s mission, this is at least a middle Christology film. The connections made between Dirty Harry and Jesus are clear, especially the scene at the foot of the cross. The Father is also referenced in this film, possibly implied at the foot of the cross, but directly (my opinion of course) when Scorpio is on the gurney in the hospital (after having himself beaten up) and he says in reference to Dirty Harry as the one who beat him, “I swear with God as my judge.” Exactly right Scorpio. Once again this has a double meaning. On the one hand, he is taking God’s name in vain and on the other hand he is predicting his own divine judgment. The more I think about that scene where Scorpio pays to have himself beaten to a bloody pulp, the more I realize that it is showing us how just the presence of Dirty Harry causes Scorpio to continue endure divine suffering and wrath. No longer is Scorpio free to do what he wants as he has become the hunted!

Dirty Harry does save in this movie also. The ones who need saving get a savior. Ultimately Dirty Harry saves the truly helpless, the children. He saves the future generation. He preserves life by snuffing out evil.
Overall this movie has good theology when it comes to God’s wrath. There is a breaking point at which Yahweh will no longer be patient. There is a point at which he will pour out his wrath and we are reminded that it is not sin that is his target, but sinners.

Psalm 35:5-6 sums it up:
Let them be like chaff before the wind,
with the angel of the LORD driving them away!
Let their way be dark and slippery,
with the angel of the LORD pursuing them!

On a personal note since I am a former police officer, this movie hits home for me and it speaks many truths about the sad reality of a broken world in which it appears justice rarely prevails. Thanks to all the cops who operate within the law putting their lives on the line while doing their duty with honor. In addition, the ending is all wrong and does match the beginning of the movie. There is no way Dirty Harry should have thrown his badge into the water (Yes, I know what the director was trying to do). The beginning of the movie is a tribute to fallen police officers and that is not how you honor them.


Matthew B. Peterson