Why I bought a big tv

So I can watch Dirty Harry in all it’s glory on my plasma HDTV from 10:15 to midnight last night.

There were a lot of parts in there that I didn’t remember, as it’s been quite some time since I last saw the movie, and the guns, oh the guns were just magnificent.  Clint Eastwood’s Model 29 is an unlikely gun for a cop, but who cares?  The deep, deep-so-deep-it’s-almost-black bluing on that pistol is just gorgeous; when he’s pointing it at the bank robber in the trademark scene I can’t but help think that “man, that is a handgun”.

The badguy’s guns aren’t as great, he uses a nondescript hunting rifle, but of interesting note are the MP40 that he uses to shoot Clint’s partner, and the Walther P-38 (or P-1) that he steals from the liquor store clerk.

Of course, the most lasting impression from the movie is just how well Clint Eastwood plays the anti-hero archetype – the flawed hero/anti-hero seems to be so common in films today that it’s become passe, as all sorts of actors who don’t have the chops to play the role are being asked to play it.  Clint stands head and shoulders above most of them with his portrayal of Dirty Harry.  Suffice to say, it was quite refreshing to see that they did at least remember how to make movies back in the 70s.