QWhat does Harry mean when he says he uses a 'Light special' bullet in his 44 Magnum?
AThis line caused great controversy amongst gun enthusiasts as it suggested that Dirty Harry used the much weaker 44 Special cartridge in his revolver rather than the tremmendously powerful 44 Magnum (the Smith and Wesson Model 29 capable of using both). According to screenwriter John Milius the crew simply fluffed his dialogue, what Harry means is that he uses a specially prepared slightly lighter version of one of the strongest varieties of 44 Magnum bullets in order to give him 'less recoil and more control'.
QWho carries out which assassination on screen?
ABecause the film is careful to avoid showing the motorcycle cops' faces when they kill criminals, it is hard to tell which cop is at which crime scene. Additionally, the voices of the cops conducting the two traffic stop shootings are made to sound similar so you can't make a voice recognition and are left guessing as to whether it's the same cop or two different guys. Some believe Red Astrachan is responsible for either the execution of Ricca and everyone in his car or for the pool massacre, and Mike Grimes for the other one. It is presumed by Captain Avery in the morgue scene (and a mention that Phil Sweet found the pimp's body) that Sweet is responsible for executing the pimp.Of the four motorcycle cops, only John Davis is certainly responsible for the assassination of Lou Guzman and his associates, as well as Charlie McCoy, given that we see him taking off his helmet when speaking to DiGeorgio after shooting McCoy in the parking garage.However, it is also very likely that Davis might have carried the pimp's murder: Sweet clearly has brunette hair. There is a closeup of the killer cop's sunglasses when he is asking the pimp for his license and vehicle registration, where you can clearly see that he has blond hair sticking out from under his helmet, and Davis is the only one of the four motorcycle cops who is blond. This makes Avery's implication at the morgue that Sweet was responsible for the pimp killing either a continuity error or Sweet was nearby acting as a back-up to Davis.
QHow many Dirty Harry movies are there?
AThere are five: Dirty Harry (1971); Magnum Force (1973); The Enforcer (1976); Sudden Impact (1983); The Dead Pool (1988).
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