Plot
In 1973, artist Jennifer Spencer and her sister, Beth, are gang raped; the attack leaves Beth in a catatonic state. Ten years later, Spencer kills George Wilburn, one of the rapists, in San Francisco and returns to her (fictional) hometown of San Paulo, looking for the remaining criminals. Meanwhile, Inspector Harry Callahan is frustrated when another judge dismisses a case due to his direct methods. At his favorite diner, Callahan foils a robbery, killing three criminals in the process. He later causes local crime lord Threlkis to suffer a fatal heart attack after threatening him with prosecution.
Unable to fire him because his methods "get results", Callahan's superiors instead order him to take a vacation. Four of Threlkis's hitmen eventually attack him. Callahan takes down three, while the fourth escapes. Later, the suspect from the dismissed case and his friends throw Molotov cocktails into Callahan's car. Acting in self-defense, he kills his attackers. To get Harry out of sight until the furor dies down, Callahan is sent to San Paulo.
Upon arrival, Callahan chases down a robber. The reckless but successful pursuit angers the San Paulo police. While jogging with his bulldog, Meathead, Callahan accidentally runs into Spencer. On returning to his room at a motel, he is targeted by the surviving Threlkis hitman, who Callahan shoots dead. Meanwhile, Spencer kills Kruger, a second rapist. Callahan recognizes the modus operandi but Lester Jannings, San Paulo's police chief, refuses to work with him.
Callahan learns both victims are friends of Jannings' son, Alby. Ray Parkins, the female member of the gang of rapists, figures out they are being targeted and warns the two remaining men, Tyrone and Mick. At an outdoor cafe, Callahan meets Spencer again. Over drinks, he learns that she shares his emphasis on results over methods when seeking justice, but he adds the caveat "'til it breaks the law." Callahan reveals that he is investigating Wilburn's murder, which rattles Spencer. Later, he finds Tyrone dead.
To be more protected, Mick stays with Parkins at her place. While visiting them for questioning, Mick attacks Callahan. After Callahan subdues Mick and takes him to the police station, Spencer guns down Parkins.
Callahan and Spencer meet again and sleep together. On his way back to the motel, Callahan notices her car, which he had seen earlier at Parkins' place. Returning there, he finds Parkins' body. Two of Mick's friends bail him out of jail. Meanwhile, Callahan's partner Horace arrives at the motel to celebrate the easing of tensions in San Francisco. He meets Mick and his henchmen instead, who have been waiting to spring an ambush. Mick's gang kills Horace and neuters Meathead with a switchblade. They then beat up Callahan before throwing him off a pier, presuming he will drown.
Spencer arrives at the Jannings home with the intention of killing Alby, another one of the rapists. To her surprise, Alby, like her sister, is catatonic; a guilty conscience caused him to attempt suicide, which left him with permanent brain damage. To protect his own reputation and his only child, Jannings refused to jail the guilty parties. He convinces Spencer to spare Alby's life and promises Mick will be punished. Mick and his henchmen, however, arrive and capture Spencer, using her gun to kill Jannings.
Enraged at what happened to Horace and Meathead, Callahan goes after Mick's gang with his .44 Automag. The gang brings Spencer to the boardwalk for another rape but are startled by Callahan's apparent return from the dead. Callahan chases Mick after killing his henchmen. Mick drags Spencer to the top of a roller coaster, where she breaks free. Callahan shoots Mick, who falls from the top of the coaster, crashes through the glass roof of the carousel below, and is impaled on the horn of its unicorn.
Before the local cops arrive, Harry considers arresting Spencer. She, however, convinces him that her actions against the rapists were justified. The police arrive and find Spencer's .38 on Mick. Ballistics, Callahan states, will prove that "his gun … was used in all the killings." Callahan and a vindicated Spencer leave the crime scene together.
Production
The script was initially written by Charles B. Pierce and Earl E. Smith for a separate film for Locke, but was later adapted into a Dirty Harry film by Joseph Stinson. [4] Filming occurred in spring 1983. [5] Many of the film's scenes were filmed in San Francisco and Santa Cruz, California. [6] The scene where Harry chases a bank robber in the downtown business district offers a rare glimpse of the area before it was devastated by the Loma Prieta earthquake of October 17, 1989. Footage for the robbery in "Acorn Cafe" was shot at Burger Island, later a McDonald's and now the site of a hotel, at the corner of 3rd and Townsend in San Francisco. [7] At this point in his career, Eastwood was receiving a salary that included 60% of all film profits, leaving the other 40% for the studio. Estimates had Eastwood earning $30 million for Sudden Impact. [8]
It was Locke's last film to get theatrical distribution. [9] Part of a career-long pattern that saw her playing female protagonists substantially younger than herself, [a] at 39, Locke was older than all the actors playing her rapists, and 21 years older than the youth catcalling her near the start of the movie. She was six years older than Audrie Neenan, even though the character of Parkins is clearly meant to be older than Spencer. The actress who played Locke's sister was 11 years her junior. Further, Locke was only seven years younger than the art gallery curator who calls her "child" during their short scene together.
