Dirty Harry vs. French Connection

Both tough realistic cop thrillers released in 1971, both with lead characters who go ‘against the system’, both fairly groundbreaking motion pictures.

Which one is the better film?

Dirty Harry, no doubt.

The film marks the transition from the jolly good sixties to the wayward seventies; it’s a perfect right-wing statement, a hard-hitting, no-nonsense wake up call for all those still smoking pot or just dozing off while criminals threatened to take over the streets. It made people clear love wasn’t all you need: for some problems, you simply need a gun

What makes the film so special is that it refused to follow any trend (instead it created one)
It’s not A sign of the times, it was THE sign of the times
it just was there … and cinema looked different (once again)
Remarkable that Clint was involved in the most trendsetting movie of the sixties AND the most trendsetting movie of the seventies (Just lucky, punk?)

The French Connection is a good film, but it always left me a bit cold, typical product of its times

Dirty Harry. Eastwood is cool and efficient.The action is tight and well handled. Score is a product of it’s time…but still super in my book.

Dirty Harry. French Connection has not aged too well in my opinion [still it’s pretty good, but not as good as they say, “The last picture show” should have won an oscar that year] and Dirty Harry shows no sings of its age at all

At the moment, I don’t know.
It’s a long time since I saw last The French Connection. When I was 20 it was one of my favourite films, but it has paled a bit, as has Friedkin. But Dirty Harry is also not a flawless masterpiece.

I like 'em both. But I have the Dirty DVD not the French one.

This.

Doubt.
French Connection for me. Downbeat ending. Great chase scene (don’t even start Stanton ;)) Dirty Harry is great & the soundtrack blows away the FC’s but I find it a more realistic & enjoyable film (as good as Clint’s lines are, that just doesn’t happen). FC is based on a real case of Popeye Doyle’s while DH was supposedly loosely based on the Zodiac.

I prefer French Connection 2 to the first, and the scenes where Hackman becomes a junkie and gets off the stuff makes for compelling viewing.

DIRTY HARRY
Clint blows everything away. :slight_smile:

Me too, I love the ending of 2

Also i choose Dirty Harry