Sudden Impact

Harry Callahan is a San Francisco homicide detective known for ignoring procedure and for the enemies he makes among his superiors. After a killing carried out in his usual fashion, the department suspends him, then sends him out of the city to look into a murder in the coastal town of San Paulo. There he meets Jennifer Spencer, a solitary artist, and comes to suspect that a series of killings of local men is connected to a sexual assault committed years earlier. The victims are shot in ways that echo what was done to her, and the town's police force has little interest in helping an outsider.

Clint Eastwood directs and stars, his tenth film as director in chronological order, following Honkytonk Man and preceding Pale Rider. He also produced through Malpaso Productions with Warner Bros. Pictures. Sondra Locke plays Jennifer Spencer, with Pat Hingle as Chief Jannings, Bradford Dillman as Captain Briggs, Paul Drake as Mick and Audrie Neenan as Ray Parkins among a credited cast of 52. Dean Riesner and Joseph Stinson wrote the screenplay. It runs 117 minutes and belongs to the action, crime, drama and thriller genres.

Made for about 22 million dollars, it took roughly 150 million worldwide, a strong return for a film of its scale. On IMDb it holds 6.6 out of 10 from 47,786 votes, and on TMDB 6.5 out of 10 from 1,041 votes, while the critics' rating stands at 5.6 out of 10 from 41 reviews, so audiences have rated it somewhat higher than critics did.