Picking up three years after the events in Magnum Force, a threatening terrorist group called, The People's Revolutionary Strike Force declare war to the city of San Francisco and demand a ransom to be paid, otherwise they plan to blow the city apart. While Inspector 'Dirty' Harry Callahan is at a limbo following his unorthodox method during a robbery, he's at it to dispatch the terrorist group, by playing their game by being more dirty than ever. But this time, he's got a new partner, which might prove the task to be somewhat more difficult than ever, unless the two can work together.
—Anonymous



San Francisco Police Inspector Harry Callahan returns in the third of the Dirty Harry movies. Teamed with his new partner, Policewoman Inspector Kate Moore, they hunt for a group of terrorists that are blackmailing the City of San Francisco for two million dollars.
—David J. Kiseleski



Robbers at a liquor store are holding a shopkeeper and three of his patrons hostage. Asked by the robbers for a car with a police radio, Inspector Dirty Harry Callahan volunteers his own car. Dirty Harry drives the car right through the store's plate glass window. Before the robbers know what hit them, Dirty Harry has shot them. $14,379 is how much the San Francisco police department will have to pay to repair the damages caused by Dirty Harry's encounter with the robbers. Rather than getting a medal, which he doesn't want, Harry is relegated to Personnel to help interview patrol officers on the list to make inspector. Dirty Harry is told that of the eight openings, three will be filled by women. A group that calls themselves the People's Revolutionary Strike Force (PRSF), led by Bobby Maxwell, are making plans to go on a rampage throughout San Francisco as some kind of extremist political statement. When Dirty Harry's longtime partner is killed by the PRSF during a major weapons theft, Dirty Harry vows revenge and, surprisingly, is given some support by his superiors. Dirty Harry has bad luck when it comes to partners. Being Dirty Harry's partner is like having your doctor say you only have a few days left to live. Harry gets a new partner named Kate Moore, a woman whose decade long entire police career has been spent in the Human Resources department. With her suit and high heels, Kate has trouble chasing suspects. But she proves to be resilient and resourceful and becomes Harry's friend. The PRSF continues stealing explosive devices and rocket launchers. After they're armed to the teeth, they kidnap the mayor and demand a ransom of two million dollars. The PRSF is prepared to blow up the toilets in the police station itself. Dirty Harry goes undercover, attempting to root out Maxwell and his crew. Kate and Dirty Harry discover that the mayor is being held at Alcatraz Island. This leads Kate and Dirty Harry to a showdown against Maxwell.
—Todd Baldridge



Following a reprimand from his superiors for his somewhat destructive approach to his work, Harry Callahan finds his new partner to be female. Though none too pleased with this, the job has to come first - in this case the City being held to ransom following an arms robbery, by a gang prepared to blow up the toilets in the police station itself.
—Jeremy Perkins



When SFPD Insp. Harry Callahan ends a liquor store holdup by doing things in his usual hard-boiled manner, his bleeding-heart boss, Capt. Briggs (Bradford Dillman) demotes Harry to the personnel division. But Harry doesn't remain there for long, as a group of terrorists rob an arms warehouse and begin a bloody extortion spree demanding $2 million from the City. Harry is paired with Insp. Kate Moore (Tyne Daly) to shut the terrorists down. Callahan is none too thrilled to be paired with Moore, but she more than proves herself when she and Harry pursue the terrorists to their hideout in the old prison of Alcatraz.
—Derek O'Cain



Dirty Harry must foil a terrorist organization made up of disgruntled Vietnam veterans. But this time, he's teamed with a rookie female partner that he's not too excited to be working with.





SYNOPSIS

Two gas company men are lured by a scantily-clad woman to a remote spot and killed by Bobby Maxwell (DeVeren Bookwalter). Maxwell's gang, the People's Revolutionary Strike Force (PRSF), a self-proclaimed terrorist group made up of several disgruntled Vietnam veterans, who plan to use the gas men's uniforms and van as part of an ambitious series of crimes that will make them rich.

Inspector 'Dirty' Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) and his partner Frank DiGiorgio (John Mitchum) arrive at a liquor store where robbers have taken hostages. The robbers demand a car to take them to the airport. Dirty Harry provides one... by driving his squad car into the store and shooting all the robbers.

Afterwords, Callahan's no-nonsense and by-the-book superior Captain McKay (Bradford Dillman) reprimands Callahan for "excessive use of force", injuring the hostages, and causing more than $14,000 of damage to the store, and temporarily transfers him out of the Homicide unit. While assigned to Personnel, Callahan participates in the interview process for promotions, and learns that three of the new inspectors will be female including Kate Moore (Tyne Daly), despite her very limited field experience.

Meanwhile, the PRSF uses the gas company van to steal several M-72 LAW rockets and other weapons from a warehouse, killing DiGiorgio during the robbery. To Callahan's distress, Moore is his new partner. She claims to understand the risk, noting that (besides DiGiorgio) two other partners of his have died in the past five years (in the last two Dirty Harry movies). They visit the Hall of Justice for an autopsy where a bomb explodes. Callahan and Moore chase and capture the PRSF bomber. Later, Callahan and Moore meet "Big" Ed Mustapha (Albert Popwell), leader of a black militant group the bomber formerly belonged to.

Although Callahan makes a deal with Mustapha for information, McKay arrests the militants for the PRSF's crimes. Callahan angrily refuses to participate in a televised press conference in which the publicity-seeking Mayor would commend him and Moore ("one of the first of her sex in the whole country") for solving the case, and the arrogant McKay suspends him from duty. Moore supports Callahan and gains his respect.

But two days later, the PRSF boldly kidnaps the Mayor after a Giants game and demands a $5 million ransom. With Mustapha's help, Callahan and Moore locate the gang at Alcatraz Island, where they land by boat and battle the kidnappers in a climatic shootout, killing all of them exept for Maxwell. Moore frees the Mayor, but Maxwell kills her as she saves Callahan's life. He avenges Moore by chasing after Maxwell who fortifies himself atop an old guard tower, and Callahan kills Maxwell by literally blowing him up with a LAW rocket. Dirty Harry Callahan is uninterested in the pompous Mayor's gratitude, returning to his partner's corpse as McKay and other policemen arrive.