Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that while this classic police thriller inspired a video game and numerous other PG-13 Hollywood cop-opera shoot-em-ups, it was intended as a very adult film, with frank swearing and occasional full-frontal nudity -- often in the context of a decadent community crawling with degeneracy and lawlessness. Violence includes bloody shootings, stabbings, and even schoolchildren threatened. For all the action, the movie doesn't exactly make police work appealing as a career path (especially the bitter last scene).
Sexual
Content
Full-frontal female nudity with a girl victim's naked corpse and a naked lady apparently welcoming people to a sex party. Nude go-go dancers and strippers in a bar. Harry discusses a past incident involving a would-be rapist with an erection. Bare breasts when Harry interrupts a romantic interlude. A patrol past a block of San Francisco strip shows and sex parlors. Harry gets a coy proposition from a young homosexual.
Violence
Bloody gun violence, sniper fatalities, hand-to-hand punchouts. A car wreck. Harry and other characters savagely beaten and kicked. A leg stabbing. An old man hit with a bottle. A character threatens suicide by jumping (with graphic verbal description of what the result would be).
Language
The f-word once. The s-word, SOB, the N-word, "bastard," "Jesus Christ," a-hole.
Social
Behavior
Strong message of the sacrifices made by police, how underappreciated police are, and how thankless their tough jobs have become.
Consumerism
Touristy element in the prominent display of San Francisco landmarks. A Coca Cola sign.
Drugs / Tobacco /
Alcohol
Harry and a comrade share "booze." A visit to a bar. A liquor store purchase-robbery.