Never mind, I was in a shitty mood last night. Mea culpa.
haha, I am old and all the comments are pretty accurate, but...
I never really saw it as merely a right-wing, shoot first ask questions later statement, although that is obviously one aspect of the movies overall theme. If you juxtapose that with the blatantly left-wing, anything goes backdrop of San Fransisco in that particular era, it is definitely highlighted in stark contrast.
The thing that I take from the movie is the problem of how to deal with a psychopath, his rights vs. the rights of an innocent victim (the 14 year old girl buried alive), vigilantism (to a lesser extent), and by extension, a critique of our judicial system. And then there's the portrayal of the general decay of mores in our urban areas.
It's a great movie and enjoyable on multiple levels.
