Calahan

Magnum Force (1973)

*** (out of 4)

'Dirty' Harry Calahan (Clint Eastwood) has been taken off street duty by Lt. Briggs (Hal Holbrook) but he gets back into action when various scumbags throughout the city are executed. Pimps, gangsters and various other criminals are being killed off and Briggs believes it's other criminals doing the crimes but Harry believes it's someone inside the police force.

MAGNUM FORCE was the second film in the ever popular series and while it's no where near as great as DIRTY HARRY, it still manages to be highly entertaining thanks in large part to lead actor Eastwood who was clearly born to play this role. As with the first film, this one here asks a lot of political questions as well as some moral ones. After all, the people being murdered here aren't innocent people or good citizens. Instead they are low life criminals and them being picked off, as it is put in the film, is saving the tax payers a lot of money. This vigilante aspect comes a year before DEATH WISH but it's interesting to compare the two films and their thoughts on the subject.

With that said, MAGNUM FORCE is pure 70's action and there's no question that it's incredibly entertaining. I will say the one flaw is its running time, which is just a tad bit too long and especially once the plot is revealed. A few of the scenes towards the end probably could have been edited down some but even with this flaws the film is still a great entertainment. The biggest key is certainly Eastwood who was simply born to play this role and when you think about it it's nearly impossible to imagine anyone else in the role. Even though several other actors were offered the part, film history is blessed that Eastwood got it.

He certainly has that dry humor that fits this character so perfectly and there's certainly no questions that he can handle the action scenes with ease. The supporting cast is also very good with Holbrook doing nice work as the stuck up Lt. and there's also Robert Urich, Kip Niven, Tim Matheson, David Soul and Mitchell Ryan doing nice work. On a technical level the film is also very good with some strong cinematography, fine editing and of course the music score fits the decade and subject perfectly.

MAGNUM FORCE offers up a pretty good storyline and there's no question that its political nature mixes well with who Dirty Harry is. The film also manages to have some terrific one-liners for Eastwood to say and there's no doubt that the action scenes are quite intense and fun.

Second outing for Clint Eastwood's anti-hero is an absorbing thriller, let down by some sloppy characterisation and the lack of a killer (no pun intended) scene or even iconic dialogue. It starts off poorly with the title credits lamely played over an almost static shot of the title weapon (very "Sledge Hammer") but once we get past the token scene reminding us of Harry's "shoot first, ask questions later" policing policy, the main plot strand about an internal police death-squad violently taking out known felons dominates the film.

There are some humanising touches around Harry's character, although these stereotypically show him as irresistible to women, rebellious to authority and almost friendly and caring for his young black sidekick, so that nothing new is revealed about what makes him tick. There is something condescending about the treatment of these supporting characters, especially the portrayal of Callahan's young Oriental neighbour who despite hardly seeing him around, seems desperate to jump into bed with him.

Better to stick with the action of which there is plenty. There's intrigue as Callahan's instincts lead him to find the true identities of the assassination bureau and a good twist as their ringleader emerges from the shadows.

The acting is mostly fine, Eastwood naturally dominating in his typical laconic manner. Hal Holbrook is also excellent as his testy superior and David Soul shines in a pre-Hutch role. Ted Post directs with some flair with some blunt lapses while Lalo Schifrin contributes a typically gritty soundtrack. The film makes its main point about the dangers of vigilantism and cleverly uses Harry Callahan of all people as a counterpoint to its proponents.

Some might argue as to whether all the violence was necessary and I felt the grisly death of a black prostitute bordered on the gratuitous but on the whole this was superior cop-fare and a good sequel to the trailblazing "Dirty Harry".

Magnum Force (1973)

Plot In A Paragraph: Dirty Harry is on the trail of vigilante cops who are not above going beyond the law to kill the city's undesirables.

How do you follow up one of the best movies of the 70's?? By making a solid sequel like this is the answer!! Magnum Force is not only a worthy sequel, it's a really good movie in general. Hal Holbrook is an actor I've always liked seeing and David Soul is fine too, but this is Clint's movie and he dominates every scene from start to finish.

Magnum Force was Clint's biggest hit at this point as it grossed $39 million at the domestic box office to become the 6th highest grossing movie of 1973.

I sometimes wonder if "Magnum Force" is a better movie than "Dirty Harry." In the latter, Harry Calahan is up against a psycho causing panic, while in "Magnum Force" Harry opposes a number of enemies: enemies he would not have expected at first. Crime is still on the rise, there is too much corruption and too few 'real' cops, like him. When he meets some young, aspiring cops he is amazed by their qualities. Great acting by Clint Eastwood who is just perfect in playing the old-fashioned Harry Callahan. There is violence, but the strange thing is you support Callahan in 'cleaning' the city. One of the best in the Dirty Harry-series.

Ted Post directed and John Milius and Michael Cimino wrote this first sequel to Don Siegel's classic gritty police drama, Dirty Harry (1971). Magnum Force (1973) is not as near as effective or powerful as the first and original film, but this sequel is watchable and has its merits, too. Harry is now investigating strange killings of criminals, pimps, dirty politicians and others, so the killer is killing "bad guys" this time. Harry starts to investigate the cases, and he has his doubts about all this. Then the truth is revealed and also, unfortunately, spoilt in most of the reviews and comments I've read.

Harry has again his usual opponents, mostly his colleagues and superiors who don't accept his tough style. Harry wants to do justice, but by using his own ways and moral. If talking doesn't help, then the magnum .44 will. I don't think this or the first film are fascist, but realistic and honest, and extremely bleak depictions of world and society which is more or less collapsing because of its inhabitants. This film manages still to tell something about that, but the next sequel, The Enforcer, is pretty lame in comparison.

Magnum Force has pretty fat plot and many different characters and sub plots, without being too confusing. Towards the end, the film becomes perhaps too predictable and unbelievable, and I think the ending should have needed little tightening. Now it is little unnecessary shoot outs and nothing else. The film runs two hours, which is the longest running time in the "series", but still this manages to interest and even surprise, but if they had finished the film some 20 minutest earlier, this would be even more noteworthy film. Now it has nothing too important to offer during its finale, and so the finale becomes little unnecessary, in my opinion.

As an action film, this is pretty exciting and shot with talent. The action scenes are often fast and full of gunpowder and fire, so director Post can surely direct with skill. The film is pretty brutal and violent at times, and this again shows the fact that films this gritty and violent are not made in Hollywood nowadays, at least not too often. Magnum Force is much more easier and "positive" film than its predecessor, and that's why it hasn't got so many things to offer and give. This is pure action film where the first film was also many other things, too, like social commentary and talking about things many would not want to talk about. Magnum Force gets 7/10, but fortunately still has its positive things and even little bit of the power that made Dirty Harry so immortal.