Perfect cast and a good story

Crappy film

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Blistering performances.

"Magnum Force" came at just the right time after "Dirty Harry" had made Clint Eastwood an overnight star and that the film was still fresh in everyone's mind. This follow-up is great. The screenplay includes plenty of action, a fine supporting cast, good music and a bit of a twist to the tale for those who haven't read anything about the plot details of "Magnum Force." It is well documented that Clint Eastwood and director Ted Post clashed over several scenes during filming and that Eastwood's ego was getting the better of him. In addition, Ted Post felt his authority as director was being undermined. He refused to work with or speak to Clint Eastwood again. Whether any of this is true or just Hollywood gossip, is hard to say. What is a fact, is that a couple of scenes were left on the editing floor that should have been left in the final version. The script has some very good dialogue and Hal Holbrook is a great superior to Harry Callahan.

I saw "Magnum Force" on television decades ago. Imagine my surprise when I watched it again tonight and there were a bunch of stuff that was NOT in the version I saw! Mostly, the gratuitous nudity was cut out of the movie. Now I am not one of these folks who is always against nudity in films...sometimes it has a place. But in this film, it all seems very gratuitous...and one of the MANY folks slaughtered in the pool scene (the topless lady) was a young Suzanne Somers before she became famous.In this story, someone, or some GROUP of folks, is taking out bad folks all around the San Francisco area. Some of the murdered scum- bags are folks that avoided prosecution, some are just dirt-bags who 'need' killing. Inspector Callahan (Clint Eastwood) is the guy determined to solve this case...and his boss, the Lieutenant (Hal Holbrook) seems to want to coddle criminals and stand in Callahan's way. Who the killer(s) are...well, that you'll have to see when you see the film.This movie is pretty much what you expect from a Dirty Harry film...lots of shooting*, mayhem, action and sex. The film certainly earns its R rating and is exciting. I still think the original film is much better but it's a worthy follow-up.*The IMDb trivia says "This is the only film in the "Dirty Harry" series in which Harry doesn't kill any of the villains by shooting them, except the grocery store holdup men.". This is NOT the case, as Harry also shoots a guy in the skyjacking sequence...and he appears quite dead!

MAGNUM FORCE (1973) is a sequel that I just don't get! The original "Dirty Harry" is a masterpiece of cinema, a gritty, edgy, engrossing 2-character battle of wits and wills between the anti-heroic Inspector Harry Callahan and Scorpio, but also a memorable indictment of the legal system. This immediate sequel "Magnum Force" is the anti-Dirty Harry, having a softer, nicer, more tolerant Harry, again essayed by icon Clint Eastwood, who has mellowed out to the point of seeming like someone else. "Magnum Force" has an all too apparent TV movie vibe about it. Ironically, it has actors that would go onto star in popular TV series (Suzanne Somers "3s Company", Robert Urich "Vegas" and "Spenser for Hire", David Soul "Starsky and Hutch", and Tim Matheson, certainly nowhere near an A-lister, although he would eventually star in "Animal House"). Veteran Hal Holbrook is the only movie presence other than Eastwood. Felton Perry admirably plays Harry's new partner, but the casting felt gimmicky. Reni Santoni felt more organic as Harry's partner in the original. Here, it feels like the writers gave him a black partner just to continue the diversity. "Magnum Force" literally feels like a typical TV show/movie plot, about vigilante cops who kill ANYONE who breaks the law. The cinematography in this sequel lacks the atmosphere and punch of the original. The killing scenes seem juvenile and happen too abruptly. Scenes cut off too quickly. The idea of all these cops having the same vision and being of one mind stretches the imagination to the point of incredulity. Mitchell Ryan (as a disgruntled veteran cop) is the only actor who acquits himself well in this. The second sequel "The Enforcer" did a much better job relaying the message of corruption and ineptitude of the legal system and had a higher entertainment value than this one.

Unless you're Oliver Queen or the brooding anti-hero star of a comic book serial, don't expect the idea of Taking the Law Into Your Own Hands to work out after months of trying. Cops can get awfully irritable, and messing with the heat isn't a game worth playing — especially when you've got Inspector Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) hot on your trail. He's got a .44 Magnum Revolver, and he isn't afraid to play a tricky game of Russian Roulette with you if you don't quit it.The villain of this "Dirty Harry" sequel is not a deranged sniper but a vigilante posing as a traffic cop. He doesn't figure himself to be crazy; he finds his actions to be methodical. His favorite hobby involves hunting down the thugs who escape jail time and offing them — since the law can't manage to lock them up (the first few minutes of the film witness outrage following the release of a murderer, based on a technicality), why not do the dirty work and rid the city of the vermin that corrupts it? The foe figures he's doing San Francisco a favor, but Harry can see through the bullshit — the guy's a madman looking for an excuse to justify his madness; who knows how long it'll be before he starts shooting jaywalkers? So he and his partner (Felton Perry) try to strip away all the false leads and find out what the real deal is, as their Lieutenant (Hal Holbrook) remains skeptical of Harry's unconventional ways.Some find the "Dirty Harry" movies to be too questionable in their ethics to really enjoy, but I find their thunderous grittiness to be gigantically entertaining. Clint Eastwood is the ultimate anti-hero, his perpetual machismo convincingly charged. He's a man bred to seek justice, too old and worn to consider the confines of the rules. Harry is ruthless, stoic, street smart — Eastwood is so mesmerizing in the role because he doesn't have to emote. His lined face and subtle emotional scars speak louder than the limited stretches of dialogue he has to deliver."Magnum Force" is a such an excellent sequel because it builds on what made "Dirty Harry" made so great; we hardly need character development here, considering all we need to know is that Harry Callahan is a cop you don't want to mess with. The thrills are leaner and meaner, the screenplay without filler, the characterizations fiendishly simple — even the villain menaces more than the previous scoundrel, as his identity is kept secret until the unpredictable truth is let out. Things might not be as rugged as they were before — Ted Post, replacing Don Siegel, prefers an adventuresome tone in comparison to the first's sinister bloodlust — but "Magnum Force" is an appealing sequel that delivers the turbo-charged thrills one wants, one expects. But its quality — that's what makes it strong enough to work on its own.