Last seen throwing his badge away at the end of Dirty Harry (Don Siegel 1971) this sequel sees Inspector Harry Callahan back on the force and investigating a series of vigilante murders by men dressed as motorcycle cops. Journeyman director Ted Post (Hang Em High) replaces Siegel for this workmanlike follow-up.
The screenplay is by Michael Cimino and John Milius, both of whom would go on to be make significant contributions to 70’s cinema. Cimino would go on to direct the Oscar-winning The Deer Hunter (1978) while Milius directed Dillinger (1974) and the highly regarded surfing movie Big Wednesday (1978).
Vigilante Justice in Magnum Force
A gangster walks free from a murder charge. As he is being driven home with his bodyguards a motorcycle cop pulls them over and empties the contents of a Magnum handgun into the car. There are other killings. All the guests at a pool party are machine-gunned to death. A bisexual crook and his young playthings are shot dead. A brutal pimp collects his last payment.
Harry suspects an old friend, Charlie McCoy (Mitch Ryan), a burn-out cop with a troubled personal life and a penchant for playing Russian roulette in front of his ex-wife. However there is a group of young hotshot cops, including a young David Soul, Robert Ulrich and Tim Matheson, who admire Harry and his methods. Harry finds himself in the unusual position of having to defend a legal system he despises.
Dirty Harry Defends the Law
Don Siegel’s Dirty Harry was far more ambiguous about its protagonist than its reputation as a right-wing movie suggests. Perhaps stung by the criticism from liberals that the movie was fascistic, Magnum Force pits Harry Callahan against a group of vigilantes with no interest in attempting to use the system. Their intention is to apply the law indiscriminately through violence and for all their talk of defending people they are willing to kill anybody who crosses their path.
Magnum Force makes Harry Callahan an even more enigmatic figure than Dirty Harry. On two different occasions women try to get close to him with little success. Harry is alienated from his colleagues and has drifted away from having any kind of personal life. All that motivates him is a strong sense of right and wrong, but Harry is a far more complex figure than is generally given credit for.
Magnum Force is an Entertaining Sequel
Ted Post directs the action efficiently, although Magnum Force is more generic and less troubling than its predecessor. Eastwood is as iconic as ever and David Soul makes an impression as one of the rookie cops. Harry Callahan would return in The Enforcer (James Fargo 1976).
- Magnum Force
- Starring Clint Eastwood
- Written by Michael Cimino, John Milius
- Directed by Ted Post
- Year 1973
- Running time 118 mins
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