Magnum Force (1973) Starring Clint Eastwood / Z-View

Magnum Force (1973)

Director: Ted Post

Screenplay by:  John Milius, Michael Cimino from a story by John Milius based on characters created by Harry Julian Fink, R.M. Fink

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Hal Holbrook, Mitchell Ryan, David Soul, Tim Matheson, Kip Niven, Robert Urich, Felton Perry, Maurice Argent, Richard Devon, Tony Giorgio, Jack Kosslyn and John Mitchum

Tagline:  Clint Eastwood is Dirty Harry in Magnum Force

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Someone is killing criminals who have escaped justice in court.  As the dead bodies pile up, Inspector Harry Callahan (Eastwood) begins to suspect that the killer is a cop.  As Harry continues his investigation, he discovers that he is now on the killer’s hit list!

Clint Eastwood returns in the second outing as his most popular character, Dirty Harry Callahan.  Magnum Force is Eastwood’s favorite Dirty Harry film.  It’s easy to see why.  The screenplay by John Milius and Michael Cimino provides a great response to critics who said Dirty Harry is a fascist vigilante.  Plus Eastwood’s supporting cast includes several stars on the verge of their breakout roles (David Soul in Starsky & Hutch, Tim Matheson in The Quest and Robert Urich in S.W.A.T.).  Hal Holbrook is perfect as Lt. Briggs, Calahan’s supervising officer.

Magnum Force provides a great showcase for Eastwood doing what he does best; playing the loner who despite “the system” gets the job done. Eastwood starts and ends Magnum Force with memorable dialogue.  The film opens with a repeat of the “Do you feel lucky, punk?” speech and ends with “A man’s got to know his limitations.”  In between we see Harry react to situations (Eastwood has facial expressions that rival Vince McMahon’s), stop a hijacking, being hit on (in different ways) by women and bad guys and overcoming the odds win the day.

Magnum Force earns 4 of 5 stars.