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Dirty Harry: Magnum Force (1973)



Dirty Harry: Magnum Force (1973)



6/10



Starring
Clint Eastwood


Directed by Ted Post


My biggest issue with Magnum Force is that the movie isn’t as centrally focused as the first Dirty Harry. There were too many cases that Harry was attending to before the movie finally decided to focus on the killings being carried out by suspected police officers.

Because of this focus on other cases, this Dirty Harry movie felt long—it’s actually the longest in the Dirty Harry series. That said, it’s not the worst, at least I can say that. The movie was suspense-filled, and while I was able to guess who the real culprit was early on, I didn’t know how high up the corruption went.

Clint Eastwood’s acting was the same as in the first movie, which might be a plus for some and a minus for others who feel like Magnum Force was just more of the same old Dirty Harry formula, with not much difference.

Magnum Force is about a wave of murders happening in San Francisco. Murder is bad enough, but what if the victims are the bad guys who think they’re above the law?
Harry (Clint Eastwood), on the other hand, is getting into more trouble than usual, finding it hard to deal with his supervisor, Lt. Neil Briggs, who seems to have it out for him at every turn. Also in the station is a group of rookies who are good shots and have Harry’s respect.

At first, Harry doesn’t take the killings of the “bad guys” too seriously, as he thinks he already knows who the killer is. Then he gets the bad news that his friend (who he suspected was the killer) was killed on duty by the same people taking down the bad guys. Now, Harry takes the case personally and hunts down the killers.

To be honest, watching this DVD was tough. It felt long, and there were times I caught myself dozing off during the delayed mayhem, only to wake up when the main story picked up again.

The movie sparked some controversy after its release. There’s a scene where a prostitute is killed using drain cleaner. After the movie came out, some real-life murders occurred using the same method, and one of the convicted individuals said he got the idea from this movie.

Magnum Force is long, but it’s an okay Dirty Harry movie, it doesn’t feel like the movie has added any fun to the character itself.


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