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Magnum Force [1973]


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

This first sequel to Dirty Harry was written by a couple of strong voices, writer-directors Michael Cimino (The Deer Hunter) and John Milius (Farewell to the King). But that doesn't mean the film is particularly good. After Don Siegel's ferociously dark style in the first movie, Ted Post's blocky, television-ish direction in Magnum Force is a huge letdown. The story doesn't win any prizes, either. Eastwood's San Francisco detective Harry Callahan (apparently having retrieved his badge after throwing it away at the end of Dirty Harry) takes on a vigilante squad within the city's police force. David Soul is pretty convincing as the major spokesman for these right-wing avengers. Eastwood, on the other hand, had already turned Callahan from fascinating outsider in Siegel's film to purveyor of tough-guy shtick in this one. --Tom Keogh


DIRTY HARRY STRIKES AGAIN
Review date: 2008-07-13 Rating: 8 out of 10

Not as good as the original or "Sudden Impact", but still a great action film. Descent directing - and as usual great acting by Eastwood. What else do you want?

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Reviews


A good sequel, not as intense as the first
Review date: 2008-06-04 Rating: 8 out of 10

This is a great movie and well worth seeing. It's not in the same league as the first but still a thriller that's worth checking out. A good movie but not great.

Harry faces his creation...
Review date: 2008-06-03 Rating: 8 out of 10

With 'Dirty Harry', filmgoers applauded Harry for bumping off known villains 'without playing by the rules', as they say. This has become a central idea behind many cop films since, with right-wing populists supporting this stance.
'Magnum Force' turns the concept around. Known villains who escape the law are again being murdered, but Harry's not involved and is mystified and disturbed by what's going on. Eastwood rivettingly conveys Harry's realisation that he's unwittingly inspired a team of motorbike traffic cops to go round committing the murders. And the moral ambiguity goes, to coin a phrase, all the way up to the top.
I don't think it's clear whether Harry objects to the murders (morally the same as what he was doing in the previous film) or the question of whether the killers risk killing the innocent alongside the guilty. Either way, the action and reflection combine to set a very effective pace in a gem of '70s paranoia.
Oh, and the motorbike chase aboard an aircraft carrier's quite fun as well.

A superb second installment of Dirty Harry
Review date: 2008-02-09 Rating: 10 out of 10

This movie was a blisteringly good follow up to the original Harry Callaghan offering, slightly derrogated at the time for having a far fetched story line, but really, it doesn't look that far fetched to me now: There's been plenty of true stories in the press of in house police management of cases that virtually amount to illegal vigilantism by uniformed police officers in both the the USA and the UK in the thirty five years since this movie was made, and it's absolutely the norm in many countries still, so really this was a fantastic fictionalised warning of the dangers of police power corrupting their own law enforcing officers. It finishes as well as it starts off, and has some superb cat and mouse scenes, with fearless cop 'Dirty Harry' pursuing these rotten apples with as much purpose as he does all the other scumbag criminals in the city who put people's lives in danger. And his realisation that this canker goes far deeper than he imagined, and his subsequent determination to get the big maggot in the middle is pure Dirty Harry, and makes the movie even more enjoyable. Terrific movie entertainment.

That's just dirty, Harry!
Review date: 2005-01-07 Rating: 8 out of 10

This is part of the "Dirty" Harry Callaghan series of cop films.

If you don't like violence, or find the fashion of the 1970s too naff, then this is not a film for you.

Harry takes up where he left off in "Dirty Harry" - the archetypical outsider trying to make sure that the bad guys lose, so that 'decent folk' can get on with their lives.

As you'd expect with this gritty 70s cop film, the 'good guys' are not saints, but you still root for the no-nonsense, decidedly un-PC Dirty Harry. Whenever there is a dirty job to be done, you can expect Harry to get it.


Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Hal Holbrook
Clint Eastwood
Mitch Ryan
Tim Matheson
David Soul

Creators:
Clint Eastwood (Primary Contributor)
Hal Holbrook (Primary Contributor)
Frank Stanley (Cinematographer)
Ferris Webster (Editor)
Robert Daley (Producer)
Harry Julian Fink (Writer)
John Milius (Writer)
Michael Cimino (Writer)
Rita M. Fink (Writer)

Director(s):

Recording label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
EAN: 7321900185998
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen,
Release date: 2002-01-21
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 116 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1973-12-25
Language: Arabic (Subtitled)
Language: Dutch (Subtitled)
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: French (Subtitled)
Language: Italian (Subtitled)
Language: Portuguese (Subtitled)
Language: Spanish (Subtitled)
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: French (Dubbed)
Language: German (Dubbed)

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