Hottoceame The Age of Commercialism

BeSummers Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Bumpy Chip It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Shawn Watson The longest Dirty Harry movie, clocking in at 124 minutes, Magnum Force actually gives us a plot with multiple threads to follow, and is, as a result, a much better movie than the original. This time around Harry must solve a series of brutal vigilante murders, gradually narrowing it down to a group of corrupt cops. He does actual detective work this time and uses his cunning to track the bad guys. The trick with deliberately missing his mark at the shooting range to retrieve the incriminating bullet was a smart move. There was nothing like this in the, frankly overrated, first movie.The violence, even by today's standards, is graphic and upsetting. Seeing corpses writhe in agony after getting shot directly in the forehead, is hard to watch. Imagine suffering such a would and, knowing you were dying, lost control of your limbs. You don't see this in movies anymore. Gun violence is often overplayed and made to look cool while the grim reality of being murdered in this horrible way is rarely seen. I appreciate the movie for having the moxie to show us a more realistic depiction.Director Ted Post, who directed Eastwood in Hang 'Em High, uses the anamorphic Panavision framing very well and there are multiple awesome compositions in the film. The slow, laid-back pace of Don Siegel is gone and the movie feels broader in scope while at the same time being an ironic response to the negative critical backlash that the first received. There's more weight and wit in Magnum Force, there's more to talk about, giving it higher re-watch value.I know my opinion is controversial, but Magnum Force is simply more enjoyable and prompts deeper debate.

Woodyanders Maverick detective Harry Callahan (smoothly played by the ever-cool Clint Eastwood) faces off against a gang of rookie cops who are killing criminals that the flawed system has allowed to get away with their heinous misdeeds.Director Ted Post relates the engrossing story at a steady pace, maintains a pretty harsh'n'gritty tone throughout, and stages the rousing action sequences with skill and flair. The smart and trenchant script by John Milius and Michael Cimino takes a strong stance against the abuse of authority and states a powerful central point on how vigilantism opens up a can of moral worms that's more trouble than what it's worth. The sound acting by the sturdy cast keeps this film on track: Hal Holbrook as fed-up disapproving superior Lt. Briggs, Felton Perry as easygoing partner Early Smith, Mitchell Ryan as bitter burnt-out veteran patrolman McCoy, and John Mitchum as the cynical DiGiorgio. David Soul, Tim Matheson, Kip Niven, and Robert Urich are quite good as the eager rookie motorcycle cops who take the law into their own hands. The fetching Adele Yoshioka makes a nice impression as alluring hot to trot neighbor Sunny. The startling moments of brutal violence pack a fierce punch. Frank Stanley's crisp widescreen cinematography provides a pleasing polished look. Lalo Schifrin's funky-throbbing score hits the right-on groovy spot. A satisfying sequel to the excellent original.

Uriah43 In this sequel to "Dirty Harry", the detective by the name of "Inspector Callahan" (Clint Eastwood) has been assigned to a stakeout due in large part to the jealousy of his boss "Lieutenant Briggs" (Hal Holbrook). In any case, while he is occupied at the stakeout, a series of murders are being committed which have a common theme in that the people being killed are all high-profile criminals. This fact eventually creates a public relations problem which results in Inspector Callahan being taken off of his stakeout and put back into the homicide division and onto the case. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that I thought this sequel was just as good as the first movie with several good action scenes and a semi-surprising twist at the end. Likewise, Clint Eastwood puts in his usual outstanding performance and essentially owns the role assigned to him. In short, this is a fine crime-action film and I rate it as above average.

Prismark10 Oh no, it is my television heroes as the bad guys. This view was probably echoed around the country when Magnum Force was first shown on British television in the early 1980s as it inferred that David Soul from Starsky & Hutch and Robert Urich from Vegas could be vigilante cops.Magnum Force is the first sequel to Dirty Harry. Clint Eastwood reprises his iconic role as the no nonsense San Francisco detective Harry Callahan. Eastwood was mindful of the criticism levelled at his character that he was a vigilante cop and this film was a response that labelling Harry as a vigilante is misconceived. Clint Eastwood always maintained that the Harry was critical of organisations and the bureaucracy that they carried. They simply would not let police to their jobs, possibly reflecting Eastwood's own libertarian views.In fact the plot really can be distilled to two people's views of organisations. Harry and his abrasive boss Lt Briggs (Hal Holbrook) on the face of it the anti-Dirty Harry, the cop who has never pulled a gun in the line of duty. Harry knows the system is broken but works within it. He might edge close to the line, even slightly cross it (which he seemed to have done in Dirty Harry) but respects the rule of law even if its only grudgingly. It looks like Briggs also realises that the justice system is broken but has a different solution.Watching Magnum Force again almost three decades later I expected the film to have aged. It certainly has a different depiction of San Francisco than the more tourist friendly picture postcard setting you get these days. Even the crooked segment of Lombard Street does not look like that anymore. What is striking though is the how action packed the film is, its absolutely modernist. I would say that this might be the precursor to the 1980s action thrillers.There was a time in action films where things moved slowly, you established settings, character and there would be a lull in between action scenes where you have quieter moments. Just look at Steve McQueen's Bullitt made a few years earlier and also set in San Francisco.In Magnum Force things are happening all the time. Bad guys getting bumped off by someone dressed up as a cop in a motorcycle. When we see Harry he gets into action pretty quickly as well, dressing up as a pilot to deal with a plane hijacking, later on we see him on a stakeout when a store is held up. The film is very well paced with incidents and action at regular intervals. Credit for that has to go to the writers more than the director Ted Post in my opinion.The film was written by Michael Cimino and John Milius. Both were the new wave of infant terrible of 1970s cinema which also included Scorsese, Spielberg , Coppola and De Palma. John Milius has always been a gun nut with a fascination with the military. He is regarded as the most right wing person in Hollywood. A film critic once said that's like calling someone out for being the tallest player in a professional basketball team!Cimino would go on to work with Eastwood the following year in Thunderbolt & Lightfoot which he wrote and directed. Cimino would achieve acclaim with The Deer Hunter and infamy through his follow up film, Heaven's Gate. He has not directed a feature film since 1996. There have been rumours he now lives life as a woman. What is true is that he has had a lot of bad plastic surgery.The film is called Magnum Force but during the climax notice that Harry dispatches the villains without once resorting to his gun. This is deliberate, Eastwood wanted to show Harry was more than a cop with a big gun that he had guile. It also reinforces the anti- vigilante message of the film. The ending is a little drawn out for my liking.One other thing about Harry in this film was sex appeal. Maybe he should be called X rated Harry as women just keep falling for him. Eastwood in his Dollar trilogy films was never into the ladies. That came in the movies in the 1970s which the star exploited as Eastwood became something of a sex symbol. I am sure it was also an ego thing on the part of Eastwood. It was the only thing that was odd about it, the Harry of Dirty Harry never seemed to have the social skills of being such a womaniser.The film is different in tone and style from Dirty Harry which is the best of the bunch. Magnum Force is a very good sequel and much better than the ones that followed.