Magnum ForceWhat does a woman haveto do to go to bed with you?
Try knocking on thedoor.
Dirty Harryreturned to the screens after 2 years in the follow up, Magnum Force. The sequeldeals with turning the tables on Harry making go against what he seemed to bechampioning himself in the first film. Whereas Harry’s vigilantism and recklessness was arguable to solve acase and the life of a girl before her time ran out, Magnum Force’s villainsare just straight up executing those that managed to weasel out of thecourtroom on technicalities. While the first film did include action and violence, it wasmore suspense oriented. This film rampsup the violence to another level. Thekills are ruthless and gory. Some of thedeaths in this film will even make you wince. The film also features a lot of boobies, including those of pre Three’s Company Suzanne Somers.
One of the film’s few mistakes is forcing a couple loveinterests into the character of Inspector Callahan. Both of them lustfully throw themselves athim. One adds a little depth andinformation to the plot’s red herring, the other does nothing. It's dangled that Sunny could at least be adamsel in distress, but it never really happens and you really wouldn't care ifshe was. The first film was lacking astrong female presence, but didn't shoehorn one in for the sake of it. This film tries to introduce it, but it feelsincredibly unnecessary. And to add,Eastwood was pandering to females wanting Harry to have a woman in the storythat hit on him.
The film’s mystery seems quite easy, but it’s a little morecomplex than that. You can probably pegwho’s involved and maybe will bite on the red herring, that’s all kind ofobvious. However, how they’re involvedand the ways things play out are part of the fun. There’s also one big surprise player notrevealed until the end. The cast is quite a fun mix of seasoned veteran maleactors against a group of rising young actors.
At first glance, the films photography and direction looks alittle standard. However, this film islikely pioneered or was a contributor to shaping big budget spectacle actionfilms. There’s some really innovativestuff here. The aesthetic looks of thetypical 70's but the geography and camera movements provide quite a thrill. There are some great car chases and shootoutsfilling out Magnum Force. The film is a lot less suspense driven andmore action based, and it works.
Lalo Schifrin returns to do the score and this time brings amore solid and focused effort. Theopening titles theme is highly catchy and memorable. I wish it would have been used morethroughout. The music feels slightly ofan exploitation film, but maybe that was just a typical style of the time. It does fit with that of the first film.
Magnum Force fallsjust short of being as good as the first film, but it comes close. The character of Harry Callahan is stillgruff, but produces some genuine and earned laughs when necessary. The action gets bigger and the premise of thefirst film is flipped on its head. It’sa very good follow up and definitely one of the best sequels of all time. It feels wholly original and new while alsomaking its retreads feel fresh and new. If you enjoyed Dirty Harry,jump right into to Magnum Force. It’s a great time.
Up Next: THE ENFORCER
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