Force Fed Films: Magnum Force (1973)

Since I watched Dirty Harry not too long ago, it meant Puneet could finally recommend its sequel, and one of his favorite Clint Eastwood movies to me, Magnum Force. I was warned that it wasn't as good as Dirty Harry, but that it was still a good Clint Eastwood movie. Hopefully armed with sufficient knowledge to prepare me for the film, I dove in. One thing I could say before I even saw it, if they used the "Do you feel lucky, punk?" line in the film, it would only seem lame and forced due to the popularity of the line in first film. So did they use it and get lame, or does Magnum Force stand up for itself? Hit the jump to find out.


There isn't a lot of indication of how long after the first film this story takes place, but Harry Callahan is no longer in Homicide. This would make sense since he directly disobeyed orders in Dirty Harry. I was always wondering if there was going to be any punishment after what he did, but now we know. Crime is at an all new high in the city (probably because Harry isn't on Homicide anymore, just sayin') and the cops don't know what to do about it. Well, someone seems to have an idea, as a person in police uniform pulls over some mobsters who just got off clean in court, and totally blows them away after pretending to stop them for a traffic violation. A string of murders begins and the police seem baffled. Callahan is brought back onto the case after pressure from the chief comes down on the department. Time to solve this killing spree!

Callahan has a new partner, and people are putting bets on how long he'll live just because of Harry

Well, turns out they did use that famous line from the first movie, but thankfully it was only as a sort of introduction to the film during the credits at the start. Dodged one bullet, time to see if it has any of its own to shoot back.

I liked the new partner team in this film more than the one in the first. Inspector Early Smith is Callahan's new partner, played by Felton Perry. Perry has been in all 3 Robocop movies as Johnson for those familiar with that franchise. I liked him, but he wasn't in the movie all that much. But what can you expect, this movie is all about Harry Callahan, and how can I say no to that?

Lt. Briggs calls Callahan in. Homicide needs him back!

Even though this movie wasn't as good as the first film, I thought it actually helped flesh out the character of Harry Callahan even more than the first one did. Now we get to see him do more detective work as he works the case and gathers evidence in his own way, on top of him always being a badass at every opportunity. We also see his keen eye at work in a cool scene involving a mailbox, but I don't spoil that. He has his suspicions about an old cop buddy he knows who is sick of the way things are run, but he wants to be sure before he brings down the ban hammer on him.

Not only do we get to see more detective skills, instead of just following someone like he did in Dirty Harry, we also get to know that he's a pretty amazing shot. I thought this was important because it meant he wasn't just a good cop because he had a super powerful gun, but he knew how control it and be dead-on every time!

The new traffic rookies

More new characters are introduced in the form of 4 new rookies. All starting off in the traffic division, Callahan meets them at the gun range practicing late at night. They want to get better because they know they can't get into the higher ranks if they don't know their way around a gun. Funny thing is they're all nearly as good a shot as Callahan and used to be in the special forces. Seems an odd mix to now be a traffic cop, but everyone has to start some where. Harry is impressed and tells them to get in touch when he gets back into Homicide, as he could use the back-up of some great shots like them. They also factor into a shooting competition, which once again I enjoyed because it showed more of Harry being an awesome shot and some other very clever tactics. Also, who doesn't love to hear that .44 Magnum being fired?

While it's true that Magnum Force wasn't as good as Dirty Harry, that's really only because it didn't have a super famous line holding it up. It tries really hard though, constantly repeating the phrase "A man has to know his limits" at least three times. The cool thing with that one was that every time he used it, he was always seeming to imply something different which was clever, but it doesn't hold a candle compared to that famous speech from the first film. The action was decent, culminating in a 20+ minute chase and shootout at the end. It was good enough that I'd still be interested to see more of Harry Callahan in the other movies, but I'm a little worried as each one seems to be a little worse than the one before it. I still think this one is worth checking out if you loved Dirty Harry. It certainly helps that Clint Eastwood is awesome at being a badass!