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Magnum Force

Magnum Force

List Price: $14.98
Your Price: $13.48
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: superb cast behind eastwood makes it special
Review: Not so strong sequal of the original "Dirty Harry" . This time Eastwood is up against a bunch of cops (oa,tim Matheson and David Soul)who take the law into their own hands .

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: It almost equals the original.
Review: "A man's got to know his limitations" is exactly what this movie is about. Giving us a less cold-blooded and more human enemy for Harry.This movie didn't try to reproduce the original movie's greatness, but rather showed us a different side if Harry and the criminal world.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: "A man has to know his limitations".
Review: "Magnum Force" from 1973,the follow up to "Dirty Harry",(a movie many consider to be a classic) is not as good.Of course sequels rarely are. It does have more action and laughs.You could call it a kind of black comedy,because it is kind of far fetched. The screenplay was cowritten by Michael Cimino,(who wrote and directed "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" with Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges in 1974,which was a good flick),and John Milius,who had an uncredited hand in the original "Dirty Harry". Milius wrote the now famous line,"This being a .44 magnum,...."Do you feel lucky?". It turns up again here right after the opening credits for "Magnum Force". It came out just two years after the original,both were Christmas releases, and it was just as big a hit.They both made about the same amount of money.

The producer and writers had in mind to answer the critics who called Harry Callahan a fascist and a vigilante.Clint Eastwood said in an interview in 1997 about him being called a fascist,"that was just nonsense.Harry was just very concerned about the rights of the victims.What's the matter with that?" The late Gene Siskel also disagreed with those critics. He said "if Harry were to encounter Mussolini or Hitler,he would have popped them to".The critic Roger Ebert calls Harry "extremely fair, he'll shoot anybody". "Magnum Force" is well paced,has some good action sequences and a good chase scene and it does get intense.But,the plot is hokey and it's a little too violent at times.This is not a movie for the kiddies. The cinematography isn't nearly as good as in the original. It doesn't make very good use the San Francisco locations. Lalo Schifrin's score is good though not as inspired as in the original. It's still better than many so called cop movies that have come out since.Like certain bloodthirsty,sadistic mayhem released in the '80's and '90's. In the funny book "Real Men Don"t Eat Quiche" from 1982, the author Bruce Feirstein put "Magnum Force" among those movies real men will pay hard cash to see. Feirstein had a couple of dozen on the list including "Patton","Rocky",some of the James Bond movies,only the ones with Sean Connery,"North Dallas Forty" among others. All these movies are for men only.

Some trivia,Clint Eastwood said in an interview that this story was inspired by the Brazilian death squad of the 1950's.Actor Robert Urich appears as one of the rookie motorcycle cops,this was Mr.Urich's movie debut.Also,a then unknown Suzanne Sommers appears in the swimming pool party scene.Ms. Sommers scenes have her showing off a ring she just received and where she takes her bikini top off in the pool.(Not so shocking since she did do a layout in PLAYBOY about ten years later).Her name didn't get mentioned in the credits.And,Ms.Sommers gets blasted along with the other unfortunate people at the party.And,remember "a man has to know his limitations".

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Magnum Force (1973)
Review: Seldom sequels seem to live up to the original, but this an exception. Eastwood returns as Dirty Harry Callahan, the tough San Francisco cop. He take on a group of vigilante cops who are cold-blooded killers. Excellent sequel, worthy to watch. I watched it at least 15 times!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Another Callahan classic!
Review: A great story and action that really keeps your attention. Harry meets up against a crooked police chief (portrayed to a T by Hal Holbrook) and some young, slick crooked renegade rookie cops (David Soul, Kip Niven, Robert Urick and Tim Matheson). The last half hour is very intense featuring a chase, a search-and-kill on a merchant ship and the final blow-out on the dock. One-by-one the cops get their due justice-Harry style!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Make your day by watching this flick.
Review: Not a bad way to spend an hour and forty minutes. It's definetley a hard to swallow premise, but hey that's what movies are for. With violence and humor, this movie excels at both. It's got some great scenes and Eastwood is great. Great finale.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: It's a great movie on it's own merits
Review: Lalo Schifrin's soundtrack is more funkier than Dirty Harry. It also showed that Harry isn't a mindless "shoot first, ask questions later" cop as he questions the intentions of the rogue cops. Excellent acting all around.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Ultimate 70's Cop Movie!
Review: Face it, the original "Dirty Harry" was a better film, but this movie moves like no other! It has a gunfire and bodycount ratio that almost makes it an honorary Hong Kong Action Flick. Black-jacketed, renegade Motorcops are blowing away gangsters, while Harry Callahan is stuck on stake-out duty popping would be robbers with his mighty .44. Finally they meet in a clash to the death.Great action and direction, and a long list of stars to be (the Motorcops from Hell include David Soul, Robert Urich and Tim Matheson).And remember, "A good man has got to know his limitations."

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Dirty Harry is back.
Review: Harry Callahan is back in this follow up to Dirty Harry. Callahan takes on a vigilante squad within the city's police force. Even though it isn't as good as it's predecessor it's still a top class thriller.Eastwood is excellent as usual.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: "A GOOD MAN ALWAYS KNOWS HIS LIMITATIONS,"
Review: Is another Eastwood-ism that gained significant fame and is the third best line in the 5 film series. MAGNUM FORCE attempts to shed some additional light on Inspector Harry Callahan's professional and private life, but fails. The film isn't made that way. Instead it's a spaghetti western set in (1973)San Francisco, as if Sergio Leone went for dim-sum in Chinatown with Ted Post and writers John Milius and Michael Cimino, and churned this one out waiting for the next cart to arrive. MAGNUM FORCE has an outlandish storyline, easily forgiven by the non-stop action, debateable rhetoric and Clint's presence.
The drug store shoot out is worth the price of admission itself.


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