| | | A Man's Got to Know His Limitations. --Harry Callahan
Clint Eastwood headlines this solid sequel pitting Det. Harry Callahan against an unexpected lawbreaker: one who carries a badge. Sharpshooting rookie motorcycle cops have turned vigilante, rubbing out crooks the courts can't touch. Their real enemy is the system. Unfortunately for them, the system is what Harry is sworn to protect. Written by future directors John Milius and Michael Cimino, it's suspenseful, power-packed entertainment.
"...one of the best in the Dirty Harry series...a tough drama with Eastwood at top form." Bob Bloom, Journal and Courier
"Undeniably exciting and stunningly well put together." Clive Hirschhorn, The Warner Bros. Story
"Engrossing follow-up to Dirty Harry..." Jon Niccum, Lawrence Journal-World
"Eastwood doing what he does best!" Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com
"Dirty Harry feels like a lucky punk once again." Steve Crum, Kansas City Kansan
Editor's Note
Though MAGNUM FORCE is actually the second film in the "Dirty Harry" series, it introduces audiences to the classic line, "Do you feel lucky, punk?" offered by one of cinema's greatest antiheroes. Screenwriters Michael Cimino (THE DEER HUNTER) and John Milius (APOCALYPSE NOW) might have put the words in Harry Callahan's mouth, but would they be as famous if they were said by anyone other than Clint Eastwood? In this installment, Harry has been taken off the homicide beat, but murder still follows him in his new job handling stakeouts. He and partner Early (Felton Perry) investigate a series of deaths that take them from a former murder suspect to a top man in the mafia to a pimp. Ted Post, who previously worked with Eastwood on HANG 'EM HIGH, reunites with the actor for this action-packed sequel to DIRTY HARRY.
Plot Summary
In the second of "The Dirty Harry" films, Callahan is up against unknown vigilantes killing off mobsters who are getting off through the courts.
| Features | Dirty Harry Movies Trailer Gallery | | Audio Commentary By John Milius: The Magnum Force Co-Screenwriter Guides Us Through This Callahan Case From Concept Through Execution | | Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Audio: French, Japanese, Portuguese Dolby Digital Mono | | Audio: Spanish Dolby Digital Stereo | | Behind-The-Scenes Documentary: The Hero Cop - Yesterday & Today | | Dubbed: French, Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese | | Featurette: A Moral Right - The Politics Of Dirty Harry - Filmmakers, Social Scientists & Authors Focus On The Provocative Moral, Political & Ethical Themes Of The Dirty Harry Movies | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection | | Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Warner Home Video |
| Release Date: 6/3/2008 |
| Running Time: 124 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1973 | | Catalog ID: 1000019742 | | UPC: 00012569818378 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1 |
| Cast & Crew
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| | Professional Reviews | Bloodtype Online 10 of 10
As a big fan of "Dirty Harry" I was always shocked at how good "Magnum Force" was to me...One of the things that I thought was brilliant about this movie is the fact that it takes the ideas of the first film and flips them on it's head. In the first film Dirty Harry is pretty much the out of control police officer dishing out a brand of justice that the department themselves found overboard. This time they take that notion and switch it around as the vigilante cops are taking Harry's credo and adding their own line of thinking, taking things another step further. So it actually changes the approach to police work that Harry uses, and actually shows him using his brain in this one more than his classic .44 magnum. But don't worry folks, he uses that plenty here too and in this film they even work out a shooting competition to add further depth to a lot of the characters, Harry Callahan included. They try and make Harry have more of a "life" here in this film even if most of it is comedic...Overall I would Highly Recommend "Magnum Force" as I personally find it to be the perfect cop movie if you will. It's written wonderfully, has great sequences, and it's honestly a timeless classic. There have been so many films that wouldn't be able to exist prior to this one that it's not even funny. It's an innovative, well written, well acted, classic in the genre it helped create, the cop action drama. - Ed Demko
Qwipster's Movie Reviews 7 of 10
As long as you aren't expecting this follow-up to Dirty Harry to live up to the style, influence, and thematic resonance of its predecessor, Magnum Force delivers the goods to action movie junkies, as well as Eastwood's myriad of fans. In a backlash to the several critics that maligned Harry Callahan as a fascist, the writers, John Milius and Michael Cimino, offer up what it would be like to have a real fascist cop on the force, and what Callahan's reaction would be to police that regularly crossed the line in his pursuit of the criminals...Perhaps the only legitimate gripe I can make about Magnum Force is its excessive length. It's not that a police action vehicle should never be 124 minutes, it's just that this particular one is sometimes drawn out a bit too long in certain respects, including several scenes that don't really add much to the core story (such as Harry's tryst with his downstairs neighbor), while the climactic finale could have been trimmed and come away more exciting. I think that, even with the extra padding, it works, but a good 124-minute thriller could have been a fantastic 105-minute one...No, it isn't as good as Dirty Harry, but this sequel is still exciting, entertaining, and occasionally thought-provoking, only really missing Siegel's inspired eye for the look of San Francisco and his solid approach to adding momentum and energy to make this on par with its predecessor. - Vince Leo
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