As a sequel to Dirty Harry, the plot of Magnum Force has been brilliantly thought out and neatly planned.
The character of Dirty Harry as a cop who steps out of the law to protect the law, has been magnified but drafted onto a bunch of cops who are then made the villains of the movie, with Dirty Harry playing hero against them.
Clint Eastwood is smarter than he shows.
This movie allowed Callaghan to be Dirty Harry and yet become a real hero. As against the 'anti-hero' that Dirty Harry was.
Of course most Dirty Harry movies [ and also where Clint plays a cop with any other name ] are a city version of western movies of a bad-ass sheriff out-gunning the bad guys.
Magnum Force is a little different. The focus is more on the killers, and the targets. To that extent, the focus is a little less on Clint than usual.
Even the focus on Clint's character in the movie is a focus on his 'reputation' as Dirty Harry.
Clint plays more a 'detective' of the killings.
The airplane hijack scene and shopping mall scene seem contrived and outside of the main plot. But of course enjoyable to die-hard fans of Dirty Harry. [ In a way, the scenes highlight the 'Dirty Harry' side of Callaghan while allowing for Harry to play the 'good' cop against the 'out of law' killer-cops. ]
Clint's one-liners are crisp and short, and add to enhance his character to make sense of his 'position' against the 'view' of the killer-cops.
The character of Dirty Harry as a cop who steps out of the law to protect the law, has been magnified but drafted onto a bunch of cops who are then made the villains of the movie, with Dirty Harry playing hero against them.
Clint Eastwood is smarter than he shows.
This movie allowed Callaghan to be Dirty Harry and yet become a real hero. As against the 'anti-hero' that Dirty Harry was.
Of course most Dirty Harry movies [ and also where Clint plays a cop with any other name ] are a city version of western movies of a bad-ass sheriff out-gunning the bad guys.
Magnum Force is a little different. The focus is more on the killers, and the targets. To that extent, the focus is a little less on Clint than usual.
Even the focus on Clint's character in the movie is a focus on his 'reputation' as Dirty Harry.
Clint plays more a 'detective' of the killings.
The airplane hijack scene and shopping mall scene seem contrived and outside of the main plot. But of course enjoyable to die-hard fans of Dirty Harry. [ In a way, the scenes highlight the 'Dirty Harry' side of Callaghan while allowing for Harry to play the 'good' cop against the 'out of law' killer-cops. ]
Clint's one-liners are crisp and short, and add to enhance his character to make sense of his 'position' against the 'view' of the killer-cops.