MAGNUM FORCE

After watching 'The Enforcer', the third in the Dirty Harry series, which is little more than a shoddy TV movie it was a relief to watch this, its predecessor.  

Right from the get-go it's clear that the direction, cinematography and score are of a high quality. San Francisco has never looked more alluring than in this film I would suggest; for example, at one point we are treated to a gorgeous view from the top of a high apartment block where we see the Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance.   

There's no need to worry about the screenplay either, credited to the intriguing pairing of John Milius and Michael Cimino. They have the neat idea of taking Harry's unconventional approach to policing to its logical conclusion.  There is a cop, or someone pretending to be a cop, killing (or rather, executing) criminals who have evaded the normal justice system.

At first both we and Harry suspect a long-time friend of his on the force, Charlie, who's definitely displaying some mental health issues.

In fact it turns out that Harry should be focussing on a group of four young traffic cops who he  is getting to know and like (they're all into guns and shooting).  

There's a very effective moment when Charlie himself is shot dead by the real killer cop, who is then revealed to be nice David Soul, the leader of the rookies. 

There's another nice reveal later when (spoiler alert) we and Harry discover that his boss, played by the always reliable Hal Holbrook, who we assume supports the system is in fact directing the 'death squad'.

This triggers an exciting conclusion which includes a great car chase sequence where Harry is pursued by one of the enemy cops on his motorcycle, and which ends on a deserted aircraft carrier.

As was typical of films of this type and this era the portrayal of women is not great.

One is a prostitute, several are young blondes in a state of nudity or semi nudity, and there is Charlie's ex-wife who makes it clear she'd like to jump into bed with Harry.

Worst of all is Sunny, a young woman who lives in Harry's apartment block who does jump into his bed at the first opportunity, mainly it seems because she is turned on by him being a cop.

Suffice to say that this film does not get close to even first base in passing the Bechtel test.

The film is also strangely reluctant to make clear the connection between Harry's contempt for the system and that of his boss and the vigilante cops.  Naturally Harry himself, not one for much in the way of introspection, is incapable of feeling any responsibility.

On the plus side, we get to see Harry doing some good detective work involving ballistics, and we get a glimpse of his homelife if that is what we can call it (lying on his bed with a burger and a beer).

Overall then this is a fine sequel to 'Dirty Harry' and well worth a watch.