Magnum Force

directed by Ted Post
List(s):"Movie One"
Category: "Action/Adventure"
Year of Release:1973
Date Added:12/31/2014
Date Watched:05/08/2016
Description:Harry Calahan (Clint Eastwood) investigates a string of execution-style murders of known criminals around San Francisco. He determines that they are caused by a group of rookie traffic cops (David Soul, Tim Matheson, Robert Urich). Calahan battles with his commanding officer Briggs (Hal Holbrook) to bring them to justice, then finds out that Briggs is in on it with the vigilantes. There's a final showdown on an abandoned aircraft carrier and Harry manages to kill Briggs and the remaining crooked cops.
My Rating:6

Reviews for Magnum Force

Review - Magnum Force

The lesson here is that it's OK for Harry Calahan to kill criminals while they're committing crimes, even if they are fellow police. But it's not OK for other cops to kill criminals if they aren't committing crimes at the moment. I don't know how Harry manages to get away with offing Briggs and the other two cops when he has no hard proof of their crimes once they're dead.

Having said that, this movie does contain one of the great movie lines. When Briggs says that he's never drawn his gun on duty and he's proud of that, Harry replies, "You're a good man Lieutenant, and a good man always knows his limitations."

Reviewed by Roger on 2016-05-09 15:25:56

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