MAGNUM FORCE (1973)

"A man's got to know his limitations."

As interesting as the original was I actually liked this one better than DIRTY HARRY.  Harry's personality is already established with the audience so now it's just pure action and excitement with him versus a group of vigilante cops that are rolling around assassinating people they find undesirable.  At the beginning, Harry doesn't know that it's fellow cops, so he's out looking for another psychopath like Scorpio.  Eventually the clues point Harry close to home and, of course, a final showdown.  Also, just like last time, Harry has some minor adventures around town.

Car chases, more great views of San Francisco, excellent supporting cast (Hal Holbrook, David Soul, Mitch Ryan, Albert Popwell, Robert Urich, Tim Matheson), nudity, more shooting where people don't hit anything, badass pimp car, quite possibly the first cinematic use of the term "titty bank", bombs exploding, Drano eating, Harry gettin' bizz-aye with his hot neighbor, drugs, motorcycles.

Fun film all the way around.  Recommended.

Part 1 - Dirty Harry (1971)
Part 3 - The Enforcer (1976)
Part 4 - Sudden Impact (1983)
Part 5 - The Dead Pool (1988)

DIRTY HARRY (1971)

"...you've gotta ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do ya, punk?"

This early pioneer of the gritty, lone wolf, tough guy cop genre still holds up pretty good today.  San Francisco cop Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) is on the trail of of a serial killer who calls himself "Scorpio" (played creepy and deranged as hell by Andy Robinson).  Scorpio's been going around killing random people and even boasting about it in messages to the cops.  But after an encounter with Callahan things get personal between Scorpio and Dirty Harry.  During all of this, Callahan still has to deal with random hoodlums causing a ruckus around town and his unhappy superiors who just can't handle his special brand of justice.

Awesome musical score, great views of San Francisco, tons of 70's cars and fashions, naked chick, good pace, PLAY MISTY FOR ME playing at a local theater, tons of shooting where hardly anybody ever hits what they're aiming at, macho speeches about guns, good supporting cast.  Not as gritty or violent as I had hoped, but still worth checking out.

Part 2 - Magnum Force (1973)
Part 3 - The Enforcer (1976)
Part 4 - Sudden Impact (1983)
Part 5 - The Dead Pool (1988)