In the classic and controversial "Dirty Harry", we're introduced to a character who is fed up with the legal system. Why must rampant lawlessness be fought with a system that is slower than slime? We know who the bad guys are; let's just take them out! That is what Inspector Harry Callahan believes in and that is what he does in the first film. Clint Eastwood's Harry Callahan and Charles Bronson's Paul Kersey from "Death Wish" serve as the models of vigilante justice, as people who reflect what even the most liberal among us secretly want, which is to see bad guys brought down. They are the men who enforce justice when the law fails to do so.
What "Magnum Force" does is to show the other side of the coin, to show what happens when vigilante justice gets "too dirty" even by Dirty Harry's standards. The movie serves to add considerable depth to Harry Callahan. He hates the system but "until someone comes along with changes that work, I'm sticking with it." From this movie, we see that Dirty Harry is not a fascist, but rather is a man with a strong moral compass who always does the right thing. He's willing to break the law to do the right thing, but he's never going to do the wrong thing. Even vigilantism has its limits and, in "Magnum Force", Harry takes on those who have gone too far.
The great thing about the "Dirty Harry" movies is not just that they're entertaining action movies but that they leave a lot of room for discussion. These are movies that raise questions about the link between the law and justice. The original "Dirty Harry" is a statement against a legal system perceived as excessively liberal, where protecting the rights of killers results in injustice to innocent victims. "Magnum Force" is a response to that philosophy and is a statement against an excessively right-wing legal system, where individual law enforcement officers become judge, jury, and executioner. In both cases, in steps Harry Callahan as the voice of morality and justice.
Only with a lead character as strong as Dirty Harry can an action movie series debate itself this effectively.
What "Magnum Force" does is to show the other side of the coin, to show what happens when vigilante justice gets "too dirty" even by Dirty Harry's standards. The movie serves to add considerable depth to Harry Callahan. He hates the system but "until someone comes along with changes that work, I'm sticking with it." From this movie, we see that Dirty Harry is not a fascist, but rather is a man with a strong moral compass who always does the right thing. He's willing to break the law to do the right thing, but he's never going to do the wrong thing. Even vigilantism has its limits and, in "Magnum Force", Harry takes on those who have gone too far.
The great thing about the "Dirty Harry" movies is not just that they're entertaining action movies but that they leave a lot of room for discussion. These are movies that raise questions about the link between the law and justice. The original "Dirty Harry" is a statement against a legal system perceived as excessively liberal, where protecting the rights of killers results in injustice to innocent victims. "Magnum Force" is a response to that philosophy and is a statement against an excessively right-wing legal system, where individual law enforcement officers become judge, jury, and executioner. In both cases, in steps Harry Callahan as the voice of morality and justice.
Only with a lead character as strong as Dirty Harry can an action movie series debate itself this effectively.