Magnum Force is a 1973 American neo-noir vigilante action thriller film and the second to feature Clint Eastwood as maverick cop Harry Callahan after the 1971 film Dirty Harry. Ted Post, who had previously worked with Eastwood on Rawhide and Hang 'Em High, directed the film. The screenplay was written by John Milius and Michael Cimino (who later worked with Eastwood on Thunderbolt and Lightfoot). The film score was composed by Lalo Schifrin. This film features early appearances by David Soul, Tim Matheson and Robert Urich. At 124 minutes, it is the longest of the five Dirty Harry films.

Plot

In 1972, after being acquitted of a mass murder on a legal technicality, mobster Carmine Ricca drives away from court in his limousine. While traveling on a city road, the driver is pulled over by a San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) motorcycle cop, who calmly guns down every man in the car. Inspector Harry Callahan visits the crime scene with his new partner, Earlington "Early" Smith, despite the fact that the two are supposed to be on stakeout duty. Their superior, Lieutenant Neil Briggs, seems eager to keep him out of the murder investigation.