Magnum Force - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Magnum Force or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Magnum Force

[bernice]

This is the last time Ted Post directed Clint Eastwood.

[beth]

The aircraft carrier in the shootout scene was the USS Rabaul (CVE/CVHE/AKV-21), which commenced construction in January of 1945. It was based in Tacoma, Washington but never saw duty; being held in reserve for eighteen years until she was finally sold for scrap in 1972, shortly after this film was released. The carrier in the adjoining bay was the USS Badoeng Strait (CVE-116), which was launched in February of 1945 and was used for anti-submarine duty along the west coast. She also performed the same task during three tours in the Korean War, as well as provide close air support. She was modernized in 1953 but decommissioned in 1957 and held in reserve until she was also sold for scrap in 1972.

[richard]

Directly after the scene in the garage where Callahan is threatened by the motorcycle cops, the cycles drove out and every single one of them crashed. Clint Eastwood said, "I've been threatened by the Keystone Cops."

[kylie]

Frank Stanley was hired as Cinematographer and Lalo Schifrin once again conducted the score and filming commenced in late April 1973. During filming, Clint Eastwood encountered numerous disputes with Ted Post over who was calling the shots in directing this movie, and Eastwood failed to authorize two important scenes directed by Post in this movie because of time and expenses. One of them was at the climax to this movie, with a long shot of Eastwood on his motorcycle as he confronts the rogue cops. As with many of his movies, Eastwood was intent on shooting it as smoothly as possible, often refusing to do retakes over certain scenes. Post later remarked: "A lot of the things he said were based on pure, selfish ignorance, and showed that he was the man who controlled the power. By Magnum Force, Clint's ego began applying for statehood." Post remained bitter with Eastwood for many years and claimed that disagreements over filming affected his career afterwards. According to Director of Photography Rexford L. Metz, "Eastwood would not take the time to perfect a situation. If you've got seventy percent of a shot worked out, that's sufficient for him, because he knows his audience will accept it."

[frances]

The guns used by the rookie biker cops are .357 Colt Pythons with four-inch barrels. This model was manufactured from 1955 to 2004 and is now a highly-sought collector's item.

[kim]

Suzanne Somers makes an uncredited appearance as one of the victims in the pool scene early in this movie.

[oscar]

Screenwriter John Milius admitted that he didn't care for this movie. Of all of the movies with which he's been involved, it is his least favorite.

[lynn]

Michael Cimino's re-write impressed Clint Eastwood enough to hire him to direct Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974).

[ava]

According to Clint Eastwood biographer Marc Eliot, the addition of black partner Earlington "Early" Smith was a "conscious attempt by Warner Brothers to ameliorate the outrage that the punk in the "Do you feel lucky?" scene (in Dirty Harry (1971)) was black."

[fred]

Uncredited actor Robert Feero was the first to fall to Dirty Harry's .44 Magnum.

[amber]

The naked man snorting cocaine, who gets shot by Davis (David Soul) was DeVeren Bookwalter, who played lead villain Bobby Maxwell in the next Dirty Harry movie, The Enforcer (1976).

[kristen]

Theatrical movie debut of Kip Niven (Red Astrachan).

[sophie]

According to Screenwriter John Milius, the reason the sex scene with the Asian woman "Sunny" (Adele Yoshioka) is in the script is because Clint Eastwood received many fan letters from Asian women that contained sexual propositions.

[duane]

The plot of this movie was inspired by the death squads of Brazil that were in the news at the time. John Milius pitched to Clint Eastwood a scenario of Harry Callahan similarly encountering a corrupt police force of vigilantes assassinating those they could not convict. Eastwood liked the idea particularly since he wanted to address the controversy of the original movie supposedly endorsing fascism, by making it clear Harry was not a vigilante.

[christina]

One of the death squad officers is named "Red Astrachan", which is a popular variety of apple grown in central California.

[manuel]

The second of five movies starring Clint Eastwood as San Francisco Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan.

[ava]

This movie made Hal Holbrook a recognizable star. When he learned he had been cast in this movie, he was delighted. He later said that the reason was that, as this was the sequel to the highly popular Dirty Harry (1971), it meant that finally he would be in a movie that people would actually see.

[jeffrey]

Even though Lieutenant Neil Briggs (Hal Holbrook) is dead at the end of this movie, a different character named Captain Briggs, played by Bradford Dillman, appeared in Sudden Impact (1983). Dillman previously played Captain Jerome McKay in The Enforcer (1976). It is unclear whether these two Briggses are related, or just have the same last name.

[kristen]

This was the biggest grossing movie of Clint Eastwood's career until The Enforcer (1976).