Magnum Force (1973)

This sequel to Dirty Harry found Harry Callahan pitted against a cell of vigilante cops (including the then comparatively unknown David Soul) who act as judge, jury and executioner (much as Callahan had himself in Dirty Harry) in exasperation over the number of felons escaping punishment from the congested and toothless courts.

Harry makes his own violent stand against these miscreants, but by 1973 the vigilante was well on the way to becoming the Seventies new screen hero.