Rolling Thunder (1977) User Reviews (102)

A Cult classic of 70's cinema.

[RedRoadster · 8/10 · 10 September 2009]

I'm always fascinated by some of the wonderful and lesser known cult films from the 1970's. The Grainy film stock, the reliance on character and story rather than effects. "Rolling Thunder" is an excellent noir / revenge example of how atmosphere and the "less is more" style can propel a movie along in such a gripping way. With a screenplay by Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver) and a haunting theme song by Denny Brooks, this is a quality example of the genre.

Major Charles Rane (William Devane) is a man who has been pushed beyond his limits during an eight year incarceration in the Hanoi Hilton. Returning home with his friend Sergeant Vohgel (Tommy Lee Jones)and being a minor celebrity to his home town, He is presented with a new Cadillac car and a briefcase full of silver dollars (one for every day he was a POW) He tries to adapt to civilian life with his wife, who is now engaged to another man, and his son who doesn't remember him. Any chance at healing his soul is destroyed when a gang of thugs show up at his house to steal the silver dollars. After trying to torture the location (unsuccessfully) of the briefcase out of the Major, his son reveals where it is in an effort to spare his father any more pain. Once in possession of the money they kill his wife and son as they witnessed the crime and leave him for dead. Big Mistake.

This is a complex film which shows you a traumatised and quiet protagonist who is emotionally dead inside. Having suffered so much already , he can barely show any emotion over losing his family. When he decides to hunt the killers down, there are no outbursts just a cold resolve to do what he must.

Devane and Jones are excellent as two men who share an unbreakable bond of camaraderie and are both destroyed by the horrors they suffered in Vietnam. Its interesting how neither fear conflict but are both uneasy in their own homes. Linda Haynes gives good support as a waitress who is attracted to Rane and his celebrity but then realises he is psychologically existing on a different level.

One of the most interesting "revenge" films that i've seen due to the complex nature of the characters and the total lack of glorification involved in the scenes of violence. There are similarities to "The Wild Bunch" (1969) and the final shootout is a scene worthy of Peckinpah himself.

(At time of writing, this film is only available on a Spanish import DVD or rare VHS copies which you might be able to track down on e bay. Lets hope for a studio DVD release soon.)

Lean, mean and incredibly tough

[Leofwine_draca · 8/10 · 25 April 2012]

So many films these days attempt to emulate the classic grindhouse feel of '70s cinema: tough, rough around the edges and completely hardass. Most of them fail in the attempt, coming across as pastiches rather than throwbacks. Sometimes it requires us to revisit those films of old to remind ourselves of what it is that makes them so great.

I first caught ROLLING THUNDER on television about a decade ago. It was one of those late-night showings, and the film stayed with me, at least two scenes in particular: the kitchen scene and the climax. Both were incredibly powerful and just wouldn't leave my mind. I was annoyed to find out that you couldn't buy it on DVD for many years, so it resided at the back of my mind where I continued to remember how great it was and wished for it to be one day released.

Well, my wish came true, and you can now buy this film, remastered on Blu-ray no less. And it still holds up as a lean, mean, action thriller, boasting extremely tough performances, a script that emphasises realism above all else, and some outstanding action sequences. One of the reasons that it works so well is that, aside from the action/revenge plotting, like FIRST BLOOD and THE DEER HUNTER it's really a film about Vietnam veterans attempting to readjust themselves in a 'normal' world.

William Devane – one of those familiar faces in cinema and the type to rarely get a leading role – delivers a strong turn as Major Charles Rane, a guy trying to fit into a world he no longer recognises. Devane's performance in ROLLING THUNDER is all about subtlety. If we're lucky, we'll see a flicker of emotion play out across his features, or a certain split-second look in his eyes. Other than that, he's never less than gruff and able.

The revenge plot line is very well portrayed in a minimalist style. Paul Schrader's screenplay is excellent, as was his one for TAXI DRIVER, and the two films have much in common: not least insanely violent climaxes which really pay off on all the suspense and drama that's built up previously. Another source of greatness is Tommy Lee Jones, featuring here in a rather minor supporting role that nonetheless shows off the kind of laconic talent that would later make him a big name in Hollywood. Some modern viewers might find the pacing a little subdued and sedate by modern standards, but they'd be missing the point: for a film that's essentially a gun drama, ROLLING THUNDER works all because of that subtlety.

Well-Done Revenge Melodrama

[G-Man-25 · 23 June 1999]

Good writing, acting and directing place this violent revenge melodrama a cut or two above most films of its genre. William Devane gives a strong, stoic performance as Major Charles Rane, an ex-Vietnam POW who returns home to his wife and son, only to have his peace-time dreams shattered by a gang of vicious, menacing home-invading hoods who murder his family and leave him permanently maimed. After rehabilitation, he goes gunning for the people responsible for the crime. Tommy Lee Jones is very good as his fellow Army buddy who willingly joins him on the vengeance trail. The film is enhanced by adding some psychological insights into Devane's character....we get a revealing peek at how his wartime experiences have changed him and what makes him tick. The film is tense and extremely violent in spots, but the violence is not gratuitous. Paul Schrader, who wrote the classic "Taxi Driver" also wrote the original story here...and it shows. This one's worth seeking out.

Intriguing film deliberately realized with graphic violence and thrills

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 5 April 2010]

Intrigue ,action packed, tension and outstanding acting by large cast. Years later his imprisonment as P.O.W, Major Charles Rane (William Devane) is released from tough jail at Vietnam. He returns home to a small town in Texas, and for his endurance and courage he is gifted with two thousand dollars , a dollar for every day served in prison. Meanwhile he aware his wife has been unfaithful with her lover . The outsider ex-POW reluctantly gets involved in assault by a gang of heinous murderous who torture him and threaten to murder his family that reveal the whereabout the money. After some hospitalization Charles Rane seeks revenge and battles corrupts killers. Then, he visits his partner (Tommy Lee Jones)to chase responsible for his wife and son's death. Rane is also helped by a beautiful waiter (Linda Haynes), cold-bloodedly Charles is thirsting for vengeance against vicious killers.

This is a tough , action filled, suspenseful, and violent thriller realistically narrated. It's a tense and engagingly movie , ignored in 1977, but now regarded as a top film of the decade of the 70s. Explosive finale in Sam Peckimpah style is violently carried out with bloody slow-moving images. Solid main cast, as William Devane and Tommy Lee Jones; furthermore veteran supporting cast helps with several known secondaries, such as Luke Askew,Dabney Coleman, James Best, among others . This well directed motion picture is based upon a plot by prestigious screenwriter Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver). Atmospheric cinematography though is necessary a restoring and stirring musical score . Director John Flynn who gave magnificent performances to Rod Steiger (The sergeant), Jan-Michael Vincent(Defiance) , James Woods (Bestseller), and even Silvester Stallone (Lock-up) and Steven Seagal (Out of justice); here gave immense credibility to William Devane . Rating : Good, the result is a strong outing of action thriller genre.

Solid 70s Revenge Film...

[EVOL666 · 7/10 · 6 August 2007]

Going into ROLLING THUNDER, I think I was expecting something with a little more of an exploitation-vibe to it. In actuality, this film is quite a bit deeper than your average sleazy revenge tale.

Major Charles Rane comes home from Vietnam after spending seven years in a POW camp. As if what he hadn't dealt with during that time was bad enough - he comes home to a son who doesn't know him, and a wife who started boning a local cop when she thought her husband would never come back alive. Rane takes all of this in stride and doesn't appear too effected by it. That all changes when a group of thugs break into his home, rob him, and kill his wife and child, and shoot Rane - unfortunately for them, leavin' Rane for dead but not quite succeeding. Instead, they succeeded in pissing him off and after replacing a mangled right hand with a sharpened hook - Rane goes on the hunt for the killers with a pretty and young local waitress who is infatuated with him. His quest takes him to Mexico and surrounding areas, and Rane eventually hooks up with one of his fellow war-buddies to help finalize his his "plans"...

Overall, I really dug this film. The first half, where you start to get a "feel" for the type of person that Rane is and how his experiences have changed him as a human is really well done. Rane is a quiet kinda guy that you can tell is both somewhat gentle and caring, but has also lost a lot of his humanity due to his inhumane treatment at the hands of his captors. Tommy Lee Jones as his war-pal actually steals the show when he's on-camera (which is pretty short in this film) as another quiet-but-sorta-psycho ex-POW who is ready to help his friend out at all costs - no questions asked. The tone of ROLLING THUNDER is strong and has a not-quite-as-dark TAXI DRIVERish tone towards the end. The only problems I really had with it was that I felt the actual revenge scenes could have been stronger. I didn't feel like I got a full "pay-off" with how the bad-guy's were dispatched. Also, the ending left a lot open - like what ever happened with the waitress? Regardless, ROLLING THUNDER is a very solid revenge-film that will be of interest to those that have a soft-spot for those kinds of films...7/10

Falls Short

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 9 March 2017]

Major Charles Rane comes back from the war and is given a number of gifts from his hometown because he is a war hero. Some greedy thugs decide that they want to steal a number of silver dollars from him. In the process they also manage to kill his wife and son and destroy his hand. The Major wants revenge.

The film was originally written in 1973 for AIP, where Larry Gordon was head of production. Gordon took the script with him when he left for Columbia, and for a time Paul Schrader was going to direct. However that fell through and the film was set up at 20th Century Fox. I feel like if this would have stayed in-house at AIP that things might have turned out better.

This film is very much an exploitation film, except that it is mainstream. So everything seems toned down, with too many slow parts. It is like "Death Wish" without all the death. If this would have been handled by the veterans of AIP, it might have been a lot more fun.

A powerful revenge movie, sadly obscure.

[irvingwarner · 9/10 · 1 July 2003]

Screenplay of "Rolling Thunder" was co-written by Paul Schrader, who had just written "Taxi Driver". I feel this is William Devane's best movie, and a powerful start for Tommy Lee Jones. This is one dark movie, almost as dark as "Taxi Driver", and it misses by "not much". Basically, a gang of no-neck Bubbas do in Devane's wife and child, yet he survives the robbery. It is then revenge time, and the remainder of the movie is "out to kill", and kill it does. Devane and Jones, as recently returned inmates of the Hanoi Hilton are, in their own ways, tightly wrapped around the axle. At the movie's end, let it suffice to be known, they indeed find the bad guys. It is a real squeaker about just who the bad guys really are in this post-Vietnam movie.

Interesting post-Vietnam film

[JohnSeal · 6/10 · 17 June 2000]

Rolling Thunder is an excellent film that deals with the plight of the returning veteran during its first hour. It suddenly switches gears and turns into an excellent revenge movie, as William Devane goes after the thugs who murdered his wife and child and stole his silver dollars. A rare combination of action and intelligence.

cool film--a great editor's last

[Farleyed · 9/10 · 5 July 2000]

The editor on this film, Frank P. Keller, died shortly after working on the film. He also was the editor on Bullitt. He won the Oscar for editing on that film. Rolling Thunder has a very strong and deliberate editing style and pace--it all hangs together very well--and the action cutting is very tight. The quick cutaways to the blue-tinted POW torture scenes work very well too. I think part of the reason this film is so cool is Keller's editing.

what more can you ask for.

[slayer-3 · 7/10 · 29 January 1999]

Violence, blood, gore, revenge, Tommy Lee Jones, William Devane what more can you ask for. This movie, has been overlooked, and is one of Tommy Lee Jones' earliest film roles. This movie is out of print, try to find it at all costs!!! **** out of *****.

One Look Says It All!

[ccthemovieman-1 · 9/10 · 26 October 2005]

Boy, it's good to see a film one really likes that is just about unknown.....and read other reviewers who share your high opinion of that movie.

That's the case here in this simple revenge tale. My attraction to this film, outside of the interesting story, is the acting performance of William Devane, who plays the lead character. Seldom have I seen such a fascinating character.

Devane's character, "Major Charles Rane," had some interesting things to say BUT his silence was downright fascinating. Just the looks on his face and the absolute silence when his wife tells him she had been fooling around in his absence (when he had been suffering as POW, no less!) or when the robbers are giving him a horrible, sadistic beating. With the exception of one, maybe two outbursts, his language was surprisingly civil, too.

The movie had what I call "that gritty '70s look" to it but was well-filmed and probably would look very good on DVD. (We are still waiting for that to happen.) There were some solid closeup and shadow shots which added nicely to the neo-noir story. The violence is no-nonsense, straight-to-the-point and, with one exception at the end, realistically brutal........ but not overdone. The film starts slowly for the first 10-15 minutes but is a fast ride once the thieves enter the picture.

Co-star Linda Haynes reminded me of Tuesday Weld but not quite as pretty and a tiny bit harder looking. Nonetheless, she was an interesting new face and one I still don't recall ever seeing in any other film. It's also fun to see such a young Tommy Lee Jones.

Revenge movies can be a dime-a-dozen but this has at least one scene I guarantee you will never forget.

Frustrating movie about revenge

[michael-87551 · 7/10 · 13 February 2024]

Meaningless violence and frustrating revenge. William Devane turns the other cheek to the wrong villains wich inflicts more pain on him as his son is murdered for no reason other then principles. William Devane is good and Linda Haynes is great. Tommy Lee Jones plays the friend who unconditionaly stands up at the dinner table and says goodbye to his family, risking his own life to help a friend. I do like Jones charachter but again, frustrating. They are both war heroes and they have no real plan to execute the revenge in a smart way. The movie was okay but gave me too much frustration, however Linda Haynes is the reason this movie gets one more star then it deserves, period.

very fine last scene

[loydmooney · 5/10 · 26 December 2005]

The shootout at the end is up there with the one in LA Confidential. And the performances are all quite good. But the story as someone here has so ably picked up on, is very very stupid. Had Devane just been a vet that has seen too much smoke and blood and somehow or the other then got his hand whacked off, well it would have made more sense. I guess. So its no wonder Tarantino likes the story, considering how little sense most of his make either.

But the shootout is a marvel. Very nice buildup, and both Devane and Jones deliver the goods in the whorehouse.

And the song at the end, somehow is particularly haunting. Also nice that the story is set in and around San Antonio. Its just too bad they had to go out of their way to make this so ridiculously ridiculous. It could have been a taut tale in the right hands.

The Seventies wins again!

[Infofreak · 20 August 2001]

'Rolling Thunder' epitomizes to me what is great about 1970s movies. Just imagine this one remade today! It'd be a John Woo-esque shoot 'em up "action" blockbuster with slo mo explosions and a "hip" techno soundtrack! But we have here is an intelligent, well written (by Paul Shrader) and acted study of alienation AND a great revenge thriller as well. You can have your cake and eat it too! Something Hollywood seems to have forgotten...

Devane is superb as the Vietnam Vet who regards himself as already dead. He returns to a heroes welcome, a new car and ready cash, but finds it impossible to put his life back together. Tragedy strikes and he does the only thing he can do - seek revenge.

'Rolling Thunder' is often unfairly tagged a "vigilante movie" which brings 'Death Wish' to mind, when it really has more in common with another 1970s classic of obsession and violence, Peckinpah's 'Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia'. 'Rolling Thunder' isn't as great as that, and suffers from a few dead spots in the second half, but make no mistake, this is a superior thriller that wipes the floor with 99% of Hollywood's current output.

I wasn't completely hooked.

[BA_Harrison · 6/10 · 1 June 2014]

After seven years of being tortured in a Vietnamese POW camp, Major Charles Rane (William Devane) returns home a war hero, the admiring folk of his hometown showering him with gifts and money (a brand new red Cadillac and a shiny dollar for every day he was locked up). His wife isn't so happy to see him though: while he's been suffering in prison, she has been getting it on with local sheriff Cliff (Lawrason Driscoll), who has also been playing surrogate father to Rane's son.

War-weary, Rane seems resigned to the fact that life has changed, and realises that to respond with anger at his situation is futile, but when a ruthless gang break into his home looking for the money, reduce his hand to bloody pulp in the waste disposal, and shoot his wife and kid dead, peace is no longer an option: as soon as he is discharged from hospital, Rane sharpens up his new hook, grabs his shotgun, and goes looking for revenge, with a little help from local 'groupie' Linda Forchet (Linda Haynes) and old army pal Johnny Vohden (Tommy Lee Jones).

Rolling Thunder gets a lot of love from the cult-movie crowd, and has unsurprisingly been heartily endorsed by Quentin Tarantino, but for me it didn't quite hit the spot, with a little too much of the film devoted to the emotional drama of the story and not nearly enough in the way of brutal revenge. Paul Schrader's sharp script and solid performances from the excellent cast keep the viewer on board, but the revenge comes way too late in the day (in the form of a bloody Peckinpah style shootout) and is over all too quickly to be a wholly satisfying experience.

Cliched but well-made drama.

[gridoon · 7/10 · 26 April 2002]

The story is essentially a trite revenge tale, but it's sensitively directed, with a surprisingly non-sensationalistic approach to violence, and very, very well-acted. William Devane gives a reserved performance of great power, and Linda Haynes makes a strong impression, too. (**1/2)

A strange one - not a bad one.

[punishmentpark · 7/10 · 18 November 2013]

When I saw Paul Schrader credited for the original story, but not the final screenplay, I became as much enthusiastic as I grew suspicious. But I didn't get that right, because he díd co-write the screenplay... Reading his criticism (Imdb trivia) puts me in the right again, since the studio changed a lot of his original ideas; his script was simply reworked without his consent.

I must say I liked this film anyway, but I am still hoping to find the book some time. The character Rane is not a racist as he would have been according to Schrader, but in this version he is still fascinating; quiet, letting things happen, but still one can sense there is a lot going on with him. I'm glad William Devane got the role instead of Kris Kristofferson, because he adds sympathy to the character and I'm not sure how well this would have worked with Kristofferson.

The story is another matter. As said before, the criticism on the Vietnam War and the racist character that Rane was intended to be, are nowhere to be found. Rane is a hero, but 'dead' as he states himself and it is really hard to get a grip on him, ór the story. In the end, the only thing he wants is revenge for his murdered son, and there is still the camaraderie between him and his army buddy Vohden. In between, Rane hooks up with blonde bombshell Linda, who tries to get through to him. But between his broken family life - which is ultimately taken away from him by a merciless gang - and his new status a hero who is totally out of place, there is nothing left...

A violent, nihilistic finale ensues, and I can only try to imagine what Schrader's intentions and input could have done better for this strange, but certainly not bad result.

7 out of 10.

It has a solid Peckinpah style violent shootouts n showdown.

[Fella_shibby · 8/10 · 22 May 2021]

I first saw this in the early 90s on a vhs n found it to be boring at times but after revisiting it recently i liked it as the movie has plenty of character development n the story engaging.

In the 80s n 90s, i never used to care bah character development.

While Taxi Driver is top notch, this one too showcases the horror n turnoil war returnees go thru.

After spending seven years as a POW in Hanoi, Major Rane returns home but finds his home very different from the one he left.

Rane realizes that his son does not remember him and his wife admits to him that she has become engaged to another man and has no plans to break it off. Rane stoically accepts this and greeted warmly by the townspeople and he is presented with a red Cadillac and 2,555 silver dollars which attracts the attention of four border outlaws.

The locations are good but the best part is the silent n tough portrayal of the lead character.

The climactic action sequence is filled with lots of bloody shootouts n mayhem.

SPOILERS

[zetes · 6/10 · 15 January 2004]

I can't believe Paul Schraeder had anything to do with this. I'm kind of wishing they just credited him because the film shares many similarities with Taxi Driver, but it's too different to be considered plagarism. The film starts off very well. William Devane plays a POW just returning home from Vietnam. The performance is very good. Devane really captures what it must be like to return to a world that has more or less forgotten him. His child, a newborn when he was shipped off, has no idea who this man is. He's eager but afraid to spend time with his father, and the father feels much the same way. His wife has since found someone new (James Best, in fact, from The Dukes of Hazzard), and she must walk on eggshells. At first, the unfaithful wife is very tastefully treated. She's shown sympathetically, which I didn't expect. And Devane's attitude to her is also well done. He's obviously hurt, but, in a way, it's like he never believed that he could relate to her anymore anyways, and, in a way, there's a bit of relief that she's not his responsibility. Likewise, James Best isn't (initially) made into a jackass or anything like that. But then the writers seem to get bored with this very touching and very human re-adjustment story. Not enough shooting, I guess. Here comes the revenge element, in the stupidest way possible, and the whole film starts to feel like it was written by a Vietnam veteran who had a big chip on his shoulder and needed to congratulate himself for all his underappreciated suffering. Which might be interesting if that were actually the case, but I'm pretty sure it's not. Devane is given some $2,000 worth of silver dollars at a public ceremony, and a couple of days later he is confronted by about six big men who want to steal it from him. One has to wonder why any one criminal, let alone a gang of them, would want to rip off a recently returned POW for a measly $2,000. And their stupidity doesn't end there. Not only do they steal Devane's chump change, but they whack his (soon-to-be ex-) wife and ten year old son and then they cut off his hand! You'd think one out of the half-dozen thugs would think to himself, gee, we should probably murder this soon-to-be-insane-with-rage Vietnam veteran, too, but no. They leave him alive, apparently without caring whether or not he'll report the incident to the police. I mean, he did see their faces and almost every name among the criminals was mentioned during the robbery. Or maybe they knew that he was too macho to involve the police. But in that case they didn't think far enough ahead to realize he'd be coming after them a couple of months later when his hand has healed and after he's gotten used to his new hook hand (and sharpened it). The film gets more and more offensive by the minute. All the good work from the beginning is squandered, and it feels like that was done on purpose. Each and every bit of ambiguity from the first half hour is systematically p**sed on. The most telling moment comes when Devane finally confronts the lead villain and, right before he blasts him, says, "This is for my son," leaving out his unfaithful wife. It's very pathetic, and so very disappointing considering that there had to be a few smart people who worked on the movie. The first half hour or so, like I said, is excellent. The acting throughout is excellent. The actors did their jobs, creating multifaceted and interesting characters, even when they're doing uninteresting things. Tommy Lee Jones is also in it, and his character, though only in the film a little bit, is extremely interesting. A late portrait of his loving family shows just how much a couple of people cared about making a compelling film. 5/10.

Influential and, sadly, somewhat forgotten

[Crepus13 · 8/10 · 9 June 2004]

I recently caught this semi-exploitative revenge flick on TV (Showtime), after wanting to see it for a while. Unfortunately, it's not on DVD and there's a good chance you're not going to find it on VHS (or laser disc) either, unless you go through eBay, maybe. Anyway, despite the fact that my first viewing of "Rolling Thunder" was in a modified format (unless the movie was shot in 1.33:1, which I doubt), I had a blast. William Devane is pretty great as the slightly psycho Vietnam vet who comes home to find that his small town life isn't waiting for him. And, of course, he goes *completely* psycho after...well, I won't spoil anything. Worth mentioning: this film is a big influence on Quentin Tarantino, who named his short-lived film release company after it (i.e. Rolling Thunder Pictures). What a shame that the company didn't survive long enough to re-release the film it's named for. If you're really into '70s cinema, action, sleaze, etc., you have to make an effort to see "Rolling Thunder". For real.

great performances

[LeaBlacks_Balls · 6/10 · 21 February 2010]

The vigilante revenge genre is one of my favorites. There's 'Straw Dogs,' 'Thriller: A Cruel Picture,' 'Ms. 45,' 'Foxy Brown,' 'Coffy,' and 'Death Wish,' just to name a few. 'Rolling Thunder' is somewhat different than those. Instead of balls to the wall action and formulaic dialogue, we get a very introspective film spotted with sequences of intense 70's exploitation violence.

The film stars William Devane as Major Charles Raine, a troubled Vietnam veteran returning home from the war. During a local heroes welcome home ceremony, he is awarded a large sum of money from the town for his bravery. Before he can even settle back down into a peaceful existence with his wife and son, some local thugs attack, looking for the money. During the struggle his wife and son are murdered, and his hand is cut off.

After he gets out of the hospital, (where they replaced his hand with a hook) he vows to get revenge. He befriends a local waitress (played wonderfully by Linda Haynes) and soon they are off to Mexico to track down the killers. It is during this portion of the film where we get some great glimpses into these two tragic characters heads. This part of the film is so good, that the revenge sequences towards the end seem extraneous and dull, despite their gore.

All in all it's not a bad film at all. It just seems to lose steam towards the end. It's certainly worth checking out if you're a fan of 70's revenge films and/or Vietnam movies.

kicking ass one-handed

[raegan_butcher · 10/10 · 20 August 2006]

Paul Schrader is usually the man most prominently mentioned in connection with this film due to the fact that he also wrote TAXI DRIVER and as a result the contributions of co-screenwriter Heywood Gould & director John Flynn have been unfairly ignored. Everything in the film, whether its someone having their hand ground up in a garbage disposal or telling a hooker, " I'm going to kill a bunch of people",is handled in a very matter-of-fact way and the eventual effect is mighty powerful.

One only needs to imagine how wretched this sort of film would be if it were re-made today to appreciate the no-nonsense, workman-like fashion in which it was created.

Death Wish like

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 24 June 2022]

It's 1973 San Antonio, Texas. Major Charles Rane (William Devane) returns home after seven years in the Hanoi Hilton. He receives a hero's welcome with Master sergeant Johnny Vohden (Tommy Lee Jones) and others. He is still haunted by his captivity. His wife is engaged to another man. His young son doesn't remember him. Linda Forchet (Linda Haynes) has been pining for him. Four outlaws break into his home. Despite being tortured, he refuses to give up the goods. He's had worst. The criminals murder his family. He barely survives and seeks revenge with an unsuspecting Linda's help.

I expected Tommy Lee Jones to have a bigger role in this movie. The hook is fun but I question if he could use a shotgun effectively. William Devane isn't acting with much energy in this. That's part of the reason why Tommy Lee Jones need to get in on this a lot sooner. Linda is pretty good and I really like her fatalism. As a Death Wish copy, this is fine.

30 years later, wonky cast is a standout

[rokcomx · 5/10 · 18 February 2010]

Cross Taxi Driver with Rambo/First Blood, and that's Rolling Thunder. The bordello shootout is so evocative of Taxi (released a year earlier) that it almost seems like footage for both movies was shot at the same time.

The later Rambo flick (1982) shares more theme than scenes, but Sly's movie didn't sweeten the pot with a wonky supporting cast like (young) Dabney Coleman, (younger) Tommy Lee Jones, and the Dukes of Hazzard's own bumbling Sheriff Rosco, James Best...on steroids.

When I saw this new in theaters, I was shocked at how quickly scenes would go from laconic to explosive, and then back again - it's a very seventies kind of film-making but, all these years later, it all seems a bit dopey. Devane is the only successful casting choice in the whole movie, tho that still kinda leaves him the fattest grouper in a dirty fishbowl --