Rolling Thunder (1977)
Rolling Thunder (1977)
DVD9 | ISO+MDS | PAL 16:9 | Cover + DVD Scan | 01:36:04 | 6,43 Gb
Audio: English LPCM 1.0 @ 768 Kbps | Subs: None
Genre: Action, Crime
DVD9 | ISO+MDS | PAL 16:9 | Cover + DVD Scan | 01:36:04 | 6,43 Gb
Audio: English LPCM 1.0 @ 768 Kbps | Subs: None
Genre: Action, Crime
Director: John Flynn
Stars: William Devane, Tommy Lee Jones, Linda Haynes
A favourite of Quentin Tarantino, Rolling Thunder is a quintessential revenge film from the 1970s. After eight years of torture in a POW camp, Major Charles Rane (William Devane, Marathon Man) returns home to receive a hero’s welcome and is awarded a big cash prize. Struggling to re-adjust to his former life, Rane faces another ordeal as a sadistic gang of thugs set their sights on his prize, killing his family and destroying his hand in the process. Now living only for vengeance, he enlists the help of his war buddy Johnny (Tommy Lee Jones, No Country For Old Men, Men in Black) to exact his own brand of justice.
IMDB
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.
Rolling Thunder (1977)
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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.
Rolling Thunder (1977)
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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.
Rolling Thunder (1977)
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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.
Rolling Thunder (1977)
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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.IMDB Reviewer,
26 out of 28 people found this review useful
Rolling Thunder (1977)
Falling somewhere between post-Vietnam war horror and your average exploitation flick, ‘Rolling Thunder’ starts out as a portrait of life for returning veterans and POWs but then gradually builds into a violent and chilling climax. While describing ‘Rolling Thunder’ as horror is somewhat inaccurate, there is something about the film that is intense and haunting, even more so when you consider the fact that the film’s protagonist, Maj. Charles Rane (William Devane), doesn’t consider himself alive anymore. Late in the film, he and his self-described “groupie” Linda (Linda Haynes) sit in the back of his car and listen to a country song on the radio. Rane comments that he remembered the song from when he was alive. The comment confuses Linda, but he explains that that’s what he and his fellow POWs call the time before they were captured. He knows he’s already a dead man, and the film makes every effort to realize that we also understand this.
Rolling Thunder (1977)
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There is a pervasive sense of alienation and disconnect throughout ‘Rolling Thunder’. It starts right at the film’s beginning, when we see Rane and fellow POW Johnny Vohden (Tommy Lee Jones, in an early performance) on the plane that brings them home to Texas. They sit silently, nothing to say to one another, no sense of joy at coming back. As they exit the plane, Johnny in particular reacts to the welcoming crowds with a look of horror, almost repulsed at the cheers. In fact, most of the scenes between Johnny and Rane are silent, or have such minimal dialogue that it seems they almost have a kind of psychic connection. Nothing needs to be said when both know exactly what needs to be done.
Rolling Thunder (1977)
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‘Rolling Thunder’ boasts not only an outstanding cast that also features other familiar faces like Dabney Coleman and Luke Askew, but a blistering script from ‘Taxi Driver’ author Paul Schrader and a throbbing electronic score by Barry De Vorzon (‘The Warriors’, ‘Night Of The Creeps’). The film is nearly perfect in execution, aside from the odd idea of the film’s antagonists stealing close to three thousand silver dollars. Even in the ‘70s, this seems like a small amount to steal from someone, particularly someone who just survived a POW torture camp for seven years and has almost nothing to lose. These thieves are clearly not the most intelligent, nor are they really out for big game here, so that whole plot point seems out of place. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter, particularly by the end of the film, which explodes in a shocking display of violence. Here is where Rane finally gets all four of his family’s murderers in one convenient place (a bordello, natch), and the nearly-ten minute shootout that follows is a complete bloodbath. This is also where Jones’ character truly comes to life, which makes the scene all the more disturbing. Johnny almost gleefully blasts and slashes through anyone in sight; prior to this, he seemed all but dead.
Rolling Thunder (1977)
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It’s not uncommon to hear men returning from war referred to as “the walking dead,” and never more so when it comes to Vietnam. ‘Rolling Thunder’ shows us up close how sometimes the war does not end for some, and how disconnected from emotion and humanity some men become when they come back home. It is a chilling film, and a somber one, and probably one of the best revenge films to come out of the ‘70s. It never devolves into silliness, nor does it ever wink at the audience or make attempts at humor. ‘Rolling Thunder’ is a serious film, and a seriously good one at that.
Rolling Thunder (1977)
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with co-screenwriter Heywood Gould and Roy Frumkes
- Interview with Linda Haynes
- TV Spot
- Theatrical Trailer
- Theatrical Trailer with commentary by Eli Roth
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