Rolling Thunder (1977)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

John Flynn

Writers:

Paul Schrader (screenplay) and
Heywood Gould (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

6 February 1978 (Sweden)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Major Charles Rane Is Coming Home To War!

Plot:

Major Charles Rane comes back from the war and is given a number of gifts from his hometown because he is a war hero...

Plot Keywords:

Showdown | Revenge | Silver Dollar | Husband Wife Relationship | Baseball

Cast

William Devane	...	Major Charles Rane
Tommy Lee Jones	...	Johnny Vohden
Linda Haynes	...	Linda Forchet
James Best	...	Texan
Dabney Coleman	...	Maxwell
Lisa Blake Richards	...	Janet (as Lisa Richards)
Luke Askew	...	Automatic Slim
Lawrason Driscoll	...	Cliff
James Victor	...	Lopez
Cassie Yates	...	Candy
Jordan Gerler	...	Mark
Jane Abbott	...	Sister
Jerry Brown	...	Patrolman 1
Jacque Burandt	...	Bebe
Anthony Castillo	...	Street Urchin

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:R | Iceland:16 | Australia:MA (TV rating) | Netherlands:16 | France:-12 (re-rating) | Finland:(Banned) | France:-16 | Norway:16 (video rating) | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:16 | Norway:(Banned) (1982-2003) (cinema release)

Filming Locations:

International Bridge, Del Rio, Texas, USA

Company:

American International Pictures (AIP)

Trivia:

Quentin Tarantino named his distributing company, Rolling Thunder Pictures, after this film. Rolling Thunder Pictures released B-movies, cult classics, independent films, exploitation movies, and foreign films. The company went under due to poor sales.

Goofs:

Factual errors: MSgt Vohden's Army uniform has a Fifth Army patch at the top of the right sleeve. A patch on the right sleeve indicates that the wearer served with that unit in combat during a previous war or campaign. The Fifth Army last served in battle during World War Two. Vohden, as a returning Vietnam veteran in 1973, would have been only a year or two old during WWII (or possibly unborn).

Quotes:

[first lines]
Johnny: Major, I sure do hate to face all them people.
Major Charles Rane: Then put your glasses on, John.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Pulp Fiction (1994)

Soundtrack:

San Antone

The Seventies wins again!

'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.