Rolling Thunder (1977)

A returning war veteran loses his family to a violent home invasion and decides to seek and retaliate against those responsible.

Director:

John Flynn

Writers:

Paul Schrader (screenplay), Heywood Gould (screenplay)

Stars:

William Devane, Tommy Lee Jones, Linda Haynes

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

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 so he enlists the help of his war buddy Johnny to meet the thugs in a final showdown.

---

Plot Keywords:

violence | vengeance | revenge | payback | murder | 

---

Taglines:

Welcome Home Major!

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

6 February 1978 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Der Mann mit der Stahlkralle

Filming Locations:

Pearsall , Texas, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

American International Pictures (AIP)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color Black and White (flashbacks)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In his 1982 book 'Adventures in the Screen Trade,' William Goldman called an advance screening of this movie "the most violent sneak reaction of recent years... the audience actually got up and tried to physically abuse the studio personnel present among them."

---

Goofs

Early in the film, while standing in line with other military personnel just back from Vietnam, the brass U.S. and Infantry lapel disks on MSgt Vohden's Army uniform are wrongly positioned. They should be on the upper lapels, but instead they appear on the lower lapels. Interestingly, the brass on the uniform of the soldier next to Jones are correctly placed.

---

Quotes

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

---

Connections

Featured in 42nd Street Forever, Volume 2: The Deuce (2006)

---

Soundtracks

San Antone
Written by Barry De Vorzon (uncredited)
Sung by Denny Brooks

User Reviews

A powerful revenge movie, sadly obscure.

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.