Rolling Thunder (1977)

I've loved this film since first seeing it in 1977 when its ultraviolent ending made viewers and critics cringe with shock and horror. Violence plays a significant thematic and on-screen role in this flick about war, horror, remembrance and revenge.

Briefly submitted, William Devane and young Tommy Lee Jones (before he hit stardom) are returning Vietnam war prisoners of war. Devane, an officer in the Air Corps, had spent time in the famous Hanoi Hilton prison and has occasional flashbacks of his torture.

Returning war hero Devane -whose wife took up with another guy during his lengthy absnece, adding real life drama and a soap operatic agenda to the movie -receives a generous local gift during ceremonies in his Texas hometown. Later on, a bunch of good old boys come to rob him of the gift. They torture him and off his family in the process.

The remaining 70 or so minutes of the film detail Devane's search for the killers and his revenge. He takes up with a lonely woman during the search while teaching himself to use a shotgun with his new mechanical hand (he lost the real one in the torture-robbery-murder back home.)

When he finds the killers, he looks up Jones, who is about to have dinner at home with his wife, dad and some other family members. What comes next is one of the greatest lines in all of macho male cinema:

"I've located the men that killed my family," Devane says. "They're in a whorehouse down in (Mexico)."

"I'll just get my gear," Jones retorts.

There's not much left to the flick after that except a few minutes of outright mayhem that was probably among the best of its type in 1977. I recall another Vietnam-murder-revenge film of the era, "The Exterminator", which did this one better; but not many movies provided the kind of high class mayhem that goes on at the end of this movie.

"Rolling Thunder" was, of course, the military code name for the U.S. bombing program that helped kill up to 1 million Vietnamese during our undeclared war with that nation circa 1962-75. The signature has both metaphoric and visual meaning for this movie, which is about a raid of another type that results in a lot of casualties.

Anyone that likes either of the main actors, high class violence, or revenge films will enjoy this movie, that is apparently not available on DVD. I've seen it recently on digital cable so I assume it will make an appeareance on DVD soon if it's not there already.

Warner Bros. does a good job with their on demand DVDs and I was hoping for the same level of quality from MGM. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with the "Rolling Thunder" disc. MGM did a sloppy job when they prepared this movie for DVD. This is most apparent in the interior (low light) scenes when flickering horizontal lines follow the actors as they move. This is distracting and certainly not what you would expect from a home video released by a major studio. Also, the DVD cover art looks like it was Xeroxed at Kinko's. I hope that someday Criterion or Blue Underground will give this movie a proper DVD/Blu-ray release.

Bottom line: "Rolling Thunder" is a great movie, but this DVD is not worth $17.99.

Buy Rolling Thunder (1977) Now

looking back at this movie now is like going back in time for us who lived in the 70's. Rolling Thunder is a bleak movie that was made in the mood of the time and looks even bleaker now. Thunder is a no nonsense movie with no humor. It has sadness, rage against things that are beyond human control, and no promises of a bighter future. Devane never was an action type actor. A very good actor but not one who looked like an action star. However for those you who are new to the 70's movies or were not born then, that is the point the director was trying to make. Devane was every GI who came back fron Nam to a "hero's welcome." The people cheered for a minute then stopped and left you alone. People didn't understand what the war did to person. The movie shows in muted colors that no one comes home the same as they were as they left. It is sad that this movie,in hind sight, shows how love ones stopped loving and ran from the returning GIs. This is the saddest part of the movie, especially having know many who had this happen to them. The hand in the sink scene has not lost any of its grumsome violent effect on the viewer. You don't see it but you feel it. If you can detach yourself from the movie, watch Devane's change back to warrior as he prepares to go to "battle." It is cold and chilling but not flashy. I can not say enough about Tommy Lee Jones in this small part in this movie. He has the very same problem that Devane's character has and has felt what Devane has felt, yet his charcter is not a copy of Devane. The viewer is treated to two actors working together as one to create a mood and to honestly gilve dignity to two characters that could have been protrayed as psychos. That is the strongest part about this movie, the characters have honor, dignity, and are show in an honest light. They are not pure nor are they flawless. The viewer cares about them but doesn't want to be them. The action scene in the Mexico is was brutal when I first saw it back then, now is still seems realistic and brutal today. There are very few low tech special effects. The director does not want you to cheer for the two GIs, no this is not a glory moment nor a "redemtion moment." This is just two men doing what they know because they don't know how to do anything else. There is no happy ending, no getting the girl, no clearing away old ghost, chance of normal future, no nothing but livng the next day and not knowing what will happen next.

Read Best Reviews of Rolling Thunder (1977) Here

I am a huge movie buff and if you are looking for a raw, powerful, gritty movie experience, definitely check out this movie, which remains one of my all-time top three. I personally like this film better than "Taxi Driver", but if you liked "Taxi Driver" then you will definitely like this film, because it was written by the same guy and the themes are similar. I was blown away not only by the performances (particularly Tommy Lee Jones in a startlingly forceful role), but by the amazing amount of action. There is definitely more violence and action than there is in "Driver" and that's why I like it. Some people criticize the violence, but with the powerful storyline, disturbing violence is almost necessary. Definitely see this film. Along with "Driver" this film will awaken you to the horrors of the Vietnam War.

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Hands down one the most underated movies ever made. I had it on videotape for sometime and I had freinds begging me to sell it to them but there was no price that I would sell it. Two years ago it vanished from my apartment. Now I've been waiting and waiting for it to come out on dvd. But still no word of a release. Screw.

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