Rolling Thunder [Blu-ray]

BOTTOM LINE: This is not a modern action film, nor is it by any means a family-friendly film. It is cold, sadistic, shocking and savage. But of its kind, ROLLING THUNDER is among the first and certainly the best. It's great to finally see it get some proper respect with this solid Blu-ray release. 5 STARSTHE STORY: Major Charles Rane is coming back from Vietnam after spending seven years in a POW camp. Emptied by the years of unrelenting mental & physical torture, he hopes to pick up the pieces of his fractured life: the wife he left behind & the son he never knew. However, his dreams begin to unravel on his first night back, and quickly splinter into a mind-shattering nightmare. When a spiritually & physically broken man has the last thing worth living for taken from him you can bet there's going be Hell to pay. Oh, yes. There's going to be Hell to pay.THOUGHTS: From writer Paul Schrader, who gave us the brutally unrelenting TAXI DRIVER, comes this blood-drenched tale of betrayal, death, redemption and ultimate retribution. Bill Devane is riveting portraying damaged Vietnam veteran Charles Rane. In every scene he's in you can almost see the emptiness eating away at him from the inside like a cancer. There's a great shot of him sitting on the couch at home that first night back, talking with his wife. As she unloads on him you see his face side-lit in silhouette. The only hint of his eyes are two white points flickering from under the shadow of his brow, like tiny glowing embers. A young Tommy Lee Jones, in one of his earliest roles, plays a fellow POW returning along with Rane. His brief but powerful performance truly impresses; indicating from the beginning what talent he possessed. His character appears even more haunted and damaged than Devane's and Jones says as much with his face & body language as he does with his minimal dialogue. The movie's final confrontation is simple, savage and extremely real-feeling. There are no flashy camera moves, heroic music, witty one-liners or macho posturing. It seems to really be happening, coincidentally caught on-camera for us to stare at, like shameless rubberneckers at a horrible traffic accident. The film is as powerful, entertaining and epic as it is unflinching, stark and bestial. If cold revenge is a dish you enjoy, then dig in. It doesn't get much better than ROLLING THUNDER.THE BLU-RAY: While not a frame-by-frame restoration, Shout!Factory's hi-def transfer for ROLLING THUNDER is quite strong. It isn't perfect but it's good. The film does have some scratches, dirt & debris, but there's minimal noise, pixelation and artifacting. The sound is a little on the soft side but it's even and clean. A handful of bonus goodies make this an even better value. A newly-shot retrospective piece on the making of the film is first, with separate on-camera interviews from stars William Devane & Tommy Lee Jones, writers Paul Schrader & Heywood Gould, and the film's stunt coordinator. The original theatrical trailer is also included, along with TV & radio spots, and a lobbycard & promo gallery.

If you like revenge thrillers with more than a slight political slant, you'll probably do no better than this one, possibly the best film American International released in the 70's. Former POW Charles Rane (the excellent William Devane) returns home with the simple plan of putting the whole war behind him and get back to his wife and son. Only the town will not let him forget his ordeal and give him a stash of 2000 silver dollars (one for each day of his captivity) at a parade given in his honor. To top it off his wife has fallen in love with another man (the local sheriff) and wants a divorce. A bunch of thieves (led by James Best and Luke Askew) break into Rane's house and demand to know where the silver dollars are kept. When Rane refuses to answer they put his hand down the garbage disposal (According to the IMDb: "Famous scene where Rane's hand is put into garbage disposal was originally lot more graphic. There was originally shot of his hand getting destroyed. Scene was filmed with fake hand and lamb shank which made it look very realistic. When movie was previewed, audience members reacted very strongly on that scene. According to writer Heywood Gould; 'One woman fainted, another person ran into the lobby and demanded it's money back, and another guy was so freaked out that he entered in his car on parking lot and crashed into another car'. After that preview, shot of Rane's hand inside disposal was cut out from the movie."). Rane's son gives up the coins and Best and his gang shoot and kill Rane's wife and son and think they have also killed Rane. He wakes up in the hospital, has his destroyed hand replaced with a hook and plans to get even with everyone involved in the robbery. Together with a groupie (Linda Haynes), who wore his POW bracelet while he was in captivity and his angst-ridden POW buddy Johnny (an early role for Tommy Lee Jones), Rane goes down to Mexico to exact revenge. It's bloody, exciting and satisfying. Directed by John Flynn (OUT FOR JUSTICE - 1991) with a particularly grim outlook (prevalent at the time of filming), but I think most of the credit must be given to the literate screenplay by Paul Shrader (TAXI DRIVER - 1976; who wanted Rane to be a racist, but the studio rejected his idea; the Mexicans killed at the end were supposed to be substitutes for Rane killing the Vietnamese during the War.) and Heywood Gould (THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL - 1978), who would both go on to directing careers themselves. ROLLING THUNDER is a must for revenge fans that's not just brain candy but food for thought. Also starring Dabney Coleman, Cassie Yates and James Victor. An Orion Home Video VHS Release. This film gets my highest recommendation and is finally available on widescreen DVD-R from MGM On Demand and a beautiful print on Blu-Ray from Shout! Factory. (Beware of bootleg fullscreen DVD-Rs available on eBay). Rated R.

Great film and well acted only thing is its a bit dated William devane is brilliant I'm the lead and a very young tommy lee Jones basically devane is a Vietnam vet and tommy lee Jones as well they come back he was a prisoner of war and was freed they had this scheme because while he was missing his family tried to get him free and the local areas had saved some money for him becomes local news and unfortunately he gets robbed by some local crooks killing his wife and daughter and shooting his arm off and leaving him for dead enough to say he goes out for revenge all I'll say is its a bloody ending so be warned

Remember seeing this film back in 1977 at the cinemaGreat film and good performance by William Devane and Tommy Lee JonesClassic 70s revenge filmTransfer to Blu Ray is impeccable

Purchased recently, very good price and I suspect like most peoples memories of movies, always seem much better the first time around. I recall the "Bandits" reading about Major Charles Rane's fortune in their local newspaper? prior to going to to his home? been removed? or have I made this upNot sure what I expected, for me the story still has some value even today but a bit disappointed with the picture quality and I just thought on this particular outing it really should of been given the best chance, clearly it's been transferred straight from video to DVD/Bluray and in my opinion it really should of undergone some "digital cleaning" when my Daughter & partner watched it, they both said, same age as us this movie, 35 ish, and yes Dad . . . you can tell?

One of the best but strangely least known of the revenge thrillers from the 1970's. A must see for those who like films like Taxi Driver ,Sorcerer and Deliverance.

A wonderfull film, showcasing william Devane at his best, and an even greater revelation ( to me at least when I saw it in 1978 ) wasTommy Lee Jones, who has remained my most enduringly favourite actor since then.Thankyou.it arrived quickly despite a post office strike here in South Africa, was very well packed and and a delight now to own.David and Eileen Gibson.