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Rolling Thunder

post #1 of 34
1/1/07 at 4:22pm
Thread Starter 
For a long time I held out hope that this movie would get a DVD release or show up on cable but I decided to cave in and track it down on tape. Even though the tape was in LP mode I'm still glad I finally got to watch this flick. It's the story of a Vietnam vet who after spending 7 years as a POW finally returns home to face an entirely new hell when his family is killed, and his hand mutilated, by a group of two-bit thugs.

William Devane stars as the returning vet. I know this guy has been around a long time but in my eyes he's just been an actor who looks a bit like an ape and has served as the Secretary of Defense on "24." He is fantastic in ROLLING THUNDER. I've seen plenty of movies where the hero's family is slaughtered and he has to get payback, but Devane plays that type differently than I usually see. He's very cold and calculating about carrying out his revenge but still is able to convey a human touch that sets this movie apart.

Tommy Lee Jones co-stars as a fellow POW who returned home with Devane. At first I was bummed that he only has a couple scenes early on. But he makes up for lost time in the last 20 minutes.

This is the first movie I've been able to check out in 2007. So far there's one in the win column. Now I'll I ask is for is a DVD release.
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post #2 of 34
1/1/07 at 5:04pm
My sophmore year in high school I had this movie on my brain and sure enough,saw a brand new copy at the local FYE.Totally random but I was stoked and watched it with my mom the next day while she knitted,because she likes Devane.Anyway,it's a very good movie.I haven't watched it in it's entirety since that fateful day,but I have watched the last 20 minutes many times,mainly to see that shirtless guy get shot in the stomach with a shotgun!How'd they do that?
The best part for me is when Tommy Lee Jones takes a guys knife from him and stabs him in the throat,then throws the knife across the room.There's such an awesome sense of urgency,if that makes any sense.He's getting the job done and shows no hint of remorse after he just stuck the guy.REWATCH THAT PART RIGHT NOW.
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post #3 of 34
1/1/07 at 5:10pm
Thread Starter 
I'll do that.

Not that I plan on watching reruns of "Dukes of Hazzard" anytime soon, but if I ever do I don't think I'm going to be able to view Rosco in quite the same light. James Best is a bastard in this one.
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post #4 of 34
1/1/07 at 6:18pm
Dig this movie, but I still think what totally makes it work for me is that the bad guys are willing to murder for just a few thousand bucks. Of loose change.

Now that's bad.
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post #5 of 34
1/1/07 at 6:23pm
"What are you doing?"

"We're gonna kill a whole bunch of people."

My dad loves this movie, and would talk about that scene a lot whenever he and I discussed "biggest badass moments in movies."
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post #6 of 34
1/1/07 at 7:26pm
Thread Starter 
I love that exchange.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Keith Fordyce
Dig this movie, but I still think what totally makes it work for me is that the bad guys are willing to murder for just a few thousand bucks. Of loose change.

Now that's bad.
That does stand out. It was about $2,100 in silver dollars. Split 4 ways it's a little over $500. Pretty crappy score even by 70's standards.
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post #7 of 34
1/1/07 at 8:32pm
I'm glad you saw it! I might be in the minority, but I love the first act more than the ending. Devane's face as his wife tells him she's in love iwth his buddy, with his eyes (on my shitty VHS, anyway) these little tiny pin points of light in the middle of large black shadows. The scene in the shed with the new boyfriend and the rope.

And the unsentimental, no music-havin', matter of fact cut to him sharpening that hook is wonderful.
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post #8 of 34
1/1/07 at 8:45pm
Thread Starter 
The quiet moments do indeed work just as well as the fireworks at the end. The scene where Devane is trying to use his hook to pick up his cigarettes stands out. As does the scene where Jones tells his family he's going off with Devane, especially the way he says goodbye to his father.

As corny as it is, I really liked the "San Antone" song the plays over the beginning and end credits.
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post #9 of 34
1/1/07 at 8:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moltisanti
The quiet moments do indeed work just as well as the fireworks at the end. The scene where Devane is trying to use his hook to pick up his cigarettes stands out.
There's that sweet, patient payoff of realizing he's practicing loading his gun. When I've shown this movie to people, I tell them nothing except it's about a Vietnam POW coming home. Reactions when the thing turns into a revenge flick are fun to watch. I love how quietly the film goes in that direction after his family is murdered.

Quote:
As does the scene where Jones tells his family he's going off with Devane, especially the way he says goodbye to his father.
Check out Franklin from Texas Chain Saw Massacre as the chattering brother-in-law.
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post #10 of 34
1/1/07 at 9:56pm
I've never seen the film, but I do love the game -

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post #11 of 34
1/2/07 at 12:31am
One part that always stuck out for me is when Devane gets to Tommy Lee Jones' house and they just stare at each other. I know this probably sounds corny but it’s almost as if they're communicating telepathically in some way. The bond that they must have after what they've gone through.
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post #12 of 34
1/2/07 at 2:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moltisanti
I love that exchange.

That does stand out. It was about $2,100 in silver dollars. Split 4 ways it's a little over $500. Pretty crappy score even by 70's standards.
In silver dollars, it'd be worth a lot more than the face value. But as Automatic Slim shows in his dialogue, for him it's more about Devane being an air force officer getting a payoff that pisses him off. They all saw the news program and decided to get some payback.

Yeah, that comeback to Rane - "I'll just get my gear" - awesome.

Some other great lines:

-When Rane tells Johnny there's 7 or 8 guys in the whorehouse, Rane deadpans "Let's go clean 'em up."
-"Listen, Cliff, I hope you don't mind my saying this but I'd sure appreciate it if you didn't call my kid a runt."
-After Rane stabs a guy through the palm, "You could lose a hand like that."

Nice, lean script by Schraeder.

Little bit of straight work by Dabney Coleman as his shrink. Jones is awesome, albeit a little too strapping for a fellow who spent several years in a POW camp.

I'm not much for C&W, but yeah, the title song is sort of catchy.

But Tarentino got Switchblade Sisters out before Rolling Thudner tanked, but not this? Where is Anchor Bay?
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post #13 of 34
1/2/07 at 3:42am
Thread Starter 
Yeah, when I saw Dabney Coleman as the shrink I expected him to be a jerk. I guess this one came along before he was typecast as such.
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post #14 of 34
1/2/07 at 4:28am
Glad you got to see this, Moli. This is one of my top five favorite films of all time.

I love revenge stories. This, Kill Bill, The Limey, Death Wish, have the same plot, each is different in their emotional handling of each, but each one has you cheering in your seat when the hero offs the main asshole or at least when they feel they've gotten their satisfaction.

Such a great film, I can't believe it's not been released on DVD yet. This is the only reason why I have a Laserdisc player that still gets use.

James Best got his Roscoe gig one year later, in the early episodes of Dukes you can see a little bit of The Texan in his speaking. Terrific bastard.

My favorite scene is when Rane tells Jones his plans to kill his sons murderers. Jones never takes the moral high ground or reasons with him, just says, "let go clean'em up."

One of the best, forgotten films of the 70's.
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post #15 of 34
1/2/07 at 11:29am
You can google it maybe, but in Schrader on Schrader, the screenwriter disowns the film, saying it was rewritten and changed from "a film about racism into a racist film". This statement supports my anti-auteur "Beatle Theory".
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post #16 of 34
1/2/07 at 3:53pm
They show it a lot on Encore and TMC, but it a nice little revenge story.
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post #17 of 34
1/2/07 at 4:00pm
I've never seen the movie, and everywhere I look for it, I can't find it. I may have to just go ahead and pick the vhs up. I've heard nothing but good things about it. I like William Devane, and Dabney Coleman not playing a jerk? I'm already sold on this flick just on that.
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post #18 of 34
1/2/07 at 7:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by 70sCinema
You can google it maybe, but in Schrader on Schrader, the screenwriter disowns the film, saying it was rewritten and changed from "a film about racism into a racist film". This statement supports my anti-auteur "Beatle Theory".

Disowns it? That sucks.
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post #19 of 34
1/2/07 at 8:32pm
Can we turn this into a John Flynn appreciation thread?I'd love to discuss The Outfit,and i've always wanted to see Best Seller.
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post #20 of 34
1/2/07 at 8:46pm
Thread Starter 
There's a thread on THE OUTFIT, another one that needs a DVD release, in this forum. I'm sure if you search under "Duvall Outfit" it will show up.

Flynn was behind the camera on a nice group of lean and mean flicks with THUNDER, THE OUTFIT, and OUT FOR JUSTICE. I wasn't too fond of BEST SELLER but I know a lot of folks consider it to be an underrated movie.
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post #21 of 34
1/3/07 at 1:20am
Best Seller is excellent.
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post #22 of 34
1/3/07 at 1:35am
Thread Starter 
It has a good premise but something about James Woods bugged me in that movie. I never bought into his character.
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post #23 of 34
1/3/07 at 2:30am
Best Seller and Cop came out back-to-back, IIRC. Pretty good double bill.

Woods did some amazing stuff in the 80s, actually - I know a lot of people hate The Boost, but Woods is pretty strong in it. Salvador, Joshua Then & Now, Videodrome, Salvador - great stuff.

As for Flynn, I guess he's retired, but there are plenty of shows who could use his crisp direction, e.g. 24.
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post #24 of 34
1/3/07 at 2:38am
Thread Starter 
When it comes to COP I liked Woods a lot but the rest of the movie is all over the place and a bit of a mess. But if anyone wants to see Woods at the height of assholery then that's a good flick to watch.
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post #25 of 34
1/3/07 at 3:43am
First James Ellroy adaptation on film, IIRC.
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post #26 of 34
1/3/07 at 12:53pm
Unless the info is misleading, which it is prone to be, Rolling Thunder is on the FLIX channel tonight at I believe 2:30 AM EST. It could be something else called Rolling Thunder, I've been fooled before.

Best Seller is definitely worth checking out, if for nothing else than the great premise. Larry Cohen, I think.
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post #27 of 34
1/3/07 at 1:40pm
Thread Starter 
According to the Flix site it is the Devane ROLLING THUNDER. It is going to be playing a lot on that channel soon. They must have heard I bought the tape and immediately decided it was time to throw it back on cable.
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post #28 of 34
1/3/07 at 3:55pm
watch it dude.The quality,as you might have guessed,surpasses the VHS quite a bit.If I'm not mistaken I thought they showed it in widescreen.
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post #29 of 34
1/3/07 at 5:00pm
It's 3:30 AM, not 2:30 by the way.
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post #30 of 34
1/3/07 at 8:07pm
For Christmas I got a copy of 42nd Street Forever: The Deuce, a collection of old explotation movie trailers, and the trailer for this is on it. Looks like a real winner. I'll certainly be hunting for it on FLIX the next few weeks. Now if I could just luck out and find Sugar Hill and Delinquent Schoolgirls.
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post #31 of 34
1/3/07 at 11:06pm
Thread Starter 
Here are some showings on various channels for the next week:

Thursday 1/4

Flix: 3:30 AM (12:30 AM west coast)
Plex: 6:45 AM and 3:05 PM
Encore Action: 8:45 AM and 5:05 PM

Tuesday 1/9

Flix: 3:20 AM (12:20 AM west coast)
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post #32 of 34
1/4/07 at 3:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by le Stephanois
If I'm not mistaken I thought they showed it in widescreen.
They do but I'm not sure if this will be. God, I hope it is.

Moltisanti, the Rolling Thunder on Encore Action is a different film. That one is from 1996.
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post #33 of 34
1/4/07 at 3:34am
Thread Starter 
You're right, the only showings of the '77 movie are on Flix. I didn't pay close ebough attention. I fucked up. Dear God I fucked up.

The only showtimes are:

Thursday 1/4

Flix: 3:30 AM (12:30 AM west coast)

Tuesday 1/9

Flix: 3:20 AM (12:20 AM west coast)

The other ROLLING THUNDER is described as an "unsold pilot about crime-fighters, each of whom revs up a different vehicle equipped with non-lethal weaponry." Why would a crime fighter take the time to equip their vehicle with weaponry, but make sure it's non-lethal? Great, you're gonna rig your car to shoot bean bags. That'll get ya a lot of tail.
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post #34 of 34
1/4/07 at 2:11pm
Yes, I stayed up until five in the morning to watch this, and it is indeed in widescreen.

Been a long time since I've seen it, too. Such good stuff.
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