Légitime violence

So many films these days attempt to emulate the classic grindhouse feel of '70s cinema: tough, rough around the edges and completely hardass. Most of them fail in the attempt, coming across as pastiches rather than throwbacks. Sometimes it requires us to revisit those films of old to remind ourselves of what it is that makes them so great.

I first caught ROLLING THUNDER on television about a decade ago. It was one of those late-night showings, and the film stayed with me, at least two scenes in particular: the kitchen scene and the climax. Both were incredibly powerful and just wouldn't leave my mind. I was annoyed to find out that you couldn't buy it on DVD for many years, so it resided at the back of my mind where I continued to remember how great it was and wished for it to be one day released.

Well, my wish came true, and you can now buy this film, remastered on Blu-ray no less. And it still holds up as a lean, mean, action thriller, boasting extremely tough performances, a script that emphasises realism above all else, and some outstanding action sequences. One of the reasons that it works so well is that, aside from the action/revenge plotting, like FIRST BLOOD and THE DEER HUNTER it's really a film about Vietnam veterans attempting to readjust themselves in a 'normal' world.

William Devane – one of those familiar faces in cinema and the type to rarely get a leading role – delivers a strong turn as Major Charles Rane, a guy trying to fit into a world he no longer recognises. Devane's performance in ROLLING THUNDER is all about subtlety. If we're lucky, we'll see a flicker of emotion play out across his features, or a certain split-second look in his eyes. Other than that, he's never less than gruff and able.

The revenge plot line is very well portrayed in a minimalist style. Paul Schrader's screenplay is excellent, as was his one for TAXI DRIVER, and the two films have much in common: not least insanely violent climaxes which really pay off on all the suspense and drama that's built up previously. Another source of greatness is Tommy Lee Jones, featuring here in a rather minor supporting role that nonetheless shows off the kind of laconic talent that would later make him a big name in Hollywood. Some modern viewers might find the pacing a little subdued and sedate by modern standards, but they'd be missing the point: for a film that's essentially a gun drama, ROLLING THUNDER works all because of that subtlety.

'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.

I recently caught this semi-exploitative revenge flick on TV (Showtime), after wanting to see it for a while. Unfortunately, it's not on DVD and there's a good chance you're not going to find it on VHS (or laser disc) either, unless you go through eBay, maybe. Anyway, despite the fact that my first viewing of "Rolling Thunder" was in a modified format (unless the movie was shot in 1.33:1, which I doubt), I had a blast. William Devane is pretty great as the slightly psycho Vietnam vet who comes home to find that his small town life isn't waiting for him. And, of course, he goes *completely* psycho after...well, I won't spoil anything. Worth mentioning: this film is a big influence on Quentin Tarantino, who named his short-lived film release company after it (i.e. Rolling Thunder Pictures). What a shame that the company didn't survive long enough to re-release the film it's named for. If you're really into '70s cinema, action, sleaze, etc., you have to make an effort to see "Rolling Thunder". For real.

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.

The low-budget production company American International Pictures got themselves a movie with a then-groundbreaking post-Vietnam War plot and message that deserved a far superior studio...

And that's because important subjects can be costly -- yet thanks to creative and economical director John Flynn, ROLLING THUNDER becomes an entertaining road movie on an exploitation vengeance trail...

Severely built into returning POW veterans William Devane and younger sidekick Tommy Lee Jones... one married with a wife and kid, the other harsh, haunted and born to lose...

So it's not long before Devane's Major Charles Rane, after a rare-coin-theft gone extremely bad... resulting in the shocking deaths of his separated wife, beloved yet distant son and the loss of his own hand... is (through irreversible reaction) thrust into action...

Paving way for who's at first an unlikable side-character in Lawrason Driscoll as Cliff... the wife and son's more typically befitting substitute dad... ultimately partaking in what feels like his own more basic and narrowed, location-hopping, investigatory revenge flick...

Blindly seeking the killers through dilapidated Mexico taverns and broken-down villas while Devane and blonde beauty Linda Haynes's POW groupie turned gun-moll provide a more fleshed-out, genuinely romantic mainline -- yet with the same gritty goal intact...

Meanwhile an underused Tommy Lee Jones's arsenal must wait for the bloody Sam Peckinpah-style ending (combined with director Martin Scorsese and this picture's screenwriter Paul Schrader's TAXI DRIVER) that has Devane -- progressively befitting a role he initially seems too old for -- finally becoming the grisly ultra-violent anti-hero...

Yet it's those previous scenes with Linda Haynes -- whose searing motivation to keep him away from trouble are as intense as what he's about to step into -- that really showcases what ROLLING THUNDER could and does afford well: a moving character-driven melodrama where the search means more than its inevitable (yet still unpredictable) outcome.