Vigilante Force

Decent first half devolves into ridiculous plot with a town seeing basically a military battle. Deaths are brushed off as nothing. Pretty much the whole plot is so incredibly unbelievable that the movie is almost funny. Good cast though. A 70s curiosity only.

When this film came out in 1976, Jan-Michael Vincent was at the height of his popularity, though Kris Kristofferson got top billing, Vincent actually steals this movie from Kristofferson. Showing leading man appeal, Vincent shows if given above-average material he could more than carry a movie, though dated, Vigilante Force was a typical blue-collar, mid-70's movie, as previously stated, town police along with Vincent bring in Kristofferson and his buddies to clean-up the town, but then using their power for their own personal gains, Vincent tries to give his brother the benefit of the doubt, until he realizes he now has to drive them out of town or kill them. This movie was probably the peak of Vincent's big screen career, it's hard to believe this movie didn't elevate Vincent to super-star status, though Vincent had a fine run as an actor in the 70's, mainstream appeal evaded Vincent and though he appeared in Burt Reynold's "Hooper" in 1978, by the end of 1979, Vincent's star had fallen and he was relegated to low-budget B movies, eventually turning to T.V. to revive his flagging career.

Just a few months before "A Star Is Born" was released and made him a box-office name, Kris Kristofferson took on this ungainly role, that of a Vietnam vet who appoints himself judge and executioner in a backwater town run amok. He eliminates anyone (including women) who question his authority, making resident and younger brother Jan-Michael Vincent really sorry he ever asked for his help. Thoughtless and mean-spirited action-thriller from writer-director George Armitage has good location shooting in Simi Valley, CA but an utterly unsympathetic script filled with redneck clichés and ugly violence. Armitage has managed to gather together a most curious supporting cast for the film, including Victoria Principal, Bernadette Peters, Loni Anderson in a bit part, Andrew Stevens, David Doyle, Brad Dexter and Paul Gleason. Unfortunately, the center of the whole thing is Kristofferson, who is despicable throughout. Even viewed as a tacky co-feature or drive-in entry, "Vigilante Force" is a nasty piece of work, and one with a ridiculous climax. * from ****

The title sums it up. Vigilante --- yes experienced hired man to clean up a town. Force --- they become a powerful opponent that succumbs to own personal gain. "Anybody having a good time. Gotta be breaking the law. Let's bust them". This is what they were cracking out during the period, as "Vigilante Force" is purely a rough and ready exploitation slice out of the 70s drive-in market.

A small rural Californian town is skyrocketed by crime and violence due the boom of their nearby oil reserve. Ben Arnold turns to his war-hero brother Aaron (who doesn't have a great past with the town's folk) to lead a vigilante force to rid this problem by restoring law and order. At first this is what he does, but soon his back to his old ways as he abuses his power and becomes what he was their to rid. Ben shakes it off at first thinking that the town's folk aren't giving Aaron a fair go, but eventually they come to blows when Ben finally realises what Aaron is really up to.

Typical fodder, but accommodatingly well done and shining through its material is a traditional old-west build-up with an operatic closing between the brothers. Lined up is a bang-up cast of Kris Kristofferson, Jan-Michael Vincent, Bernadette Peters, Victoria Principal, Brad Dexter and David Doyle. Kristofferson ideally fits in the role as Aaron, rugged but with a dark underlining and Vincent is sympathetic as the well-meaning, clean-cut Ben. A doll face Peter is charmingly angelic as Aaron's squeeze and Principal is spirited as Ben's flame. Andrew Stevens shows up, as well as Charles Cyphers and Dick Millar appears in a throwaway cameo.

Director / writer George Armitage's sufficiently tight and hardy handling keeps it moving at a fast clip, where the sharply bright narrative (it's all politics -- involving greed) is always busy (maybe a little too so at times with its tit for tat and scheming with a touch of corruption) and the intense action is nothing but brutal and chaotic. It really does get outrageous towards the dying stages. It's war! Bullets, explosions and leaping stunts galore… where it does go out on a bang. Just can't get enough fire power. The lean photography likes to invoke that guerrilla style when it wants to get up and personal, but also it establishes the sunbaked backdrop accordingly too.

There is a ton that went wrong with this movie. Haha but the cast kept it alive. Dumb ending as well. About as shallow and thoughtless of a script as you can come by. Haha however again the actors kept it alive.