Thunderbolt and Lightfoot

I remember watching this movie for the first time in the early eighties. I was still in elementary school but I still vaguely recall a scene where a young woman on a bicycle gets ambushed by Red Leary and gets away by clawing his cheek. Exciting stuff when u see a breast pop out on screen for the first time! If i'm not mistaken this would have been right before the scene where Jeff Bridge's character meets up with Red to go pick up the large caliber weapon. Where's the scene in the US DVD release? Other than the missing scene the movie was fun to watch again 30 years later. The cars and the print shirts, Jeff Bridges is simply awesome as a hippie drifting in the 70s. Clint Eastwood moves through the movie with a shattered shin and bad shoulder and still able to kick everyones ass when he has to. Awesome!

The film has a fairly leisurely pace to it, it's a bit of a slow burn for sure, but a very welcome one. There are so many interesting and enjoyable things in this film. It's part road movie and part heist film really. It's a fun film with Jeff Bridges playing a fairly eccentric and irreverent young character and Clint playing the more experienced and relaxed tough guy role. George Kennedy is also very good, and the film definitely finds it's share of funny moments. Michael Cimino was an interesting writer/director who in fact credits Clint Eastwood with giving him his directorial start with this film. Eastwood was apparently given the right by the studio to fire Cimino early on in the filming of this, but obviously never chose to do so. He co-wrote a couple of the earlier Dirty Harry scripts and then wrote and directed this film entirely. Cimino preferred to take his time in delivering his films, especially his early ones where he was given more control over them. In doing so, he really created a few films with some very interesting, well developed and not so standard characters. This is a very strong directorial debut. It really is too bad that Heaven's Gate was later considered a failure for him to some degree, as it seems after that film and he has talked about this, that he was no longer given the same kind of control over his filmmaking that he had previously enjoyed. I would've liked to see a lot more of his cinematic visions in full. Cimino was definitely an interesting, somewhat unique and patient artist. Hollywood studios on the other hand, sadly have rarely been patient with many artistic filmmakers.

7.5/10.

I really liked this movie. Cimino keeps the story simple, funny and pretty involving: A young hotshot (Bridges) inspires a has-been bank robber (Eastwood) to take another crack at the bank which nearly brought him down the last time he hit it, and along the way they are both sabotaged and helped by Eastwood's former buddies (Kennedy and Lewis).

In my humble opinion, Jeff Bridges is ace as "Lightfoot" in this movie. There simply would be no movie without him, or, well, it might, but it would've been boring as hell. Eastwood plays Eastwood, maybe a bit softer around the edges than Harry Callahan, and does his part well. Still, he is kind of drowned by Bridges, Kennedy and Lewis. They do other stuff besides just being tough and professional, and God bless the script and them for it. Bridges is so incredibly good in this, he jumps around, he tries to wind up Kennedy and tries to lure some enthusiasm out of Eastwood; I can not imagine anyone else but Bridges as Lightfoot. He steals the movie away (he's also does some drag-stuff here, classic). The scenes with the lady in the house, the tussles with Kennedy, the brunette and her friend, the lady on a bike with a hammer. You have a lot to look forward to here.

Cimino's picture is about a criminal who is tired and who just wants to take it easy, but a young dude, full of romantic ideas, tempts him back into the game. Along the way, the violence and mayhem that made Eastwood leave it all back then catches up with them and they have to fight for their lives.

The movie is a must-see for fans of Eastwood, Cimino, Kennedy and Lewis - but it belongs to Jeff Bridges.

I found 'Thunderbolt And Lightfoot' in the "action" section of my local video store, and a quick glance at the cover and blurb might make you think you're in for a buddy action comedy, like Eddie Murphy et al made in the 1980s and Jackie Chan is making now. This is not entirely correct. While it is essentially a buddy movie and there is "action" in it, it is much more character-driven and episodic than most movies in the genre, and has more in common with forgotten 1970s gems like 'Scarecrow' or 'Fat City', than your typical Clint Eastwood fare from this period. Michael Cimino, who co-wrote the ecological SF sleeper 'Silent Running', and wrote the first (and best) movie in Eastwood's 'Dirty Harry' series, debuts impressively as director here. Eastwood himself is very good as enigmatic thief Thunderbolt, even better is Jeff Bridges who steals the movie as his young protege Lightfoot. Some people dislike this movie because it appears to meander along for no particular reason, but I really enjoyed the interaction between Eastwood and Bridges, who really seem to be having a ball working together. The plot eventually comes together with a robbery involving the two and character actors George Kennedy ('Cool Hand Luke' and Eastwood regular Geoffrey Lewis ('The Way Of The Gun'). I still really wouldn't call this a caper movie (ala 'Rififi', 'The Killing', 'The Anderson Tapes', etc,etc.), it's not as straightforward as that. The robbery plot is almost an excuse for a bunch of enjoyable scenes between the actors, who are all excellent and really play off each other in an entertaining way. Also keep an eye out for bit parts by Gary Busey ('Big Wednesday'), Catherine Bach (Daisy Duke!), Dub Taylor ('The Wild Bunch') and others, especially an unforgettable bit with the legendary Bill McKinney ('Deliverance'), one of the highlights of the movie. There's no way I'm going to argue that 'Thunderbolt And Lightfoot' is a forgotten classic, but it is a lot of fun to watch, it is unpredictable and interesting and features some fine performances, and that is a lot more than you can say for most subsequent Hollywood movies of this type. Recommended to 1970s buffs and anyone who enjoys Jeff Bridges.

Michael Cimino's first film is an arresting fusion of early 70's road movie, 'Buddy' picture and 'planning a heist' action-thriller. That it manages to incorporate these elements into a poetic study of male friendship and the unquenchable restlessness at the heart of the great American pioneer/drifter mentality makes it a remarkable piece of work.

Cimino avoids the 'arty' distance of Terence Malick's 'Badlands' or the po-faced existentialism of Monte Hellman's 'Two Lane Black-top', but entertains the same thematic concerns within the framework of an accessible genre piece. From it's opening vista of a deserted wheat field, accompanied by the haunting strains of a single acoustic guitar, the film resonates with loneliness and loss. "Tell me where, Where does a fool go", sings Paul Williams, "when there's no-one left to listen, to a story without meaning, that no-body wants to hear?"

It is also funny and tender in it's observation of male camaraderie. Eastwood has never been more effective and affecting on-screen than in his interplay here with Jeff Bridges. We get a real sense of his character's connection to Bridges which makes the 'Midnight Cowboy'-ish ending genuinely moving.

Like all the great 70's movies, it has some wonderfully memorable scenes and dialogue: Dub Taylor ranting about the imminent collapse of the American economy at a nocturnal gas station; Bill Mckinney as a crazed speed-freak with a trunk full of white rabbits; Bridges encountering a hammer-wielding female motorcyclist, etc, etc.

Throw in some breath-taking scenic photography of Montana by Frank Stanley (prefiguring the use and role of landscape in relation to character later explored by Cimino in 'The Deer Hunter') and some beautifully understated character work in the smaller roles, and you have a fondly remembered minor classic ripe for some serious re-appraisal.