User reviews

I'm always fascinated by some of the wonderful and lesser known cult films from the 1970's. The Grainy film stock, the reliance on character and story rather than effects. "Rolling Thunder" is an excellent noir / revenge example of how atmosphere and the "less is more" style can propel a movie along in such a gripping way. With a screenplay by Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver) and a haunting theme song by Denny Brooks, this is a quality example of the genre.

Major Charles Rane (William Devane) is a man who has been pushed beyond his limits during an eight year incarceration in the Hanoi Hilton. Returning home with his friend Sergeant Vohgel (Tommy Lee Jones)and being a minor celebrity to his home town, He is presented with a new Cadillac car and a briefcase full of silver dollars (one for every day he was a POW) He tries to adapt to civilian life with his wife, who is now engaged to another man, and his son who doesn't remember him. Any chance at healing his soul is destroyed when a gang of thugs show up at his house to steal the silver dollars. After trying to torture the location (unsuccessfully) of the briefcase out of the Major, his son reveals where it is in an effort to spare his father any more pain. Once in possession of the money they kill his wife and son as they witnessed the crime and leave him for dead. Big Mistake.

This is a complex film which shows you a traumatised and quiet protagonist who is emotionally dead inside. Having suffered so much already , he can barely show any emotion over losing his family. When he decides to hunt the killers down, there are no outbursts just a cold resolve to do what he must.

Devane and Jones are excellent as two men who share an unbreakable bond of camaraderie and are both destroyed by the horrors they suffered in Vietnam. Its interesting how neither fear conflict but are both uneasy in their own homes. Linda Haynes gives good support as a waitress who is attracted to Rane and his celebrity but then realises he is psychologically existing on a different level.

One of the most interesting "revenge" films that i've seen due to the complex nature of the characters and the total lack of glorification involved in the scenes of violence. There are similarities to "The Wild Bunch" (1969) and the final shootout is a scene worthy of Peckinpah himself.

(At time of writing, this film is only available on a Spanish import DVD or rare VHS copies which you might be able to track down on e bay. Lets hope for a studio DVD release soon.)

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.

Good writing, acting and directing place this violent revenge melodrama a cut or two above most films of its genre. William Devane gives a strong, stoic performance as Major Charles Rane, an ex-Vietnam POW who returns home to his wife and son, only to have his peace-time dreams shattered by a gang of vicious, menacing home-invading hoods who murder his family and leave him permanently maimed. After rehabilitation, he goes gunning for the people responsible for the crime. Tommy Lee Jones is very good as his fellow Army buddy who willingly joins him on the vengeance trail. The film is enhanced by adding some psychological insights into Devane's character....we get a revealing peek at how his wartime experiences have changed him and what makes him tick. The film is tense and extremely violent in spots, but the violence is not gratuitous. Paul Schrader, who wrote the classic "Taxi Driver" also wrote the original story here...and it shows. This one's worth seeking out.

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.

Intrigue ,action packed, tension and outstanding acting by large cast. Years later his imprisonment as P.O.W, Major Charles Rane (William Devane) is released from tough jail at Vietnam. He returns home to a small town in Texas, and for his endurance and courage he is gifted with two thousand dollars , a dollar for every day served in prison. Meanwhile he aware his wife has been unfaithful with her lover . The outsider ex-POW reluctantly gets involved in assault by a gang of heinous murderous who torture him and threaten to murder his family that reveal the whereabout the money. After some hospitalization Charles Rane seeks revenge and battles corrupts killers. Then, he visits his partner (Tommy Lee Jones)to chase responsible for his wife and son's death. Rane is also helped by a beautiful waiter (Linda Haynes), cold-bloodedly Charles is thirsting for vengeance against vicious killers.

This is a tough , action filled, suspenseful, and violent thriller realistically narrated. It's a tense and engagingly movie , ignored in 1977, but now regarded as a top film of the decade of the 70s. Explosive finale in Sam Peckimpah style is violently carried out with bloody slow-moving images. Solid main cast, as William Devane and Tommy Lee Jones; furthermore veteran supporting cast helps with several known secondaries, such as Luke Askew,Dabney Coleman, James Best, among others . This well directed motion picture is based upon a plot by prestigious screenwriter Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver). Atmospheric cinematography though is necessary a restoring and stirring musical score . Director John Flynn who gave magnificent performances to Rod Steiger (The sergeant), Jan-Michael Vincent(Defiance) , James Woods (Bestseller), and even Silvester Stallone (Lock-up) and Steven Seagal (Out of justice); here gave immense credibility to William Devane . Rating : Good, the result is a strong outing of action thriller genre.

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.

After seven years of being tortured in a Vietnamese POW camp, Major Charles Rane (William Devane) returns home a war hero, the admiring folk of his hometown showering him with gifts and money (a brand new red Cadillac and a shiny dollar for every day he was locked up). His wife isn't so happy to see him though: while he's been suffering in prison, she has been getting it on with local sheriff Cliff (Lawrason Driscoll), who has also been playing surrogate father to Rane's son.

War-weary, Rane seems resigned to the fact that life has changed, and realises that to respond with anger at his situation is futile, but when a ruthless gang break into his home looking for the money, reduce his hand to bloody pulp in the waste disposal, and shoot his wife and kid dead, peace is no longer an option: as soon as he is discharged from hospital, Rane sharpens up his new hook, grabs his shotgun, and goes looking for revenge, with a little help from local 'groupie' Linda Forchet (Linda Haynes) and old army pal Johnny Vohden (Tommy Lee Jones).

Rolling Thunder gets a lot of love from the cult-movie crowd, and has unsurprisingly been heartily endorsed by Quentin Tarantino, but for me it didn't quite hit the spot, with a little too much of the film devoted to the emotional drama of the story and not nearly enough in the way of brutal revenge. Paul Schrader's sharp script and solid performances from the excellent cast keep the viewer on board, but the revenge comes way too late in the day (in the form of a bloody Peckinpah style shootout) and is over all too quickly to be a wholly satisfying experience.

The editor on this film, Frank P. Keller, died shortly after working on the film. He also was the editor on Bullitt. He won the Oscar for editing on that film. Rolling Thunder has a very strong and deliberate editing style and pace--it all hangs together very well--and the action cutting is very tight. The quick cutaways to the blue-tinted POW torture scenes work very well too. I think part of the reason this film is so cool is Keller's editing.

It's 1973 San Antonio, Texas. Major Charles Rane (William Devane) returns home after seven years in the Hanoi Hilton. He receives a hero's welcome with Master sergeant Johnny Vohden (Tommy Lee Jones) and others. He is still haunted by his captivity. His wife is engaged to another man. His young son doesn't remember him. Linda Forchet (Linda Haynes) has been pining for him. Four outlaws break into his home. Despite being tortured, he refuses to give up the goods. He's had worst. The criminals murder his family. He barely survives and seeks revenge with an unsuspecting Linda's help.

I expected Tommy Lee Jones to have a bigger role in this movie. The hook is fun but I question if he could use a shotgun effectively. William Devane isn't acting with much energy in this. That's part of the reason why Tommy Lee Jones need to get in on this a lot sooner. Linda is pretty good and I really like her fatalism. As a Death Wish copy, this is fine.

I first saw this in the early 90s on a vhs n found it to be boring at times but after revisiting it recently i liked it as the movie has plenty of character development n the story engaging.

In the 80s n 90s, i never used to care bah character development.

While Taxi Driver is top notch, this one too showcases the horror n turnoil war returnees go thru.

After spending seven years as a POW in Hanoi, Major Rane returns home but finds his home very different from the one he left.

Rane realizes that his son does not remember him and his wife admits to him that she has become engaged to another man and has no plans to break it off. Rane stoically accepts this and greeted warmly by the townspeople and he is presented with a red Cadillac and 2,555 silver dollars which attracts the attention of four border outlaws.

The locations are good but the best part is the silent n tough portrayal of the lead character.

The climactic action sequence is filled with lots of bloody shootouts n mayhem.

Rolling Thunder is an excellent film that deals with the plight of the returning veteran during its first hour. It suddenly switches gears and turns into an excellent revenge movie, as William Devane goes after the thugs who murdered his wife and child and stole his silver dollars. A rare combination of action and intelligence.

Rolling Thunder is a film I've wanted to watch for years, and I mean decades. I first remember seeing it on VHS trailers when I was a kid when we'd rent old Bruce Lee movies so you're looking at probably 1981/1982.

Years passed and I'd all but forgotten about it, then it got a few mentions in the 90's when Quentin Tarantino mentioned that he love it and it was a "cult classic" so cult classic in fact that here in the UK I couldn't find it on VHS, DVD etc and since the arrival of streaming sites it had never been available... until now (May 2024) thanks to Prime Video.

Expectations were high to say the least, both William Devane and Tommy Lee Jones are good actors and always deliver.

Unfortunately in this case the film was a slow burner given it was a 70's "revenge" movie and TLJ is actually only on screen for about 2/3 minutes the whole film even though he's second billing.

There's not a lot of action, not a lot of story and ultimately not a lot to live up to over 40 years of wanting to see it.

'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.

Major Charles Rane comes back from the war and is given a number of gifts from his hometown because he is a war hero. Some greedy thugs decide that they want to steal a number of silver dollars from him. In the process they also manage to kill his wife and son and destroy his hand. The Major wants revenge.

The film was originally written in 1973 for AIP, where Larry Gordon was head of production. Gordon took the script with him when he left for Columbia, and for a time Paul Schrader was going to direct. However that fell through and the film was set up at 20th Century Fox. I feel like if this would have stayed in-house at AIP that things might have turned out better.

This film is very much an exploitation film, except that it is mainstream. So everything seems toned down, with too many slow parts. It is like "Death Wish" without all the death. If this would have been handled by the veterans of AIP, it might have been a lot more fun.

Boy, it's good to see a film one really likes that is just about unknown.....and read other reviewers who share your high opinion of that movie.

That's the case here in this simple revenge tale. My attraction to this film, outside of the interesting story, is the acting performance of William Devane, who plays the lead character. Seldom have I seen such a fascinating character.

Devane's character, "Major Charles Rane," had some interesting things to say BUT his silence was downright fascinating. Just the looks on his face and the absolute silence when his wife tells him she had been fooling around in his absence (when he had been suffering as POW, no less!) or when the robbers are giving him a horrible, sadistic beating. With the exception of one, maybe two outbursts, his language was surprisingly civil, too.

The movie had what I call "that gritty '70s look" to it but was well-filmed and probably would look very good on DVD. (We are still waiting for that to happen.) There were some solid closeup and shadow shots which added nicely to the neo-noir story. The violence is no-nonsense, straight-to-the-point and, with one exception at the end, realistically brutal........ but not overdone. The film starts slowly for the first 10-15 minutes but is a fast ride once the thieves enter the picture.

Co-star Linda Haynes reminded me of Tuesday Weld but not quite as pretty and a tiny bit harder looking. Nonetheless, she was an interesting new face and one I still don't recall ever seeing in any other film. It's also fun to see such a young Tommy Lee Jones.

Revenge movies can be a dime-a-dozen but this has at least one scene I guarantee you will never forget.

Having spent more than six years in a POW camp, a Vietnam War veteran finds adjusting to life back home challenging in this dramatic thriller co-written by Paul Schrader and starring William Devane. The film gets off to a strong start with Devane remaining cold and near emotionless to the very worst of news, having learnt to bottle up his emotions as a way of surviving the POW camp. In a memorable scene, he even tries to get someone to torture him like the Viet Cong tortured him, confessing that he has come to love the pain and rely on it. There is also a touching angle with Devane feeling a stranger around his preteen son who does not even remember him. This dramatic crux soon takes a backseat though as thugs break into his house, intending to rob him. While this leads to an extremely intense scene in which Devane does not even cave into the worst possible torture since he has learnt not to, the subsequent movie is never quite as interesting as it focuses on Devane's attempts to track down the thugs after they kill his family and then leave him for dead. The Vietnam War parable that results is fairly decent, with the thugs representing the whole Viet Cong who likewise caused him great pain over the years, however, his war veteran history is soon forgotten with the film too often feeling a 'Death Wish' variant. The final shoot-out is also arguably too brief (lasting less than five minutes) to truly feel cathartic, and yet Devane is mesmerising enough that the film is enticing from start to finish. It is hard to think of a more substantial film role that he has had.

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.

Rolling Thunder appeared on Amazon's suggested viewing saying it was one of Quentin Taranino's favourite film.

Intrigued by Tarantino's praise I decided to watch Rolling Thunder. Thankfully, this revenge thriller exceeded expectations, living up to the recommendation of the renowned director.

William Devane, delivers a powerful performance as a Vietnam vet seeking vengeance after a brutal home invasion leaves him physically and emotionally scarred. The cinematography is truly superb, and it's easy to see how it might have influenced Tarantino's visual style.

While the pacing is deliberate, building suspense with a slow-burn approach, it also offers a fascinating window into the disillusionment and social anxieties of the 1970s. This patient approach allows the characters and their motivations to simmer, making the eventual payoff all the more satisfying.

Having earned a cult following, Rolling Thunder remains a worthy watch for film buffs five decades later. It's a suspenseful character study that stands the test of time.

Violence, blood, gore, revenge, Tommy Lee Jones, William Devane what more can you ask for. This movie, has been overlooked, and is one of Tommy Lee Jones' earliest film roles. This movie is out of print, try to find it at all costs!!! **** out of *****.

Not great, but not bad either, This really has the feel of a 70's made for TV movie. Devane is better in his role than Jones. There are no surprises, but it's entertaining enough to hold your interest whether or not you know what the movies about going in.