ROLLING THUNDER (1977) REVIEW

I was lucky enough to get a chance to see a film i have been itching to see for years, a film that is still unavailable in UK or in the U.S despite having a remastered 1.16:9 transfer on spanish DVD, the film is question is revenge drama ROLLING THUNDER...

Check after the jump for my review...

/////////WARNING! SPOILERS AFTER THE JUMP\\\\\\\\\\\\

The 1970s was a decade of revenge, films such as DEATH WISH were making the rounds and also films about Vietnam vets coming home after being kept in prison camps such as THE DEER HUNTER. So what happens when you combine the both....ROLLING THUNDER happens.

Hot on the success of TAXI DRIVER, writer Paul Schrader teamed up with writer Heywood Gould (Cocktail) and came up with script.

The Plot follows recently released POW Charles Raine, as he returns home a hero, But after 7 years in captivity everything has changed, his son is older and does not remember him, his wife believed he was dead and has shacked up with a local police officer and he can't sleep at night due to flashbacks and nightmares of his time in prison. At a ceremony he is awarded a silver dollar for everyday he was a prisoner. He's awarded this by a young waitress who he strikes up a friendship with. One Day he returns home to find his house has been invaded by some hoods who want the silver dollar he was give, they amounted to just over 2000 dollars, but Charles Raine will not tell them where they are. The beat him up but he still won't say, he just says his name and rank. He's dragged to the kitchen sink where his hand is forced into the food shredder. His wife and son come home and are in shock. His son tells them where the Dollars are. The leader and his henchmen execute the wife and son and shoot Raine. Charles luckily survives but has lost his hand. His friend and former prisoner Tommy Lee Jones goes to see him in hospital and tells Charles that they can't just leave it. Charles says he doesn't remember anything to the police, but in reality he remembers everything and along with The waitress he goes on a journey to Mexico and El Paso to track them down. When he finally does find them, He calls on Tommy Lee Jones and the two of them go to the whore house where the villains are at, the last ten minutes is a graphic gun battle between the two POWs and the slimy villains. 

The Cast:

The cast for this film is pretty good but the film really belongs to it's main star, William Devane, an actor who is brilliant all the time and in Rolling Thunder he is just outstanding. One scene where he is in his garage talking with his wife's new partner, and he gets him to tie his arms together and hoist them up untill the bones start to crack is just brilliant, the fact that this man has spent so long getting used to pain and torture that he no-longer feels any pain is just mental, when he's asked how he managed to stand it, he just replies learn to love the rope, learn to love your captors. The emotions this man is going through is tough to watch at time as Devane Plays Charles Raine so well. The character as a bit of Travis Bickle to him except He's not mentally unstable where as Bickle was.  

Tommy Lee Jones is great too in a very quiet understated roll as his friend who helps him at the end.

Linda Haynes (Coffy) played Linda the waitress and spent the entire film without a bra on, but she was good, her last acting role was in the Robert Redford film Brubaker in 1980. 

The Direction:

The film was directed by John Flynn (The Outfit/Lock Up) and looks great, he's managed to capture the sleazy look to mexican border towns, and to frame Devane as a complete badass. My only qualm is that the film is a little dark, certain shot aren't lit proporly and this is a bit frustrating, but overall the film is brilliantly made and acted. 

The Verdict:

If your expecting a 'wham bam thank you mam' action thiller, you'd be wrong, Rolling Thunder is more of a character study and the effects of returning to normality after confinement thousands of miles away with a brutal ending. The film is a slow burner with Devane trying to adjust to his old life for the first 35-40 minutes and then he starts to track them down. For a Film ive been dying to see for years, it was no let down, i thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't understand why this isn't available world wide as its such and exceptional film.

FILM: 9/10