Rolling Thunder

ROLLING THUNDER (18)

D: John Flynn

American International / Lawrence Gordon Productions (Norman T. Herman)

US 🇺🇸 1977

100 mins

Action/Thriller

W: Paul Schrader & Heywood Gould

DP: Jordan Cronenweth

Ed: Frank P. Keller

Mus: Barry De Vorzon

William Devane (Maj. Charles Rane), Tommy Lee Jones (Maj. Sgt. Johnny Vohden), Linda Haynes (Linda Forchet), Dabney Coleman (Maxwell), James Best (‘The Texan’)

William Devane may not be a particularly well known name in the world of cinema, but he really should have become one for his performance in this gritty thriller.

Devane plays a Major returning from the Vietnam War, where he spent time in a Vietcong POW camp alongside Major Sergeant Johnny Vohden (Tommy Lee Jones).

Struggling to return to the life he once had, his world is completely turned upside down during a home invasion by a group of criminals who steal from him and murder his family.  Surviving the ordeal, but losing one of his hands, he heads to Mexico to exact revenge on those who wronged him.

It’s more a character study than it is a revenge thriller, with a stoic, strong & silent portrayal by the leading man, who isn’t built up in any way to be an infallible action man & makes many mistakes whilst executing his plan.

The film suffers slightly for being quite low budget, and it does introduce some characters and subplots which don’t lead to a satisfying conclusion, and nor does the film itself after its final shootout.

Screenwriter Paul Schrader did a much better job writing the previous year’s Taxi Driver (qv), and the subject of soldier’s returning home with PTSD was tackled much better in the The Deer Hunter (qv), which would release the following year.  Nevertheless, this is still a gritty thriller that shouldn’t be allowed to go under the radar & is well worth a watch.

Reportedly one of Quentin Tarantino’s favourite films & its clear to see how it inspired some of his films.

7/10