Rolling Thunder

Totally riveting! Yes, you really just need those two words to sum up Rolling Thunder. Alas, since two-word reviews would leave me jobless sooner rather than later, here’s the long version.

With a screenplay by Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver, Cat People) and starring two of the best character actors around, William Devane and Tommy Lee Jones, this tough-as-nails flick from 1977 can only be a winner. And it is! Not only that, but Rolling Thunder is now available as ‘Blu-Ray and DVD Double-Play’. Quentin Tarantino counts the film amongst one of his favourites (there’s a surprise!) while Hostel director Eli Roth sings its praises in a special intro amongst the disc’s bonus material.

W. Devane plays Major Charles Rane who, after eight years of living hell in a ‘Nam POW camp, returns home to his native San Antonio in Texas. Both he and his friend John Vohden (T. Lee Jones) receive a hero’s welcome. But eight years is a long time and things can change. In this case it’s not just Rane’s tormented soul and body, but his wife has long moved on and found herself a new lover, while his young son doesn’t even remember him anymore as the daddy he once was.

Just when Rane and his family are trying to re-adjust themselves to the new and challenging circumstances, things get a lot worse when thugs break into their home to rob them of valuables they know Rane keeps in the house. The ensuing fight ends in tragedy: while Rane loses his hand, his wife and boy lose their lives. After a period of recovery, Rane sets out to bring the killers to justice – driven by pure revenge. With the help of pretty waitress Linda Forchet (Linda Haynes), who is in love with him, he drives to Mexico to track down evil. When Linda realizes that Rane has secondary motives and has taken her on the trip to function as a decoy, she walks out on him. A little later they reconcile, but then they have a final bust-up and it’s the emotionally damaged Rane who leaves her.

Eventually Rane finds the killers but, realizing he doesn’t stand a chance on his own, contacts his old friend John Vohden for support. Heavily armed and posing as clients in a run-down brothel, the two deliver a finale that ranks amongst the highlights of cinematic showdowns, on a par with the shoot-out in the Steve McQueen classic The Getaway. Totally riveting! There. I said it again.