Finally out as a DVD-R "on request" release from Amazon, Rolling Thunder features William Devane and a young Tommy Lee Jones in an unsettling little revenge tale circa 1977. Written by Paul Schrader, Thunder follows a Vietnam war vet (Devane) who runs afoul of some spectacularly evil fellows. Tragically for the bad guys, they make the classic movie mistake: messin' with the wrong hombre.
I saw this back in the day and remember it mostly for a rather visceral scene involving a hand and a garbage disposal. At the time the movie was soundly rebuked by critics and audiences alike, but it's actually a pretty cool slice of 70's cinema. I guess the world just wasn't ready for the movie's violence and grim 'tude.
In the small world department, Thunder was produced by Larry Gordon, who told several amusing tales about the film's production while I was enjoying (enduring?) meetings re: the script for Timecop. Most of the stories shall remain unrepeated (let's just say there were a lot of egos on that shoot), but Gordon was especially proud of an audience reaction card received during a test screening of the movie. I wish I could remember the exact wording (he had it framed in his office), but it was something like "the sick minds behind this movie should be SHOT!" Happily they weren't, and happily this movie is finally available!
