Thunder Road
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Movie Reviews of Thunder Road
Movie Review: Robert Mitchum is his own man in this `50's cult classic.
Summary: 4 Stars
This review is for the 2000 MGM DVD.
"Thunder Road" is set in Tennessee where country bootleggers make their moonshine and transport it to the major cities to sell for a decent profit. The men that move the homemade alcohol with their souped-up hotrods are called "transporters". Lucas Doolin (Robert Mitchum) is a legend among transporters since his has yet to caught by the U.S. Treasury agents who continuously try to arrest bootleggers for tax evasion. Part of Lucas Doolin's success has to do with some of the technical gadgets installed by his younger brother Robin (play by James Mitchum - Robert's son) on his car. Some of the innovations predate James Bond's Austin Martin such as a releasable rear bumper in case the police lock on to it in a chase or an oil spraying device that will surely force any tailing car out of control.
If the law wasn't enough for the local bootleggers, a rich city slicker named Carl Kogan (Jacques Aubuchon) wants to muscle in on the local yokels and have them work for him as an organized syndicate. Kogan actually makes them a very fair offer, but it's obvious that Lucas is his own man and refuses to answer to anyone, and snubs Kogan on a joint venture. This escalates the already existing hostility between the two rival bootlegging gangs and sets up the rest of the film for a three way conflict between the local independent bootleggers headed by Lucas Doolin, the Feds headed by Troy Barrett (Gene Barry) and the organized city mob headed by Carl Kogan.
The movie in many ways has the feel of an old fashioned western flick where there are two tough dudes that can't be bossed around in a town that isn't big enough for the two of them. But this doesn't take place west of the Pecos but instead it's in the heart of backwoods country and this film pulls no punches are far as propagating all the stereotypical images of hillbillies. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the action and confrontation of this film. It's a fun movie to watch and reminisce about the old hotrod days, but the dialogue was at times agonizing and the acting was also occasionally a bit suspect. One interesting minor character in the film was Keely Smith, the famous recording star and wife of singing legend Louis Prima. Smith plays Lucas' girlfriend.
The B&W full screen transfer varies throughout the film. On some occasions the film looks like it was mastered from a VHS tape while other parts looked like an impeccable digital transfer. It's a shame MGM didn't do a better job on this one. The only DVD bonus was the original trailer.
Movie: B
DVD Quality: B-
Movie Review: Movie Myth-Making
Summary: 5 Stars
Whatever the film lacks, which is a lot, focus on the imagery -- duelling hotrods, a dangling cigarette, country two-lanes, and a precious load of illegal booze, family honor, and a good woman. This is movie myth-making at its near purest, so what else could a ducktailed Elvis-clone of the 50's have wanted. Girls may have swooned over treacle like "A Summer Place", but hot-rodders packed this drive-in classic bumper to bumper. Sure, it's badly produced ($50 budget, tops), badly acted (even Mitchum struggles with the hopeless Keely Smith), and features one of the worst canvas backdrops on record (the water-wheel scene). Still it has the King of Cool gunning down the asphalt (don't let the sleepy eyes fool you), pits rugged individualism against angry collectivism (organized crime and big govn't), and opens with a throbbing title tune (composed and sung by Mitchum) -- topped by a look and feel unlike the usual Hollywood contrivance. And who can forget those forlorn headbeams searching their way through an existential void. The imagery was compelling and caught the edgy mood of a drive-in crowd feeling their own way through a world of teenage angst. Few would grow into the mythic shoes of road-warrior, Luke Doolin, but a lot sure wanted to try. Which is why this primitive slice of small-screen black-and-white continues to resonate, even into the big-screen myth-making of souped-up starships, evil empires, and computerized magic.Movie Review: Don't miss...
Summary: 4 Stars
If you liked this check out "Moonrunners".
Tagline: "Thunder Road" was only a practice run. This is the real thing!
Just as Stalag 17 degenerated into Hogan heroes, Moonrunners degenerated into "Dukes of HAzard". Still if you want a good story of feds, mobsters, racing and 'shiners, watch Moonrunners.
Movie Review: THUNDER ROAD ROARS
Summary: 5 Stars
R.Mitchum wrote,directed and acted in this gem.What more can you ask for.(Mitchum is as explosive,yet under control as DeNiro at his best.)
The stunt budget is miniscule compared to the new "Dukes of Hazard" and there are no auto-erotic bikini carwashing scenes. The movie is just about a man who stands up against the law and the mob to continue to support and honor his family's way of life, and who pays a high price. I dig it.
Movie Review: Brings Back Childhood Memories.....
Summary: 5 Stars
Having grown up in western North Carolina, I well know of the Moonshine runners first hand. Most were very similar to Mitchum's character. Just plain working people who did what they did like their dads and uncles had done before them. It wasn't a matter of greed, sin, or excitement, but rather just making a living. Thunder Road was filmed in and around Asheville, NC. It was the talk of the mountains,.."they're making a movie in Asheville!!" everybody came to watch. The one scene I saw as a child was where Mitchum crushed KOGAN's hat, bailed out a second story window and landed on a dump truck full of dirt below. Slid off the dump truck, jumped into the '50 Ford, squeeling tires, driving about 10 ft. getting out of the car and walking away. To everyone's amazment, the guy who jumped out the window and did all the stunts was not Mitchum, but a double. Robert Mitchum walked up and got in the car when the stunt guy got out and drove away tires smoking. The shoot was over.We saw Mitchum about 2 mins. Yet this movie remains one of the truest to life as one I could recommend. Classic is not enough word to really describe THUNDER ROAD. It was shown at every drive-in 5 states bordering North Carolina and seen dozens of time by hundreds of dozens of people. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!! After all if you couldn't live the 1950's you can see a small portion of a lost era.