Rolling Thunder

Will Menaker3.5

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Matt!3.5

“It’s like my eyes are open and I’m looking at you, but I’m dead.”Psssh and people say we’ve never gotten a good Punisher movie.A rough-around-the-edges 70s revenge flick starring William Devane as a Vietnam POW who returns home to no longer recognize the world around him — or maybe it’s the world who no longer recognizes him. Made numb by war and his years of torture, Maj. Charles Rane is a detached father and husband, but longs to reclaim the life and humanity that he left behind. However, in standard 70s grimehouse fashion, darkness soon rears its ugly head and tragedy befalls the Rane family. Unfortunately for the perpetrators of the atrocities, Charlie never really left the war back in Vietnam…he brought it home with him.Written by Paul Schrader at the height of his career, before he shifted towards pretentiousness by directing his own scripts, Rolling Thunder showcases the patented hyper-violent, slow burn, brooding man-against-the-system films so synonymous with the 1970s. There’s a touch of mediocrity evident in John Flynn’s direction that leads to some uneven pacing and questionable editing choices, but in general this movie is a memorable revenge quest featuring an iconic hook-handed crusader and some GRISLY fucking action. Its low key vibe is counterbalanced by the constant, ominous feeling that shit could go down at any second, and guess what…it does.A very young Tommy Lee Jones plays Charlie’s POW brother-in-arms who’s just as emotionlessly down to help “clean ‘em up”, and together the two make the last 20 minutes of this film an act of vengeance to behold. Very overlooked by today’s standards, likely due to being in the same vein as the far superior Taxi Driver, but worth a watch nonetheless.1970s: The Peak of BleakBest of: Revenge FlicksUnderrated Movies that More People Should See

matt lynch4.5

love the rope.