Movie Review- Rolling Thunder (1977)

Rolling Thunder is an exploitation movie that forgets to actually exploit anything. It follows a POW named Major Charles Rane who has returned home to his family in Texas after being imprisoned in Vietnam for several years. However, Rane's return home is not a happy one. His wife and son are shot and killed during a home invasion, and the Major loses a hand. After being released from the hospital, he tracks down the criminals with the help of a waitress and Tommy Lee Jones, hell-bent on getting revenge by way of a prosthetic hook and a sawed-off shotgun.

Given the premise of hook-handed ex-military vigilante justice, one might expect this film to revel in its exploitative cheesiness. However, Rolling Thunder plays itself dead serious and deliberately paced; there is little action until the last 20 minutes or so of the film. The gritty and grounded approach feels like wasted potential, because a majority of the film is Rane going "boy, I am sure am going to kill those guys when I find them". A touch of nuance or substance, anything, would help to strengthen the many ambling scenes in the film. To make matters worse, the villains have no motivation. They appear suddenly 30 minutes into the film with no prior buildup and are not seen again until the film's final moments. It has been said that a film's hero is only as good as his villain, and these villains are hardly memorable, let alone present in the film.

The film's approach to violence is bothersome as well. It handles vigilante justice with a dour, nihilistic attitude that is not fun to watch. Vigilante characters like the Punisher, for example, work best when the moral ramifications of violence are thrown out the window and the viewer can indulge the inner reptilian brain's craving for people getting blown up. If Rolling Thunder had a greater comment on the nature of violence, or any deeper meaning at all, the grim approach to vigilantism could work. But as it stands, it reflects a repugnant attitude found in other 70's vigilante films such as Straw Dogs and Death Wish, an attitude that takes a bothersome glee in sadistic justice. 

I would have much preferred the cartoonish approach to violence. Keep in mind this is a film where the hero sharpens his prosthetic hook hand on a grindstone for the express purpose of attacking people. Taken in the right direction, this could have been a pulpy fun time. I would even be happy if it were a  poignant comment on the futility of revenge. I just wish the film wasn't so middling. Narratively, it is dull and padded out, but from a technical standpoint it is perfectly serviceable. There are some generally well-constructed themes throughout, including PTSD flashback sequences that would used again to similar effect in First Blood. Just add this one to the long list of "not exactly bad per se, just not all that spectacular" movies.