Thunderbolt And Lightfoot DVD > Reviews > Oh my God, you're The Thunderbolt

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Good
Soundtrack	Good

Advantages:	Cast, story
Disadvantages:	Sad ending?

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

There are some films that you grow up with. Films that have always been around and you've watched time and time again, first when you're far too young (as in my case - well my Dad would let me stay up late as a treat) and then as you go back to them. Thunderbolt and Lightfoot is one of those films that the BBC likes to use as a late night 'filler' - a little too risky for an earlier timeslot but solid depandable entertainment. Is it best resigned to the late night slot or is the Beeb doing it a great injustice?

Loose cannon Lightfoot literally runs into a preacher on the run (who at the time is being shot at by a rather nasty man). Despite his collar, the preacher turns out to be nothing of the sort, and shows great talents for lying, cheating, stealing, and getting laid. Is he all that he seems? When two more gun totting hoods start shooting at him, Lightfoot realises that this ain't no small town preacher. Riding together in an attempt to lose the killers it becomes clear that the simple preacher is in fact The Thunderbolt who had robbed a high security bank several years earlier and the guys shooting at them are in fact his partners (who think that he's swindled them out of their share of the booty). Despite their experience, the three hardened crims allow themselves to be talked into performing the same heist again all over again, and practice does make perfect...doesn't it?

The simple heist movie has been done time and time again (indeed Eastwood himself had top billing in the excellent Kelly's Heroes) but Thunderbolt and Lightfoot can be seen as far more. It has elements of the road movie, a travelogue around midwest America, a peek at the underbelly of the US, and a good old fashioned buddy movie. Yes these have all been handled better by other films but none has managed to combine these (along with a sense of adventure and humour) quite as well. The scenes on the road are carefree and easy going and contrast well with the tension and drama of the final crime scenes. From it's easy gentle opening we get to know the characters and genuinely feel for them, understanding why they tick and what's driving them, making the ending all the more personnal.

Eastwood gets top billing and he goes very much into Clint Eastwood mode - cool, moody, and quite prepared to let others handle any emoting and flashiness. Yes he's lighter than in his spaghetti western days and there are definite signs of the characters he'd create in Bronco Billy and the Every Which Way... films. But when push comes to shove, he's still got the hard faced viciousness that we've all come to know and love. Bridges by comparison is a clown. Yes his Lightfoot character is little more than the American who's turned his back on authority and is desperate to experinece as much as possible (without paying for it) but Bridges injects huge amounts of energy and turns a potentially annoying character into an extremely likeable one. The rest of the cast in the main, are secondary but credit must go to the ever impressive George Kennedy and his sidekick Geoffrey Lewis, with both turning in great performances as Red O'Leary and Goody.

Well paced and directed it's a heist movie that many others should aspire to be. Shades of Kelly's Heroes and The Italian Job (and indeed most of the great heist movies of the late 60's) are obvious but this is a 70's film and it isn't afraid of showing the nasty side of a country (instead of a rather sanitised one). It's humour adds much to the proceedings and fleshes it's characters out while never ridiculing them or falling into the stereotype trap (see Donald Sutherland in kelly's Heroes as an exmaple).

The violence may have dated but this is still not a film that could be considered family entertainment (although sadists (like me) may wish to watch their families squirm). Exciting, tense, and a entertaining this is great late night 'filler' and for once the Beeb have done a good job so set the video next time it's on and watch the bad guys at work