Rolling Thunder

1977 action movie

Rating: 14/20

Plot: A Vietnam veteran seeks revenge after some people steal his silver dollar collection.

This is the kind of movie Donald Trump must have watched that brought him to the conclusion that we need a wall between the United States and Mexico. Trump would not have liked these characters, however, because he only likes heroes who aren't captured by the enemy. This will remind him a little too much of John McCain.

Rosco P. Coltrane makes an appearance as a villainous Texan, William Devane reminds us that he was one cool customer, and Tommy Lee Jones gets to be a badass. The latter is chilling in his limited screen time, managing to create this really complex character. When he answers another character's question with a calm "We're going to kill a bunch of people," it gave me chills! So did his smile. That smile, the violent climax showing that the rest of the movie really was a lengthy calm before a storm, and the shot of Devane sharpening a hook are all things I'm likely to remember about this movie.

This is one of Quentin Tarantino's favorite movies, not surprising since it really doesn't treat female characters very well. Although I'm sure he would reject that hypothesis.

This was tough to find. It doesn't seem to be streaming anywhere, and I couldn't get a copy that worked from my library. It's definitely worth finding, especially if you're into Vietnamsploitation, a genre that I might have just made up.