John Flynn's post Vietnam War revenge epic, Rolling Thunder. Penned by Paul Schrader, hot off his hugely successful screenplays for Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976) and De Palma's Obsession (1976), and a couple of years away from writing and directing the bold neo-noir drama Hardcore (1979). The original treatment for Rolling Thunder received several re-writes by Heywood Gould, years later in the book Schrader On Schrader, Paul Schrader would state how the studio twisted his original version of the story, recanting how he wrote a film about fascism, and the studio made a fascist film.

Though Rolling Thunder shares themes with Taxi Driver and Hardcore, its plot bares a few similarities with an even more unseen film from 1977, The Farmer, directed by David Berlatsky.
The two would make for a fine double bill.

A large portion of Rolling Thunder's notoriety is heavily indebted to Quentin Tarantino and his short-lived film distribution company named Rolling Thunder Pictures, which specialised in releasing independent, cult, or foreign films to theatres. The other portion of notoriety stems from the films availability, or lack of, becoming something of legend, much like the aforementioned The Farmer, more talked about than actually seen. After a theatrical run, Rolling Thunder made its way onto VHS, but didn't get a DVD release until MGM offered a manufactured on demand disc in 2011, a year later in the UK it was released on Blu-ray/DVD. That aside, the film is a cut above many of its contemporary vigilante/revenge ilk due to stellar performances from the cast, an engaging and memorable dialogue, and brisk pacing. The film is an unflinching look at the long-lasting effects of war on the human psyche; PTSD, loneliness, pain, loss, vigilantism, and a meaning of justice.

Starring: William Devane, Tommy Lee Jones, and Linda Haynes.



The plot revolves around U.S.A.F. Major Charles Rane (William Devane), who returns home to San Antonio, Texas with Master sergeant Johnny Vohden (Tommy Lee Jones) and two other soliders, after being detained in a POW camp for seven years in Hanoi. The film follows Charles' struggle trying to return to civilian life. He moves into the woodshed and continues to exercise his military discipline and regime from his time in captivity; routine physical exercise, repeatedly making and remaking his camp bed until it is immaculate, and suffering PTSD from the horrific events from the last seven years. He's come home to an unfamiliar world; learning that women no longer wear bras, mini skirts are in, that his son doesn't recognise him, and during his absence his wife has become engaged to local deputy, Cliff (Lawrason Driscoll). He tries in earnest to build a fatherly relationship with his son, Mark (Jordan Gerler) and begins to visit a (military) therapist.

At a homecoming ceremony, Rane is presented with a red Cadillac and 2,555 silver dollars, one for every day he was held captive, plus one for good luck, by Linda Forchet (Linda Haynes) the Texas belle who wore his ID bracelet every day he was in Vietnam. Shortly thereafter Linda meets Rane and acts very flirtatiously towards him, he struggles to reciprocate her advances.
There's a tensely played scene between Rane and Cliff that takes place in the woodshed, it's the first time we, the audience, get a glimpse at the impact the experiences in Vietnam have had on Rane's mental state. He gets Cliff to perform a Vietnamese torture technique on him with a rope, further psyching him out by shouting "Higher man, till you hear the bones startin' to crack!"



In a slightly uncanny scene, Charles watches his son play baseball, but when his son looks at him like a stranger he gets into the red Caddy and leaves in a cloud of dust. Charles arrives home and is ambushed by a small gang of outlaws. They saw Charles being awarded the silver dollars on television and decided that they want the $2,555 for themselves. The gang leader begins a gruelling interrogation where we get another glimpse at Rane's irreparably war-damaged psyche. He's tough and uncooperative, the only information he offers them is his military ID, as a consequence he's brutally worked over by different members of the gang. They tire of his silence and drag him into to the kitchen and force his hand into the garbage disposal unit in the sink, the scene is surprisingly devoid of blood and is arguably stronger for the lack of it. At this moment his wife and son return home and are taken hostage, in order to save his dad's life Mark tells the gang where the silver dollars are hidden. The gang, getting what they want split, but not before they shoot all three members of the Rane family. Charles, the tough old boy survives, his wife and son do not.

While recuperating in hospital Rane is visited by Johnny Vohden, where the first inkling of what's to come begins to germinate. He's also visited by Linda Forchet and by Cliff, from whom he withholds information about his attackers, and becomes adept at using his prosthetic hook that now replaces his right hand. Released from hospital Rane returns home, he takes the double-barrelled shotgun Mark gifted him as a present and saws down the barrel, before sharpening his prosthetic hook. Ready to embark on his vengeful mission, he finds Linda, who being a little more than infatuated with Major Charles Rane happily agrees to leave town with him, unaware of his true intentions...



"Can't just let it slide Major, they don't have any right to live" - Johnny Vohden (Tommy Lee Jones)

Akin to other vigilante (and rape-revenge) films, Rolling Thunder follows a 3 act structure; a provocative introductory act of violence, a period of convalescence, followed by an act of justified revenge. These kind of films almost exist in their own universe; cops are often dubious, no-use, lied to, or better yet avoided altogether. Revenge is the only truth, not that these statements undersell or oversimplify the film, there's a lot more going on with the narrative besides the three acts.

The time that Rane spends with Linda Forchet is as fascinating, as it is tragic. She's more than just a mere love interest for Rane; it's character building and presents a greater insight to his state of mind to the audience. Her character could be seen as a commentary on the phenomenon of "groupies". She blindly follows him and is very obviously smitten with the man, even though he acts somewhat cold and non-committal with her, she's undeterred. He's a man incapable of warmth, she's effectively throwing herself at him, offering him another chance at a happy life, at some semblance of normality or future, Rane is a nihilist and after the death of his son, he's solely focussed on one thing. There is a scene between the two, Devane has the line: "It's like my eyes are open and I'm looking at you but I'm dead. They've pulled out whatever it was inside of me. It never hurt at all after that and it never will". He's dead inside and he's now on a suicide mission; violence and conflict is all he knows. This extends to the character of Johnny Vohden too.

Johnny Vohden, maniacally portrayed by a young Tommy Lee Jones, is a character that I find so interesting and one I like to watch intensely. I believe he only truly comes alive at the prospect of conflict during the third and final act. There's three very telling and memorable moments with Johnny's character. The first, when he visits Rane in the hospital, the two are discussing the attack and he utters the quote above ("Can't just let it slide Major..."), an insight into the way his character thinks; ultra-conservative and with extreme prejudice. The second moment is a memorable exchange between Rane and Johnny; when the former, dressed in full military attire, visits Johnny at his family home.

Charles: "I found them."
Johnny: "Who?"
Charles: "The men who killed my son."
Johnny: "I'll just get my gear."

Immediately and without consideration for anything else, Johnny begins to pack a bag with firearms while Rane fills him in on the details of where and how many of them there are. The scene closes with a grinning Johnny saying "Lets go clean 'em up". Further emphasising the character's readiness and desire for conflict. The two, dressed in their full military regalia, leave for the Juarez battlefield.
The third moment is during the build-up to the finale, where Johnny takes Candy (Cassie Yates); a prostitute, upstairs in a Mexican whorehouse. While awaiting a pre-arranged signal from Rane to start shooting. Johnny is entirely focussed on his "mission" and barely pays any mind at all to the girl, even when she's trying to perform oral sex. He's undeterred by her from removing component parts of his shotgun from his bag, there's only one thing on his mind, and it's definitely not sex. Hearing Rane already shooting, Johnny truly comes to life, sitting bolt upright and beginning to assemble the shotgun, Candy asks "What the fuck are you doing?" Johnny replies with a calm "I'm gonna kill a bunch of people." It's business like, casual, this is what he lives for.



"It's your time, boy!" - Major Charles Rane (William Devane)

At its heart the film is a scathing commentary on the US involvement in the Vietnam War, even with the rewrites one can draw a critical comparison between Rane's vengeful crusade into Mexico and the US deployment in Southeast Asia. It also offers a grim exposé on the tribulations of servicemen and military families; not knowing if a loved one is a prisoner, dead, or if they even want to return home, and if they do are they the same person who left? Through the character of Charles we experience the living hell of being a POW. The routine physical and psychological torture, the distress and coping mechanisms, the lasting damage of those experiences on the mind, and if all that were survived, returning home to try and live a normal life, but finding the home you return to different to the one you left.

The Texan; the leader of the outlaws, portrayed by James Best, is right to call Major Charles Rane "One macho motherfucker" he really is, but he's far from a hero. He's got nothing to lose and has intimately known pain for the last seven years. I can't help but feel as though Rane is a man who's been wanting to strike-out at somebody for a very long time; it's unlikely he ever saw combat overseas, and now unable to get back at his Vietnamese captors, he unleashes all hell against those who killed his boy. Rane catches up with the The Texan in the whorehouse; I love Devane's delivery, it's so fucking cold as he commands "It's your time, boy!" He's the Grim Reaper who's come to collect.

The finale is a tense ten minute action sequence with Charles & Johnny looking, perhaps ironically, more alive than you've seen them in the last hour and a half. It's as blood-soaked and bullet-ridden as the final minutes of Pekinpah's The Wild Bunch (1969).

"Let's go home John."