Announcement
Collapse
No announcement yet.
Thunder Road (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)
Collapse
X
Collapse
-
Thunder Road (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)
Released by: Timeless Media Group
Released on: April 7th, 2015.
Director: Arthur Ripley
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Gene Barry, Keely Smith
Year: 1958
Purchase From Amazon
The Movie:
Produced by and starring Robert Mitchum, who also came up with the original story, 1958's Thunder Road is a low budget film set in the Appalachian mountains directed by Arthur Ripley with Mitchum cast in the lead as a man named Lucas Doolin. He's just returned from serving overseas in the Korean War and keen to get back into the family business - running moonshine. His father Vernon (Trevor Bardette) runs a still and his younger brother Robin (James Mitchum, the star's son) works on the cars. Lucas? He drives… like a bat out of Hell. He's the man responsible for getting the hooch from Harlan County, Kentucky to market in Memphis, Tennessee and nobody but nobody can outrun the law like he can. When Lucas is in Memphis, he's got an on again/off again thing going on with foxy chanteuse Francie Wymore (Keely Smith) but back home, things are getting dangerous.
See, some big city criminal types are bound and determined to move in on the local moonshine operation and make it their own. Of course, the Doolin clan has been running hooch for generations and don't intend to give up the business just like that, but as things get more intense, Vernon decides to hang up his hat for a little while, until things cool down. But Lucas, he's got that one last run to make, and the Feds are closing in on him just as fast as the bad guys.
This was obviously a very personal film for Mitchum, as he not only produced and came up with the lead role specifically for himself but he contributed to the soundtrack and was heavily involved in promoting the film as well. Made outside of the Hollywood machine on location, this film treats its subject matter fairly respectfully and it would seem that Mitchum was well aware of not only the controversy surrounding bootlegging in the area but the cultural significance of it as well. This is solidified in a quieter, character driven scene where he's asked what he wants out of life. He responds by saying he'd like to turn the clock back - obviously this is meant to infer that he wants to go back to a simpler time, before the era in which the Feds were coming after his people for doing their thing and before a time when it was publicized enough that it would even attract the attention of a larger, wholly criminal empire. This nostalgic, even warm, view of the moonshiners runs throughout the whole movie, though Mitchum's character is quick to point out, when talking to his mother (played by Francis Koon), that he'll never let young brother Robin get in on the family business. He wants something better for Robin, something he states in no uncertain terms when he tells the kid of all the engineering opportunities he could take advantage of by using his mechanical skills in a bigger city.
Mitchum is great in the part. He's not the most talkative guy here, the script lets him tell more with his facial expressions and body language than with dialogue, but he plays the part really well. He's cool, he's tough and he's dangerous, maybe a little damaged by the war ('death doesn't phase him much' we're told) - and nobody plays that type of character like Mitchum does. Obviously toiler made for him he excels in the role, making it a bit of a shame that the rest of the cast sort of sleepwalk through the picture. Regardless, Mitchum is so good here that it almost doesn't matter. Almost. James Mitchum doesn't have a whole lot of energy or enthusiasm here and while Keely Smith has got a great voice and a really interesting look, she's not a whole lot more impressive in the acting department. Gene Barry and Keely Smith do okay in their supporting roles, but really, it's not the least bit surprising that Mitchum carries the film as far as the cast is concerned.
The movie benefits from the aforementioned location photography, and because of that the backwoods roads are authentic enough. The car chases are shot well and actually look plenty dangerous - probably because they were. Fast paced and quick, Thunder Road turns out to be good drive-in fare. Obviously an influence on the hicksploitation films that would follow and on pictures like White Lightning, it definitely suffers from some dicey acting and glaring continuity errors but none of that really takes away from its folksy charm, awesome cars and cool as ice lead turn from its iconic star.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Thunder Road arrives on Blu-ray in a gritty, grainy AVC encoded 1080p high definition presentation framed at 1.78.1 widescreen. The framing looks fine here (the movie was shot for 1.85.1) and detail is definitely better than DVD could have ever provided, but this still looks like the rough and tumble low budget production that it was. Some minor print damage shows up throughout and yeah, the grain is heavy, but that won't bother those who know what to expect. Some shots look a bit soft, likely stemming back to the original photography, while others look nice and sharp. Some day for night scenes are a bit obvious but black levels are generally quite good here and contrast is fine. This would seem to be a pretty accurate representation of the movie, warts and all.
The DTS-HD Mono track sounds about as good as you'd expect it to. Dialogue remains clear and easy to follow if just ever so slightly flat. The music sounds good and the screeches of the roaring tires as the cars corner tightly around the curves of the highway are appropriately piercing. The score and the iconic theme song both sound nice. There are no problems with any distortion but you might pick up on a bit of hiss if you really listen for it. No alternate language options are provided though removable English subtitles are offered.
The only extra on the disc is the film's original theatrical trailer. Outside of that we get static menus (with Mitchum's version of the theme song playing overtop) and chapter selection. As this is a combo pack a DVD version of the movie (also including the trailer as its only supplement) is also included.
The Final Word:
Thunder Road succeeds for two reasons - bad ass car crashes and Robert Mitchum. The car chases are handled really well for the era and add plenty of excitement to the story as needed while Mitchum plays cool like no one else before or after. The Blu-ray release looks a little rough, but most won't mind - it does offer a pretty solid presentation. Some extras would have been nice, but hey, at least the trailer is here. Mitchum fans don't need this review to tell them they need it, they already know that.
-
#1Mark TolchSenior MemberFind all postsView Profile04-21-2015, 11:05 AMEditing a commentYou know what? I have never seen this film.
Posting comments is disabled. -
Categories
Collapse
article_tags
Collapse
- album review (218)
- album reviews (274)
- arrow video (272)
- blu-ray (3225)
- blu-ray review (4162)
- comic books (1392)
- comic reviews (872)
- comics (988)
- dark horse comics (484)
- dvd and blu-ray reviews a-f (1969)
- DVD And Blu-ray Reviews G-M (1711)
- DVD And Blu-ray Reviews N-S (1757)
- DVD And Blu-ray Reviews T-Z (878)
- dvd review (2513)
- idw publishing (216)
- image comics (207)
- kino lorber (391)
- movie news (260)
- review (318)
- scream factory (279)
- severin films (300)
- shout! factory (537)
- twilight time (269)
- twilight time releasing (231)
- vinegar syndrome (497)
Latest Articles
Collapse
-
Released by: Kino Lorber
Released on: February 22nd, 2022.
Director: Gianfranco Parolini
Cast: Lee Van Cleef, Jack Palance
Year: 1976
Purchase From Amazon
God’s Gun – Movie Review:
Directed by Gianfranco Parolini in 1976, quite late in the spaghetti western boom years, God's Gun (Diamante Lobo in Italy) introduces us to a bad, bad man named Sam Clayton (Jack Palance) who, along with his gang of equally bad, bad men, start wreaking...-
Channel: Movies
04-17-2024, 12:10 PM -
-
Released by: Kino Lorber
Released on: October 8th, 2019.
Director: Mario Bava
Cast: Christopher Lee, Reg Park, Leonora Ruffo, Gaia Germani
Year: 1968
Purchase From Amazon
Hercules In The Haunted World – Movie Review:
Directed by Mario Bava in 1961 and featuring a screenplay by Bava (and Sandro Continenza, Francesco Prosperi and Duccio Tessari), Hercules In The Haunted World (also known as Hercules At The Center Of The Earth and...-
Channel: Movies
04-17-2024, 12:08 PM -
-
Released by: Radiance Films
Released on: April 20th, 2024.
Director: Noburo Nakamura
Cast: Miyuki Kuwano, Mikijiro Hira
Year: 1964
Purchase From Amazon
The Shape Of Night – Movie Review:
Directed by Noburo Nakamura for Shochiko in 1964, ‘The Shape Of Night’ follows a young woman named Yoshie Nomoto (Miyuki Kuwano). In the opening scene, she’s working as a streetwalker on the outskirts of town and soon enough, she’s picked...-
Channel: Movies
04-17-2024, 10:26 AM -
-
Released by: Film Masters
Released on: April 23rd, 2024.
Director: Bert I. Gordon
Cast: Richard Carlson, Juli Reding, Lugene Sanders, Susan Gordon
Year: 1963
Purchase From Amazon
Tormented – Movie Review:
The late Bert I. Gordon’s 1963 horror film, ‘Tormented,’ is an effectively spooky ghost story made with an obviously low budget but no less effective for it.
The story revolves around a professional piano player...-
Channel: Movies
04-17-2024, 10:19 AM -
-
Released by: Grindhouse Releasing
Released on: March 12th, 2024.
Director: William Grefé
Cast: William Shatner, Jennifer Bishop, Ruth Roman, Harold Sakata
Year: 1974
Purchase From Amazon
Impulse – Movie Review:
Directed by the one and only William Grefé, 1974’s Impulse is one of those rare films that allows you to witness what it would be like if a really sweaty William Shatner got mad at a lady carrying balloons. Before that...-
Channel: Movies
04-15-2024, 01:20 PM -
-
Released by: Severin Films
Released on: April 30th, 2024.
Director: Andrew Legge
Cast: Emma Appleton, Stefanie Martini, Rory Fleck Byrne
Year: 2022
Purchase From Amazon
Lola – Movie Review:
Irish filmmakers Andrew Legge’s 2022 movie, ‘Lola’, which was made during Covid-19 lockdowns, is a wildly creative movie made in the found footage style that defies expectations, provides plenty of food for thought and manages to make...-
Channel: Movies
04-10-2024, 04:09 PM -