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Thunder Road Review
Overall 4.00 of 5
(by 1 user)
When his engine roared they called the highway Thunder Road
movie connoisseur, Movie Reviewer, Action film aficionado, cult film connoisseur, movie guru, into movies that tell a great story, Lover of quirky, unique films
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APR
23
2008
A quirky late 50s film that was a project of Robert Mitchum's, who wrote the story and starred and sang the title song, also.
The title sequence includes Mitchum singing a plaintive balladic version of "Whipoorwill," which is better known as "The Ballad of Thunder Road" in its jazzed up juke box version that took America by storm in the late 50s. If you don't recognize it with its hypnotic lick played on the bass strings of the guitar, well, you were just born too late, that's all.
Thunder Road concerns that all-American topic, the reticence of hill people to pay taxes to the federal government, particularly on their most famous cash crop: whiskey. To avoid this, they have souped up hot rods with huge whiskey tanks that can be dumped quickly from the driver's seat - no evidence and they can't charge you with anything.
Robert Mitchum is Korean War veteran Lucas Doolin, a guy who has seen the world and doesn't really like the encroaching civilization, preferring to return to the hills and take up the time honored moonshine running his family has specialized in. He has a hopped of 50 Ford and has become the most sought after moonshine transporter in the state, by the revenooers, that is.
Thunder Road is a tragedy, showing a man who knows better and probably has some choices instead embracing a fast-paced lifestyle where he is a constant target of both John Law and the organized crime assassins who are trying to muscle in on the family owned moonshine rackets. You come into this movie knowing that Mitchum can only have one end.
Mitchum is a sympathetic hero who is selfless yet won't take any sass from rival moonshiners, the federal agents, or the mobsters. He plans to procure automatic weapons and outfit the moonshine cars with heavy firepower to tilt the odds slightly in their favor. As it is, several of his fellow transporters are assassinated on the twisty mountain roads as they speed along on the way to their delivery points.
Robert Mitchum is iconic in his portrayal of the man who won't quit despite tall odds. A cigarette dangles from his lip in nearly every scene giving him that rebel look that drew a lot of fans. His look alike son, James, plays his mechanic-brother Robbin, whom Lucas wants to keep out of the driving business. Watch Mitchum explode when the mobsters try to get his bother involved.
Thunder Road draws the sympathies of the viewer to the moonshiners, which are techically the bad guys here, but Americans have always sided with the underdog.
If you are a car crazy, you will love the brand new 57 Fords and Chevys that are used as the moonshine cars and police cars, respectively. It is awe inspiring to see that vintage iron put through its paces when new, flogged, in fact - and like as not wrapped around a tree somewhere in the frenetic action sequences.
The MGM DVD is presented in pristine black and white in full screen theatrical format, and with a 93 minute running time. Rock em Sockem entertainment!
Last edited on Apr 23, 2008
Thunder Road is recommended by GeorgeChabot
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