MovieChat Forums > Rolling Thunder (1978) Discussion > Like a little more violent episode of Ma...

Like a little more violent episode of Magnum P.I.

posted 9 years ago by roosterillusion1
2 replies | jump to latest

It's pretty cheesy, same music as Magnum, Vietnam veterans running into some thugs, a little romance. Could have been about 40 minutes long, the same as an episode of Magnum. Seventies had some really bad movies that people are nostalgic about. I guess I can see why this is one of them, but exactly.
Obviously Tarantino liked it. Thank God he is smart enough to take only the truly great elements about these kind of movies. Sometimes there are very few.

[–] ccr1633 9 years ago

It's easy to see what attracted Tarantino to this film. It wasn't the story. It's those few scenes with startling visuals that stick in your mind: (1) the gruesome garbage disposal anti-manicure (the whole Tarantino-Rodriguez-Roth cabal just loves their torture scenes), (2) Rane sawing off his shotgun and sharpening his hook (lifted by Rodriguez for the Machete trailer), (3) Rane sinking his hook into the hand of one of the scummy Mexicans, (4) the epic, lusty revenge gun battle in the whorehouse. These scenes all have a kick ass macho vibe that border on the absurd. Tarantnio pushed such scenes beyond absurdity's border.

[–] robadub89 8 years ago

I thought the performances made this movie great. The cold disconnected and suddlness of the two main characters was very interesting and scary to witness. You can see that devane's character cares for his family but he can't show it any more. It's only through the visuals of his action that you get that he is getting vengeance for his family.