Review for Thunderbolt and Lightfoot

Introduction

I remember watching Thunderbolt and Lightfoot as a child, which looking at the blurb for this release can’t be right. It’s rated 18, and there’s no way that my parents would let me watch an 18 rated film when I was still in single digits of age. In that odd dichotomy that adults have when rationing out entertainment to the young and innocent, a little violence was fine, but swears were out, as was nudity and sex, all of which is present in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot. But aspects of this film have stuck with me over the years, the wide open spaces and gorgeous locations of this film, the mentor student relationship that forms between the title characters, and of course Lightfoot’s fate in the film. I had to have seen this film. I can only think that Thunderbolt and Lightfoot got the same treatment by the broadcasters that films like Beverly Hills Cop and Robocop have received to make them acceptable teatime viewing. After all these years, I finally get to watch Thunderbolt and Lightfoot again, and I’m going from the edited, analogue broadcast on a 21” colour TV, straight to the Blu-ray release. While it did get a very limited US release with some extra features, it’s making its UK debut here from Second Sight on a bare bones Blu-ray.


It’s pure coincidence. A young drifter named Lightfoot just happens to steal a hotrod at the same time as a gunman opens fire on a preacher in a nondescript church in the middle of nowhere. The preacher opts for the better part of valour and runs for it, latching onto Lightfoot’s Trans-am as it speeds past. It’s clear that this is no ordinary preacher, and as Lightfoot gets to know his new passenger, it transpires that he’s the legendary Thunderbolt, responsible for an audacious bank raid a few years back. The gunman is one of his gang. Following the raid, one member took the money and hid it in an isolated schoolhouse until the heat died down. He then had the temerity to die of a heart attack, and that for one left Red Leary peeved, blaming it on Thunderbolt, which is why he was preaching in the middle of nowhere the last few years. Lightfoot is enchanted by the tale of the heist, inspired even, and when they go looking for the one room schoolhouse only to find it replaced with a modern school and the hidden stash long gone, Lightfoot has the idea to pull off the raid again. They’ll need a gang though, and unfortunately the only qualified people that Thunderbolt knows are the ones trying to kill him.

The Disc

It’s a barebones release from Second Sight, just the film on a BD 25, presented with an animated menu offering scene select and play options.

The transfer is pretty much what you want to see when it comes to vintage films on Blu-ray. They took the film, transferred it onto disc with a 2.35:1 widescreen transfer at 1080p, with the minimum of fiddling and processing in between. It’s a clean, stable print, rich with natural film grain, occasionally soft, from time to time afflicted by the odd speck of dirt, or an artefact of the anamorphic lensing, but rich in detail, and offering a faithful, filmic experience. I did feel that blacks were on occasion a little crushed, but with a film that takes such breathtaking advantage of the wide open American vistas, offers such memorable and stunning visuals, it’s a small nit to pick. The audio on this disc is PCM 2.0, I assume mono English given the very front-focussed audio experience. The dialogue is clear, the music soundtrack comes through with rich vibrancy, and the action sequences are suitably represented. There are no dropouts or glitches to note. The only problem would be a lack of subtitles.

Conclusion

Thunderbolt and Lightfoot is the quintessential seventies road movie. Two unlikely characters driving through the wide-open spaces of America, a small, somewhat understated story, an eclectic cast of characters, a memorable soundtrack, and the kind of downbeat ending that would cause a modern studio exec to faint at its lack of audience fulfilment. Thunderbolt and Lightfoot is a dark yet comic tale, of the sort that you only get to see in independent cinema these days.

Just as I recall, it’s the title characters that drive this movie, and engender its lasting appeal. Eastwood’s Thunderbolt has an unlikely and somewhat comic entrance to the film, delivering a sermon to a sampling of Middle America in an isolated church, before having to duck out the back in a hail of bullets. By this point we’ve already met Lightfoot, a drifter and petty conman, and the two’s first meeting is raucous to say the least. The way Thunderbolt hitches a ride indicates a fearlessness and recklessness, but as a character he comes across as more wary, experienced and understated. Lightfoot in contrast is brash, outgoing and intense, and the two seem to be wholly mismatched as they drive across country together, Lightfoot chasing dreams, and Thunderbolt being chased by his past.


Thunderbolt’s inclination is for the two to go their separate ways at the first opportunity, but his old gang don’t make that easy. And it isn’t long before Lightfoot’s effervescent force of personality begins to win the older man over, especially given the adverse situations the two encounter. During this time, they’re pursued by Thunderbolt’s old gang, notably Red Leary and Eddie Goody. Red Leary is a somewhat comical man benighted by allergies and asthma, but who harbours an intense rage against Thunderbolt for a perceived betrayal following the bank heist.

When Thunderbolt fails to retrieve the money from that robbery, he’s swayed by Lightfoot’s idea of committing the same crime again, and they even manage to convince Leary and Goody to join in. That leads to the four spending more time together and even getting jobs in the area to earn enough of a stake to pull off the heist. Unfortunately Lightfoot’s personality doesn’t charm Leary in the same way that it does Thunderbolt.


While I remembered the end of the film, and the fantastic locations and the partnership between Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, I certainly didn’t remember the story, or any of the other characters. George Kennedy’s Leary really does add to the dark comedy in this film. He’s cut from the same cloth as someone like Begbie in Trainspotting, funny in a way that will make you wince. He’s a man who seethes with hate, and his pursuit of Thunderbolt, and the begrudging way in which he rejoins the gang really does drive the pace and emotional energy of the film. Without it, the film would be all antics and male bonding cross-country. But you can never get away from the ominous edge to Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, an edge that makes the frequent comic moments all the more effective. It’s a film about chasing dreams and wild ambitions, which given the characters’ line of work leads to inevitable tragedies, but also leads to unexpected success and unexpected tragedy as well.


Funny and moving, with great characters and an engaging story, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot is everything I remember it to be and more, and it gets a very agreeable presentation on this Blu-ray disc, if woefully shy of the extra features that the US limited edition got. When you think of Clint Eastwood movies, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot probably won’t be the first name that comes to mind, but it is one of his best.