Review of Gauntlet, The

Introduction

If you can`t remember the film the Gauntlet, try to recall the movie where a bus driven by Clint Eastwood in the middle of Phoenix absorbs 8000 bullets during a spectacular shootout at the end of the movie…

The Gauntlet came in Eastwood`s heyday, following the three "Spaghetti Westerns", the first three Dirty Harry films, The Eiger Sanction and Thunderbolt and Lightfoot.

Eastwood teams up with Sondra Locke again for this Police action movie, where he has to go to Las Vegas and escort her to Phoenix for trial, unaware that the mob don`t want her to get anywhere near the courtroom…

Video

Video is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, and given the age of the film isn`t too bad, with a stable picture which is reasonably free from dirt and grain.

Visually the film has a few memorable scenes, including the house shoot-out in Las Vegas, Clint`s encounter with the Hell`s Angels, a motorbike/helicopter chase and the final bus scene in Phoenix.

Audio

The sound has been remixed into Dolby Digital 5.1 and, like the video, is pretty good for its age.

There isn`t a great deal of use made of the rear channels, but the occasional bullet or other sound effect can be heard behind you. Otherwise the sound is centred on the front three speakers.

The dialogue is always clear and understandable, and is set at a comfortable level.

Features

As with many other Warner back catalogue releases, this is a bare disc, containing only the film.

The disc is packaged in Warner`s usual snapper case detailing the 34 chapter breaks.

Conclusion

Overall, this film hasn`t aged well in my opinion, and is not as good as I remembered it to be. Eastwood is Dirty Harry in all but name, but the film isn`t anywhere near as good, with the three main action sequences in the movie padded out by uninteresting slow dialogue.

Video and sound are both good, but there are no extras - however this is one of Warner`s £12.99 discs, and I would prefer a bare release at the cheaper price, rather than spend £20 on a disc with extras that I wouldn`t be interested in for this film.

Overall, this isn`t one of Eastwood`s best movies, and has it`s stand out moments but is ultimately boring, if you`re a fan of the film there`s nothing wrong with this DVD, but if you can`t quite remember "The Gauntlet", think twice before buying.