Afouotos
Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.
Janae Milner
Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.
Sanjeev Waters
A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.
Ortiz
Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.
Brian T. Whitlock (GOWBTW)
What is it like when you team up with a bank robber(Clint Eastwood) and a hot-rodding slick(Jeff Bridges) ? An explosive action packed hit! Eastwood is "Thunderbolt and Bridges is "Lightfoot". They meet by accident when Lightfoot steals a Trans Am and Thunderbolt disguised as a preacher runs afoul of one of his old partners. Though not wanted by the police, they do keep one step ahead. After Thunderbolt recovered from the the dislocated shoulder, he gets a good night romp with the stranger. Now his old partners Red(George Kennedy) and his partner finds him and his new friend, they would get back into business to rob another bank. They have different job fronts in order to get the biggest gun, Lightfoot gets to hear about Thunderbolt's earlier jobs. During the outdoor jobs, Lightfoot gets to see the owner of the house stark naked. And Red looks at him with disbelief. The heist is a success, but the car races and chases are really the memorable moments of the film.
Plenty of action, plenty of puns, this movie is a classic in the making.
5 stars.
classicsoncall
When I select a quote from a film to use in my summary line, it's generally done to capture the flavor of the story or place an emphasis on one of the principal characters. Contrary to what many of the positive posters for the movie have to say about it, I think the thunderbolt I came up with pretty much sums things up. This might be the best example of a film for me where I depart so widely from what looks like the majority. I guess that's why they say it takes all kinds.You know, if I were Johnny Thunderbolt (Clint Eastwood), I don't think I'd have been so open minded about letting my potential assassin come along after patching up a disagreement. Red haired women might have been bad luck, but it seemed like a guy named Red (George Kennedy) could do a lot more damage. Turns out he did too, a bad career move for the trusting bank robber.So what was this, a buddy movie, a heist film, a crime story, what? There were just too many irrelevant things happening and coming out of nowhere that didn't do anything to advance the story, that it eventually slid into boredom for this viewer. Vic Tayback and Gary Busey in the credited cast? I saw each of them on screen for about three seconds - what did I miss? And say, what was that piece of heavy duty artillery that Thunderbolt used to blow a hole through the safe? The darn thing was longer than the car they were driving but it fit into the trunk!!?? I'll give director Cimino one kudo here for putting the 'trunk full of rabbits' guy (Bill McKinney) into the picture, that for me was the best part of the story. It didn't make any sense or have anything to do with anything else going on, but it was a pretty cool diversion. I never had any trouble with tribbles, so for one brief moment, the movie had my attention.
sddavis63
The best part of "Thunderbolt And Lightfoot" is the start. It grabs your attention and makes you start wondering right off. Clint Eastwood is playing a preacher. A preacher? This certainly wasn't what I was expecting. His sermon was a bit rambling, but he was definitely preaching and collared. So, what's with this? Then, suddenly, Red (George Kennedy) bursts into the church and opens fire on the preacher, who runs for his life. Good start. You expect more. But then the movie settles down. A lot.Eastwood is actually Thunderbolt - who robbed a Montana bank years before, and Kennedy's Red thinks Thunderbolt ran off with the money. (Why would he be preaching in a little country church if he had half a million dollars?) Running from Red, Thunderbolt runs into Lightfoot (Jeff Bridges) - a small timer who'd like to pull off something bigger. Misunderstandings are overcome, and Red and his buddy team up with them on a plan to rob the very same bank - because who would expect that!You can't really call this an action movie. It has some action, but not a lot. Some of it is a sort of comedy. Mostly, though, after its strong start it just kind of wanders aimlessly. You know it's leading up to the bank robbery, but mostly you'd look at this as a form of male bonding between the leads.The strong start is the best part of this, but it's not really a compliment to say that the best part of a movie is its opening scenes. (5/10)
AaronCapenBanner
Clint Eastwood & Jeff Bridges star in this peculiar crime/road picture as they portray a veteran crook/thief and his willing/free-spirited young partner who reunite with Clint's(Thunderbolt) old partners(George Kennedy & Geoffrey Lewis) to finish a heist job they had committed seven years earlier, but were unable to collect the loot. They formulate an elaborate plan to get it back from where it is still hidden, but of course they can't quite trust each other either as personalities clash.I say peculiar because(despite the good actors) three of the lead characters are unsympathetic crooks, and the fourth seems too immature to care about. Being quite profane at times doesn't help matters either, nor does the over length. Michael Cimino directs in his debut.