Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Michael G

  
  Thunderbolt and Lightfoot is a pretty solid movie that doesn't quite live up to expectations but is definitely worthy of being called an underrated classic. It's a surprisingly laid back movie with great chemistry between Eastwood and Bridges. The first half with all its… More
  Thunderbolt and Lightfoot is a pretty solid movie that doesn't quite live up to expectations but is definitely worthy of being called an underrated classic. It's a surprisingly laid back movie with great chemistry between Eastwood and Bridges. The first half with all its randomness before the heist gets planned was the stronger part of the movie. And the job sequences were pretty fun too. The cast is generally great and I can't decide if Gary Busey was creepier now or then. The ending's kind of a downer but the scenery and cinematography more than make up for it. And I never thought I'd say that Jeff Bridges makes a pretty girl but he was doing something right...

• xGary X

  
  Cocksure drifter Jeff Bridges forms a bond with ex-bank robber Clint Eastwood and they hatch a plot to rob an armoured depository. One of Clint's lesser known efforts, this is a solid buddy cum heist movie with an unusually laid back tone. The cast of 70s stalwarts are all good,… More
  Cocksure drifter Jeff Bridges forms a bond with ex-bank robber Clint Eastwood and they hatch a plot to rob an armoured depository. One of Clint's lesser known efforts, this is a solid buddy cum heist movie with an unusually laid back tone. The cast of 70s stalwarts are all good, particularly the relationship between wise ass Bridges and brutal sociopath George Kennedy with whom they form an uneasy alliance. There's a lot of easy going comedy embellished with period Americana and a cast of characters that are quirky without trying too hard. The films attitude towards women can be described as "quaint" at best and it's not one for the action junkie, but it has a nice downbeat ending to counterpoint the comic tone of the rest of the film and it's worth seeing for the redneck with a car boot full of rabbits alone!

• A B

  
  Great, great movie. Eastwood and Bridges in fine form. Interesting script, with some depressing moments and a moving ending. Watch out for the naked woman too!

• Dean M

  
  A crisp, witty, tough and superby cast caper movie.

• Danny R

  
  A smashing directorial debut for Michael Cimino who also wrote the spirited screenplay of this tough extremely enjoyable crime melodrama. Clint Eastwood and a young Jeff Bridges make a dynamite team, they have a breezy chemistry together. Clint Eastwood delivers a cool superlative… More
  A smashing directorial debut for Michael Cimino who also wrote the spirited screenplay of this tough extremely enjoyable crime melodrama. Clint Eastwood and a young Jeff Bridges make a dynamite team, they have a breezy chemistry together. Clint Eastwood delivers a cool superlative performance as a prairie preacher and ex-veteran thief, John "Thunderbolt" Doherty, a member of an earlier heist where the money was hidden and never recovered, he has been hiding out from his former partners. Eastwood meets a fun-loving drifter named "Lightfoot" who is game for anything, Jeff Bridges gives a luminous scene-stealing performance that earned him his first Oscar nomination, Bridges is at his quirky best here. They strike-up a friendship and decide to pull a heist, with the help of two previous associates, played superbly by a menacing George Kennedy as Red Leary, and a very funny Geoffery Lewis as Eddie Goody, special kudos must go to George Kennedy performance, his villainous character is one of the meanest S.O.B. in screen history. Well-choreographed action and stunningly beautiful cinematography by Frank Stanley. Exquisite supporting performances by Gary Busey, Catherine Bach, Dub Taylor; and a standout turn by legendary character actor Bill McKinney. A well-crafted exciting film with equal moments of hilarity and pathos. Highly Recommended.