Load of rubbish!!

Great Film overall

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges made a good film with "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot." Both actors compliment each other as the personalities of their respective characters are totally different but are united in the pursuit of crime. Neither man is exactly evil or sadistic but they are both thoroughly dishonest. Geoffrey Lewis and George Kennedy are brilliant as the hoods who are recruited by Eastwood and Bridges in their criminal masterplan. There is some humour in this film which works well. There is some action but the ending proves to be slightly downbeat. A very worthy film all round.

Here is the IMDb summary for Thunderbolt and Lightning - "With the help of an irreverent young sidekick, a bank robber gets his old gang back together to organize a daring new heist". Sounds like it's the sort of film that would be exciting and lots of fun doesn't it? Yeah well I'm sorry, but this really didn't do a lot for me I'm afraid.For a start the actual plot doesn't really get any focus at all until we're close to the hour mark which isn't necessarily a problem in itself if the first half of the film does anything of interest, but unfortunately that isn't the case here.Even if we overlook the rather contrived set-up to the story it's a really hard film to become involved with. The first hour consists of Thunderbolt and Lightfoot picking up prostitutes, stealing a car and being pursued by Leary (George Kennedy) who has a score to settle with Thunderbolt (Clint Eastwood) as he believes that Thunderbolt set him up on a previous job. I haven't got a problem with silliness in films but it has to feel as though there is some sort of point to any of it. The first half is a rather dumb and random sequences of events serving no real purpose and the second half involves the planning and execution of the heist. For me, the two aspects don't mesh very well together and made the film feel uneven.I also found it a little bit convenient that Leary would suddenly drop everything and decide to join Thunderbolt for one last job - given how angry he was with him previously. If I'm honest I just found many elements of the story to be a little hokey.Another problem in this film is that it suffers from notably weak chemistry amongst its characters. Eastwood and Bridges are OK individually, but share few sparks when they're on screen together. Although to be fair to Bridges he did at least try and inject some fun into the film and managed to be both annoying and funny in equal measure. Kennedy and Lewis fared worse and seemed to add very little to the film.Things improve slightly in the second half of the film when we're actually seeing the 'heist' itself. I thought that the planning and thought that went into the heist was clever, but again it wasn't exciting and once the heist is executed it was rather workmanlike and run of the mill and again just didn't do a lot for me.Simply put, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot is a mixture of bad and mediocre and a film that doesn't deliver upon its rather exciting sounding premise.

An excellent character based comedy / drama, "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" is a well above average 1970s vehicle for established star Clint Eastwood. Clint plays the role of "Thunderbolt", a bank robber laying low (masquerading as a preacher!) when an old associate shows up, ready to do him in. Saving Thunderbolts' life is amiable, carefree youngster "Lightfoot", played with charm and likability by Jeff Bridges. They become quick friends. Soon, they'll find that they won't be able to escape Thunderbolts' old partners in crime, Red Leary (George Kennedy) and Eddie Goody (Geoffrey Lewis). Lightfoot gets the bright idea that they should mastermind the second robbery of a bank that the others had previously hit.As could be expected with any good caper film, it's fun to see the participants discuss all the obstacles in their way, and all of the preparations that they will have to make. This material is immensely enjoyable, but it's the characters and performances that really make an impact. Clint does a typically solid, engaging job, with very fine support from the foaming-mad Kennedy and the always reliable Lewis. There's quite a few other familiar faces in the cast, too: Catherine Bach, Gary Busey, Jack Dodson, Burton Gilliam, Roy Jenson, Bill McKinney, Vic Tayback, Dub Taylor, Gregory Walcott, and Cliff Emmich. But make no mistake, this is Bridges' film. Whether he's taunting Red in an interesting way, or being made to dress in drag as part of the robbery scheme, he steals the show.Michael Cimino, the filmmaker who later scored big with "The Deer Hunter", and earned himself infamy with the notorious spectacle "Heaven's Gate", made his directing debut here. He'd previously co-written the "Dirty Harry" sequel "Magnum Force", and Clint had lots of confidence in the up and coming talent. Cimino gives his film great pace, and, in collaboration with cinematographer Frank Stanley, gives "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" some impressive widescreen compositions.Endearing entertainment all the way, further enhanced by Paul Williams's touching song "Where Does a Fool Go".Nine out of 10.

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.