Product Details

• Actors: Clint Eastwood, Jeff Bridges, Geoffrey Lewis, Catherine Bach, Gary Busey
• Directors: Michael Cimino
• Writers: Michael Cimino
• Producers: Robert Daley
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• VHS Release Date: April 1, 1992
• Run Time: 115 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301976401
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #149,595 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video

Jeff Bridges actually corralled an Oscar nomination for his spirited, oddball performance in this genre crime story, directed by first-timer Michael Cimino who (a short two films later) would bring down a studio with Heaven's Gate. Clint Eastwood plays a bank robber par excellence with a flair for explosives who is being hunted by his former partners, who think he has their loot from their last job. Bridges is his eager apprentice and sidekick, who helps him escape; when Eastwood finally makes peace with his hunters, Bridges convinces them to try a daring robbery--but things inevitably go awry. The relationship between Eastwood and Bridges is both funny and touching in this, one of Eastwood's better post-Dirty Harry efforts. --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clint Eastwood makes a good crook, too., March 2, 2001

By 

C.H. (Beach Park, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (DVD)

Overlooked Eastwood gem has Clint as a thief on the run from former partners in crime (George Kennedy and Geoffrey Lewis), who mistakingly think he has the loot from their last heist ten years before. He hooks up with young drifter (Bridges) who's eager to join Eastwood in a life of crime. Clint finally convinces Kennedy and Lewis that the money was lost. Undaunted, the happy foursome decide to "re-pull" the same robbery. Great change of pace for Eastwood and Jeff Bridges all but steals the show. Great location shooting in Idaho and Montana and film hasn't lost any originality twenty seven years later. Even though they aren't cops, this is probably one of the first buddy films. Lots of action and laughs, and most definitely worth a look. Look for Gary Busey and Catherine Bach of "The Dukes of Hazzard". Eastwood and Kennedy returned the following year in "The Eiger Sanction."

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THAT'S not it!, December 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Thunderbolt & Lightfoot [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Well, aside from being a total classic, this movie is all at once, touching, funny, exciting, moving, and riveting. It is the ultimate entertaining film. It has something for everyone. Car chases, guns, girls, beer, fistfights, guys in drag, and yes, a trunkfull of rabbits... who could ever ask for more? eastwood and particularly jeff bridges are excellent, especially at the end of the film. his nomination is well deserved. see this movie if you want to be entertained, but not insulted. good stuff.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Cast Sparks This Mid-70's Caper Film, February 3, 2006

By 

J. Merritt - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (DVD)

Four years before "The Deer Hunter" and six years before the disastrous "Heaven's Gate," Michael Cimino broke through as a writer/director with this somewhat rambling but engaging and quirky heist film starring Clint Eastwood, Jeff Bridges, and George Kennedy. A bank robbery gone wrong has left Eastwood laying low, pretending to be a preacher in a small town. When an old partner hunts him down, he narrowly escapes with the help of a small-time thief named Lightfoot (Bridges). The two become partners, but are soon forced to join up with two more of Eastwood's old cronies (Kennedy and Geoffrey Lewis). Together, the four set about executing the same bank robbery that failed several years earlier.

Bridges received an Oscar nomination for his offbeat portrayal of a free-spirited and charismatic young con artist, while Kennedy is an angry, ticking time bomb that you just know will eventually explode and screw things up. Much of the film is light and comical, with a veiled commentary about the aimlessness of America's post-Vietnam generation. The ending is surprisingly poignant, however, and the movie features an underrated Eastwood performance and a great recurring Paul Williams song on the soundtrack. Look for early roles by Gary Busey as Bridges' boss on a construction crew, and Catherine Bach (the one and only Daisy Duke) as a girl Lightfoot rather creatively picks up at a bar.