Product Details

• Actors: Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Burt Young, Paul Winfield, Gerald S. O'Loughlin
• Directors: Robert Aldrich
• Format: NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Lorimar
• Run Time: 144 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0007YUSSI
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #71,630 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

When American air force general Lawrence Dell (Burt Lancaster) is framed for a crime he didn't commit and sent to prison, he vows vengeance against those who put him there--including the president (Charles Durning). After staging a daring breakout with fellow inmates Powell (Paul Winfield) and Garvas (Burt Young), Dell commandeers a Montana missile silo and threatens to start World War III if the government doesn't divulge the sordid reasoning behind its Vietnam War policy.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Unknown" flick that gives goosebumps to the max!, May 8, 2005

By 

Reginald D. Garrard "the G-man" (Camilla, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Twilight's Last Gleaming (VHS Tape)

There are some political thrillers that become "classics" ("The Manchurian Candidate," "Seven Days in May," and "Fail Safe," for example) while others fade into obscurity. "Twilight's Last Gleaming," unfortunately, falls into the latter category, although it deserves wider recognition and viewership.

Burt Lancaster portrays a looney general determined to right a wrong committed by the U.S. government: reveal the real reason behind the War in Vietnam and America's cover-up of this vital information. Commanding three fellow "terrorists" (Burt Young, Paul Winfield, and William Smith), Lancaster takes over a missile silo with the intention of launching it if the government doesn't "fess up" to the American public.

Richard Widmark also portrays a general that must thwart Lancaster's efforts. Charles Dunning is a beleagured President that must decide whether it is essential for the country's future if the information is revealed. His Cabinet is made up of familiar character actors Gerald S. O'Loughlin, Leif Ericson, William Marshall, Charles McGraw, Simon Scott, Joseph Cotten, and Melvin Douglas.

The tension is high in this superior thriller, aided by a stunning Jerry Goldsmith score, split-screen camerawork, and tight direction from Robert Aldrich.

The shocking ending makes this a film deserving of discovery.

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great lost classic., July 11, 2008

By 

Herb Sevush (NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: O Ultimo Brilho No Crepuscolo (1977) - Twilight's Last Gleaming ( Portuguese Edition - English Audio) (DVD)

I haven't seen this movie since it came out over 30 years ago, but not from lack of trying. There are either legal issues preventing it's re-release or else, as this film itself wants to convince, the powers that be do not want anyone to see it.

Robert Aldrich had already made his great moral parable about the insanity of the Vietnam War with Ulzana's Raid (1972) and now, five years later, he was to team up with Burt Lancaster once again for a full frontal assault. The Lancaster-Aldrich team is right up there with the great actor-director teams of American cinema: Deniro-Scorsese, Lemon-Wilder, Dietrich-Von Sternberg, Scott-Boetticher. This time they add Richard Widmark as Lancaster's nemesis and then get some of the best character actors of the era to contribute some of their finest performances - Roscoe Lee Browne, Joseph Cotten, Melvyn Douglas, Richard Jaeckel, Paul Winfield, a very young Burt Young, and especially noteworthy Charles Durning in what might be his best role as that of the very human President Stevens.

The story is totally improbable, the momentum unstoppable and the action breathtaking with the finest use of split screen ever seen in a Hollywoood movie (a technique Aldrich employed to good effect in The Longest Yard a few years earlier.)

I won't say this a a great movie, or even a good movie. I will say this is an important movie to see, made by America's greatest anarchist action filmmaker, and should not be missed, even though it's not possible to find. Call your congressman.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MILITARY THRILLER THAT SHOULD BE ON DVD, August 27, 2006

By 

FRANK ROCKER "ROCKN IN SO CAL" (RIVERSIDE, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Twilight's Last Gleaming (VHS Tape)

I saw this picture with my father in the theater. Now I could kick myself for not buying it on video. This picture was probably lumped in with male/ testosterone action flicks and over looked by the public at the box office. The movie is a cat and mouse thriller with Burt Lancaster grabbing the White Houses' attention by controlling a missle silo/bunker complex. As a former Air Force General with high security clearance, he knows how to complete the mission. The film is a study on why a decorated General threatens to start WW III.


On the opposite side of the fence lies the President, played by Charles Durning whose aim is to stop him. The supporting actors are outstanding on all accounts, Richard Widmark, Paul Winfield, Burt Young, Melvin Douglas, to name a few. The actors making up the presidents cabinet are outstanding. The cabinet/advisors must decide- is the General a mad man or can he pull off his threat of missle launch. What is his agenda?


The suspense builds thru the picture, can a missle launch be aborted by negotiation, stealth, or brute force. The ending is a shocker, uncompromising, a statement on what happens in a political chess match. The military advisor tells the president, the buck stops here.... you are responsible, even for past transgressions from a previous presidency.


WOULD SOME STUDIO PLEASE RELEASE THIS FILM ON DVD. THOSE IN THE KNOW ARE WAITING.