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Fans of politically-tinged, conspiracy-world-view movies will probably enjoy “Twilight’s Last Gleaming.” Based on a novel by Walter Wager, “Twilight’s Last Gleaming” is the story of a disgraced former U.S. Army general who seizes control of a Titan nuclear missile base in Montana and threatens to start World War III unless the President releases top secret documents exposing the “truth” behind America’s military involvement in SouthEast Asia in the 1960s and 70. (Think of Julian Assange with his finger on the nuclear button). The government goes into crisis mode in response, and the President finds himself trying to bargain with the general while also navigating the treachery of his own cabinet & military advisors, who want to keep the secrets buried deeper than the alien bodies at Roswell.
Like many of the political films from the 1960s and 70s “Twilight’s Last Gleaming” with a leftish attitude, has an almost 1930ish Frank Capraesque populist belief in the inherent goodness of the American people, no matter how rotten its institutions (particularly the military) may have become. The animating idea is that everything can be set right in America again, if only the Truth were allowed to see the light of day. This can produce a certain earnestness, if naivete, that seems quaint today. On the other hand, unlike many so-called political TV shows and movies today (and even our political debate) these movies were not afraid to take a definite stand, even at the risk of alienating potential ticket buyers. Nor do they share todays “Blame the policymakers but not the soldiers” platitudes when it comes to controversial military actions.
As a movie experience itself, “Twilight’s Last Gleaming” never reaches the “Seven Days in May” height it seems to be aiming for, but neither is it the complete dud it seemed to be at the time. It was directed by Robert Aldrich, best known for “The Dirty Dozen.” Aldrich had a sly, witty, subversive worldview, and a knack for depicting amoral characters and situations on screen. While in “Twilight’s Last Gleaming” he keeps his comedic impulses mostly in check (humor in this movie would undercut its rationale, and also push it perilously close to “Dr. Strangelove” territory”) he also keeps the movie from falling too far into self-righteous do-goodism. The movie clocks in at 146 minutes, which can be long for a thriller. The movie could have benefited from some tighter editing, especially in the White House scenes, and the movie has an opening scene that seems to have no connection to the rest of the movie, except as a clumsy foreshadowing device. However, the initial penetration of the missile base and the movie’s climax work well as suspense scenes, and an attempt by the military to retake the base two-thirds or so through the movie is a first-rate set-piece action sequence.
As General O’Dell, the movie’s nominal hero, Burt Lancaster is at his megaton chip-on-the-shoulder movie star best. Richard Widmark, as the general overseeing the military’s siege of the missile base, perfectly captures a man who put his conscience in a military footlocker years ago and no longer cares or remembers where he put the key. As the President, Charles Durning essentially plays the audience’s stand-in, and as such is about the only actor allowed to emote. His moral outrage, as he learns the secret O’Dell is trying to uncover, and his anguish as he realizes his power as Command-in-Chief is more titular than actual produces some dramatic highlights. The cabinet members are played by veteran character actors as gray and unmoving as the Washington Monument. Paul Winfield, as one of O’Dell’s men in the bunker, provides the movie’s hip factor. He’s a proud holder of a dis-honorary discharge from the military. His growing awareness that the man he’s following might really be serious about blowing up the world if he doesn’t get his way helps keep the movie emotionally grounded.
“Twilight’s Last Gleaming” was not a critical or commercial success when it was originally released in the winter of 1977. Perhaps initial audience members were disappointed it was not the straightforward action adventure movie it was promoted as being. Perhaps, in early 1977, shortly after electing the idealistic Jimmy Carter to the White House, Americans were ready to put the divisive political debates of the 60s and 70s behind them. Or perhaps potential nuclear annihilation is a subject that cuts too close to the existentialist bone to work as an entertainment device, except in a James Bond fantasy context. As for the critics, even liberal movie critics derided the movie’s “big reveal” about the Vietnam War, noting, correctly, that the skeletons from America’s involvement in Vietnam had been pouring out of the closet since at least 1971 with the release of the Pentagon Papers, and even earlier than that, for any one paying attention.
However, nearly 40 years on, “Twilight’s Last Gleaming” can be seen less as an ill-fated attempt to stay current with 1970s headlines and more as a political fable about the corrosive effects of America’s self-appointed role as a superpower The larger issues it addresses -- the duplicitous reasons why nations go to war, the extreme measures the government goes through to keep secrets from the voting public, and the inherent tensions, if not incompatibility, of a permanent militarized national security state within a democratic political system, remain vital and urgent today. And with renewed nuclear saber-rattling by the Putin regime in Moscow and recent reports of mishaps and scandals at America’s nuclear bases, gives “Twilight’s Last Gleaming” an unexpected (if not unwelcome) topicality.
This Olive Films DVD release offers a clean, crisp picture and excellent sound quality. While much of the story takes place inside military command posts, nuclear bunkers, and White House cabinet rooms,giving the movie a TV drama-quality at times, the action sequences, with their split-screen effects (a 70’s cinematic fashion) work well on today’s hi-def big screen televisions.
Bottom Line: This is not a movie worth spending $25, $30 on, but at a lower price it is worth adding to your collection if you enjoy popcorn movies that believe, like Fox Mulder, that the truth is out there.
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Top reviews from other countries
A. W. Wilson
TWILIGHT'S LAST GLEAMING BLURAY?DVD COMBO FROM EUREKA
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 21, 2021
D J Jackson: Passionate about Film.
MASTERLY POLITICAL AND MILITARY THRILLER WITH MORALITY TALE AT IT'S HEART.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 12, 2017Martin @ UK
What a dumb movie.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 16, 2019
Robin
Gleaming quality and a worthwhile hour+ documentary
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 12, 2020Les G Teague
Outstanding political thriller.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 5, 2021
