Shout Factory has revealed that it is planning to bring to Blu-ray John Flynn's cult film Rolling Thunder (1977), starring William Devane, Tommy Lee Jones and Linda Haynes. The release will be available for purchase online and in stores across the United States on April 9th.
Exact technical specs and supplemental features to be included on this release are yet to be revealed.
A revered revenge classic co-written by Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver) and starring William Devane in a stoic performance as Major Charles Rane, a man who has been pushed beyond his limits during an eight year incarceration in the Hanoi Hilton. He returns to his Texas hometown with his friend Sergeant Vohden (Tommy Lee Jones), just a vague shadow of the man he used to be. Finding himself a local celebrity and awarded with a briefcase of silver dollars- one for every day he was a POW, he tries to adapt to civilian life with his wife (Linda Haynes), who is now engaged to another man, and his son, who doesn't remember him. But any chance at healing is destroyed when a gang of thugs show up at his house to steal the silver. Tragedy thus descends on Major Rane a second time, stealing whatever shred of humanity was in him, and sending him on a one-way mission: vengeance at any cost.
Note: Blu-ray.com has already reviewed the UK Blu-ray release of Rolling Thunder, courtesy of StudioCanal, here.
Holy shit yes!!! I never thought we'd see this on Blu-ray!! The UK release is region-locked and MGM has released the film on DVD on-demand less than two years ago so I figured we'd never get the HD version of it. Absolute Day one buy
A friend of mine, Norman Herman, was the producer of this film. If you had told us, back in 78 or so, that this thing would still be alive and kicking and be re-released on formats that we could only have dreamt of then, we would have not thought it possible. Amazing.
What a shocker! Glad to see this finally available. Saw it years ago on a crappy EP VHS tape and thought it was great. I think Shout Factory does a great job with their discs, even the cheesiest films get the deluxe treatment so the prospects are good for this.
