SYNOPSICS
The Gauntlet (1977) is a English movie. Clint Eastwood has directed this movie. Clint Eastwood,Sondra Locke,Pat Hingle,William Prince are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1977. The Gauntlet (1977) is considered one of the best Action,Crime,Thriller movie in India and around the world.
In Phoenix, Arizona, alcoholic and mediocre Detective Ben Shockley (Clint Eastwood) is assigned by Chief Commissary Blakelock (William Prince) to bring witness Gus Mally (Sondra Locke) from Las Vegas, Nevada for a minor trial. Shockley travels to Las Vegas and finds that Gus Mally is an aggressive and intelligent prostitute with a college degree and she tells him that the odds are against her showing up in court. Shockley learns that she will actually testify against a powerful mobster, and the mafia is chasing them, trying to kill them both. He calls Blakelock and requests a Police escort from Phoenix to protect them. But soon, he discovers that someone is betraying him in the Police Department. Now, Shockley and Malley hijack a bus and Shockley welds thick steel plates and transforms the cabin in an armored bus trying to reach the Forum. But they will need to drive through a gauntlet of Police Officers armed with heavy weapons.
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The Gauntlet (1977) Reviews
A chaotic road trip to justice!
A rundown cop who's always on the drink named Ben Shockley is assigned to accompany a foul-mouthed prostitute in Las Vegas to a protection program across the country in Phoenix to testify against highly placed authority figure, although first they have to get through a gauntlet of bad cops and the mob who actually want them both dead. So now the odds aren't in their favour, but Shockley is determine to do his job, no matter how big the odds are against them. Classic Eastwood is on show here people. Although, it's not one of his greatest nor particularly original. But this reasonably familiar cop / action film delivers what it intended to do by giving us a taut little road movie across baron landscapes with a tremendous amount of brutally fast-paced shootouts and grand chase scenes. I mean a lot! To sum it up, shootouts, shootouts and even more shootouts. Watch things go boom with a lot going on at such a furious pace! What more could you want? So you ask, why is this nothing out of the ordinary? Because this kind of thing wasn't particularly new within this era of films. There were definite shades of Dirty Harry; Eastwood's character Shockley was the exact opposite to Harry though. The one thing you'll notice is that there is no real excuse or depth behind the plot, but to stage one chaotic and stretched out shootout after another. Sometimes they feel like they go on forever! Nonetheless, they might be far-fetched and fail logic, but they're rather well set-up by director Eastwood. Giving us a sudden burst around each corner and because of that there's hardly a mundane moment uh, maybe Eastwood did overkill certain shootouts, but it did get the blood pumping! So, when the "exaggerated" climax hits the screen - at least the film was consistent in that aspect. The performances were top-notch, with Eastwood's persona making any film his in watchable. He gives a stellar performance. Sondra Locke as Gus Mally was perfect. The chemistry between the leads was outstanding. The scathing and rough dialogue amongst them was a treat with great use of sarcasm and offbeat humour. The biting conversations truly built on the paranoia at hand with many top one-liners. This gives the film a buddy type of feel. Other key factors are the soothing blues soundtrack, well established camera shots that capture a beautiful landscape, but also the panic of the situation they face. While, there might be underlining themes running throughout the plot, I just didn't read too much into it. Just leave your brain at the door and enjoy the total chaos and destruction that follows with your screen being sprayed with bullets! Definitely recommended for fans of Eastwood and gritty action films.
"The Gauntlet" is hardly one of Eastwood's most substantial works
The challenge of playing the cop, Ben Shockley, in "The Gauntlet" was that the character was virtually the opposite of Harry Callaghan: he's a loser, a man resigned to doing twenty years in the force and then looking forward to collecting his pension His car is full of empty whiskey bottles, his life is a shambles, he's never even been given a big case let alone solved one He is sent from Phoenix to Las Vegas to 'bring back a nothing witness for a nothing trial'. The 'nothing' witness, Gus Mally, is not the man he expects; in the first place she's a woman, Augusta Mally, secondly she's a hooker, thirdly, despite her non-stop profanities, she's a graduate of Finch College and lastly and hereby hangs the tale she's not a 'nothing witness'. The mob who are to be tried will do anything to prevent her testifying The dangers inherent in their journey together only slow1y become apparent to Shockley despite the fact that the Vegas police literally raze to the ground the couple's initial hideaway, while they remain inside almost to the last moment Within the turbulent situation, Shockley and Mally manage to transform their original dislike for each other and each other's way of life into a love of sorts, in the 'African Queen type tradition.' As the couple begins to understand each other, they realize how their relationship could serve each other She would no longer need to be a whore He could regain his self-esteem as a policeman Shortly before the final showdown Mally telephones her mother to say she has found her man; from then on there is an added imperative that they survive in order to give their love and their relationship a chance to work out Sondra Locke achieved the improbably-written transformation from hooker to sociologist convincingly But in this film, more than ever, Eastwood wasn't trying for any praise or approval from the critics; probably the reverse The overkill is part of the entertainment' he claimed.' You just have to accept it on an outrageous level.' There were those who didn't But these comments only served to inform Eastwood that at least he had been excessive enough to upset some people It would be awful to think you're being outrageous and to outrage nobody But Eastwood knew just how far he could take an audience with him By surviving the unsurvivable, Eastwood proved to himself once more that the mass audience will suspend all sensible disbelief as they do in the best of the Bond films providing the action carries them and their fantasies along In the context of many of his other films, "The Gauntlet" is hardly one of Eastwood's most substantial works The appeal of an unlikely love affair between opposites, fertilized by an unceasing barrage of gunfire was undoubted1y considerable But as a whole, the film tended to operate rather as an exercise in special effects than as any more considered piece of social statement of the kind that gave such strength to "Dirty Harry."
Clint runs "The Gauntlet" with a lady named Gus.
This baroque and utterly implausible action drama subscribes to the over-the-top theory of movie making. Huge quantities of bullets, bikers and bad apples are unleashed on Mr.Eastwood, Ms. Locke, his remand witness, and us, the audience. Eastwood executes the gauntlet with great resolve and resourcefulness: he even knows how to fortify a bus with armored plates. Clint is in peak form and Locke will never again reach the heights that she does here. Clearly, the two have wonderful screen chemistry and would remain together as a couple for more than a decade. Watching the film today, I think there is a scene that went missing--or was cut. It occurred at the beginning of the movie and involved the sadistic police commissioner and Locke's prostitute. The scene is later described in great detail by Locke when she and Clint are on the lam in a desert cave. So where is it? My dad took me to see this "R" rated film on a bitterly cold night in early February '78--it was released in late '77. I think he was unaware of the rating because I did get an eyeful that night. Make sure you see this movie letterboxed in order to absorb all the destructive power and subtle artistry on display.
The dumbest group of policemen ever
Possible spoiler - As the bus drives through Phoenix, police line up on either side of the street to empty thousands of rounds into the bus. Literally dozens of policemen are in the line of fire (across the street from each other) and nobody seems to notice. Also, at the courthouse, as they're again surrounded by dozens of police on ALL sides, Clint gets shot by the bad guy (police standing next to & behind everybody) and NOBODY flinches - apparently certain that bullets at close range don't go through people. Finally, as everybody is lying there bleeding (but not dead) not ONE policeman offers assistance or bothers to start taking all the guns away. Could be the dumbest &^%$%#$#ing movie ever.
Flawed, Absurd, but Highly Entertaining
In Phoenix, the alcoholic and mediocre detective Ben Shockley (Clint Eastwood) is assigned by the Chief Commissary Blakelock (William Prince) to bring the witness Gus Mally (Sondra Locke) from Las Vegas for a minor trial. Shockley travels to Vegas and finds that Gus Malley is an aggressive and intelligent prostitute with college degree and she tells him that the odds are against her showing up in court. Shockley learns that she will actually testify against a powerful mobster and the mafia is chasing them trying to kill them both. He calls Blakelock and request a police escort from Phoenix to protect them. But soon he discovers that someone is betraying him in the police department. Now, Shockley and Malley hijack a bus and Shockley welds thick steel plates and transforms the cabin in an armored bus trying to reach the Forum. But they will need to drive through a gauntlet of police officers armed with heavy weapons. "The Gauntlet" is a highly entertaining movie with a flawed and absurd story. There is no press representative or judge from the tribunal to question the reason for the shooting to stop the bus. The helicopter chasing the motorcycle with the sniper failing in his shots is funny. The situation of the gauntlet in Phoenix is hilarious and the police force is incapable to shoot the bus tires or engine to stop the vehicle. Sondra Locke is very beautiful in the role of a smart prostitute and this is the type of movie that the viewer must shut down his or her brain and have lots of fun. My vote is seven. Title (Brazil): "Rota Suicida" ("Suicide Route")