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The Gauntlet Streaming.
Movie Title: The Gauntlet The Gauntlet is available for streaming or downloading. |
This review refers to the Warner Bros. DVD edition of “The Gauntlet”….
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From the moment Ben Shockley(Clint Eastwood) steps out of his car and an empty booze bottle falls out, we know this is not the usual “Dirty Harry” character we’d been conventional to up to now. Ben is a cop who’s chances for greatness seem to be fading with him.
Eastwood directs as well as stars in this film and we explore his brillant directoral style taking gain here.
The Phoenix P.D. seem to be scraping the bottom of the barrel when they achieve Shockley the job of escorting Gus Malley, a seemingly unimportant peep from Las Vegas succor to Phoenix for a trial. Ben’s been looking for his sizable wreck on a immense case and it doesn’t witness like this will be it with this guy. Upon arriving in Las Vegas, Ben discovers that Gus is no guy. Gus Malley(Sondra Locke), is a local prostitute and unwilling partcipant in the mosey encourage as well. This is not “a hooker with a heart sage” though, this pro is as hard edged as they reach, but she does have a brain!
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The action starts as soon as they leave the jail. Someone is going to create determined that these two never obtain it to trial. Vegas is even giving odds against them. Everyone’s after them..the mob, the cops, they even made the mistake of angering a group of bikers along the route and they’re out for revenge as well. They hardly know who to trust, as they earn shot at from all angles, cars blow up, they are location up and beat up. What Gus knows can cost them their lives, but Shockley is now clear to bring his prisoner in at all costs and rises to the occassion and must rupture through an impassable barrier set-up to preserve him at bay.
It’s edge of your seat drama, thrills, and fun, as Gus and Ben trade quips and net in a petite romance(we couldn’t seek information from any different with Eastwood and Locke) along the plot.As usual Clint surrounds himself with the finest talent. Pat Hingle, William Prince, and Bill Mckinney turn in suitable performances as well as Eastwood and Locke. There’s also a terrific jazzy fetch by Jerry Fielding.
The film made in 1977 looks grand on this DVD transfer. It is in a widescreen on a dual layer format. The portray looks valid. Sure and racy with respectable color. There was occasionally a dinky purplish tint in places, but it didn’t occupy away from the enjoyment of the film. The soundtrack remastered in the 5.1 Dolby Stereo was also respectable. The music sounded spacious and the dialouge always crisp. Not too remarkable in the plan of bonus material if that’s what you’re looking for, there’s a filmography on Eastwood(his was the only one I was able to access) and a theatrical trailer. It may be viewed in French(Mono) and also has subtitles in English and French as well. You can bet on this one!
5 stars to a expansive Eastwood action film that can be watched again and again.
Get the Popcorn ready for this one and savor…..Laurie
also sold(when available) in 2 pack:The Gauntlet/True Crime
also recommended:
City Hall/Midnight in the Garden of Capable and Evil
The Clint Eastwood Collection (In the Line of Fire/Unforgiven/Bronco Billy/Dirty Harry/The Outlaw Josey Wales/The Beguiled)
(perceive my reviews for film details)
I read years ago that “The Gauntlet” was originally intended to feature the star matchup of Clint Eastwood and Barbra Streisand, but after Eastwood was warned by the Warner Bros. brass of La Streisand’s diva tantrums on the station of “A Star is Born” he nixed the thought and cast his “Josey Wales” costar Sondra Locke instead. Admittedly, a Eastwood-Streisand matchup would have made this film a major blockbuster instead of the solid hit it was, but I’m joyful it never happened. The pair would probably have had no chemistry whatsoever and Streisand would have been unbearably shrill in the role of “two bit hooker” Gus Malley. Besides, Locke is valid in the role and proves a terrific sparring partner for Eastwood. Yes, her subsequent pairings with the epic were less than top-notch, but for one brilliant shiny moment, Locke’s talent would shine brightly.
“The Gauntlet” actually works strictly because of the Eastwood/Locke chemistry and not because of the amazing set. Eastwood plays Ben Shockley, a self-described “dumbass cop” and alcoholic who is sent by Phoenix’s shady unusual police commissioner Blakelock (William Prince) to Las Vegas to extradite Malley, who is the only seek to a mob trial. It becomes positive from the begin that Shockley has been situation up and by whom, and the two don’t even manufacture it to the airport before they are being chased across the desert by mob assassins. You’ll figure out who’s slack everything long before Shockley, but for once, his ineptitude makes sense, since he was sent to do the job because of it. The position turns when Shockley figures it out and decides to display the brass noxious by delivering Malley to the steps of Phoenix city hall, providing he can regain through the impenetrable barrier (or “gauntlet”) of policemen sent to halt him.
Like I said, the region is astounding. Shockley and Malley dodge so many bullets and race so many certain death circumstances a total suspension of idea is required to fully like the nonsense. And the final five minutes is monotonous beyond plan, since we are asked to bear the entire Phoenix police force would stand by and stare three people being shot and do absolutely nothing. However, the film is fast-paced and the action scenes are expertly mounted and the film never drags for a single moment in 109 minutes. Eastwood directs with economy and style and with tongue firmly placed in cheek, and for once, the lightning pacing many have yearned for in his novel, more late paced films. And the performances are universally generous, especially by Locke, Pat Hingle as Shockley’s concerned partner-turned-patsy, Michael Cavanaugh as a seemingly sympathetic assistant district attorney, and ’70’s Eastwood regular Bill McKinney, who is absolutely hilarious as a smarmy constable taken hostage by the desperate pair. In fact, anyone who thinks Locke can’t act should witness the expert interplay between her and McKinney when he decides to have fun insulting her and she turns the tables on him, twisting the screws until he explodes. This scene alone is worth the trace of of the DVD, and it should benefit as a rebuttal to Locke detractors everywhere. I also liked the subtle contrivance Eastwood and Locke’s relationship turns from adversarial to precise appreciate and affection. Nowhere in the script is there a specific moment where they plunge in savor, they unprejudiced do, and they execute the transition believable strictly through their interplay.
The film makes stout consume of Nevada/Arizona locations and has a terrific jazz glean by Jerry Fielding, who heavily borrows from gospel standards like “A Closer Chase (my Lord to Thee) .” In fact, the film is littered with religious symbolism, but why is a mystery. In all, the entire production is a solid, professional part of work by the entire Eastwood team at Malpaso. And while it will never be considered in the same class as such top-drawer Eastwood directorial efforts as “Outlaw Josey Wales,” “Unforgiven,” and “Mystic River,” it remains to this day a solid entertainment that seems to improve with each viewing, unprejudiced as long as you shut your brain off completely at the waste.
As for the DVD, WHV has done better. However, at least it’s in panavision widescreen instead of the pan-and-scan that the VHS copies hold. And could we have a tiny more than the standard theatrical trailers for extras? All in all, it rates ***1/2 (out of *****)
for the film and **1/2 for the DVD presentation.
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