Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		4.0

Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins Blu-ray Movie Review

Drinking and driving.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III November 16, 2025

The second of only seven films helmed by Dick Richards (who's probably best known as the co-architect of Tootsie), Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins is piloted by three outstanding performances from Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine), Sally Kellerman (M*A*S*H), and Mackenzie Phillips (American Graffiti). An amiable road comedy with liberal splashes of cold, hard reality, this brisk and nearly fat-free production follows three lovable losers on a roller-coaster road trip from sunny Hollywood to New Orleans by way of Las Vegas, Tucson, and at least a half-dozen con jobs.

Former marine lifer Rafferty (Arkin), nicknamed "Gunny" for his military rank, now wades through the workweek as a driving instructor who ironically proves to be a reckless wheelman. Tired of his monotonous life and nursing apathy with daytime alcoholism, Gunny's leisurely lunch break in the park leads to a chance encounter with pretty drifter McKinley "Mac" Beachwood (Kellerman) and a teenage companion who calls herself "Frisbee" (Phillips)... but we'll learn her real name later. Gunny initially promises the girls a quick ride across town, but the encounter turns into a kidnapping when Frisbee brandishes a pistol and demands he take them to New Orleans so Mac can finally pursue her dreams of singing. Quickly realizing that the gun was full of blanks after escaping, Gunny takes pity on the girls and resumes their initially forced road trip, realizing he's probably been fired from his job anyway. Their travels take them to all sorts of seemingly random detours along the way, mostly involving thievery and other con jobs to get spending money, but a number of emotional connections and reality checks leads to much-needed character growth for all three lost souls.

Road movies are a curious subgenre and were massively popular during this era of filmmaking, and Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins -- which was shrewdly re-titled Rafferty and the Highway Hustlers for broadcast TV showings on NBC two years after its theatrical debut -- is most assuredly a product of its time. It's loose and free-wheeling, character-driven and firmly grounded in realism while unavoidably loaded with nostalgic time capsule footage from a bygone era. Gunny, Mac, and Frisbee make for an appealing trio, enjoying solid conjoined and separate chemistry with one another as fully three-dimensional characters with distinctly different moral barometers and outlooks on life. They're a skewed family unit and Frisbee usually comes across as the bratty but endearing daughter of Gunny and Mac, a sentiment that gets stronger as the story progresses. By the time Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins reaches its final destination, all three travelers are in a better place than where they started... or at least well on the way there.

Penned by John Kaye around the same time as his writing gig for SNL precursor The Lohman & Barkley, Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins has an energetic flow that's carried by sharp dialogue and the way its three leads deliver it, not to mention fine supporting performances by the likes of Charles Martin Smith, Alex Rocco, and a then lesser-known Harry Dean Stanton, who was previously seen in classics such as Cool Hand Luke, Two-Lane Blacktop, Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, and of course The Godfather II. New viewers will find themselves guessing where Gunny, Mac, and Frisbee might end up next, and they'll likely be wrong most of the time. That's the fun of this film and road movies in general, but repeat viewings will reveal tighter and more purposeful links created by all those pit stops along the way.

A mostly forgotten film that's nonetheless a career highlight for its three primary actors and the director, Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins has thankfully been resurrected for a new generation to discover thanks to this welcome new Blu-ray package from Warner Archive, which incidentally doubles as the film's digital home video debut.

Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins' last home video release was on VHS, so seeing it on Blu-ray -- and sourced from a recent 4K scan of the original camera negative, no less -- will be an absolute revelation for long-time fans of the film. Simply put, it looks exactly like a modestly-budgeted road movie from the mid-1970s ought to, with softer image detail and a distinctly grainy texture that often feels as earthy and lived-in as many of the visited locations. This means that it doesn't have the sparkle and shine of a glamorous nitrate production or the sterilized smoothness of a modern digital affair, yet aficionados of this era of filmmaking will be pleased as punch. Some of its darker moments produce slightly clumpy grain and noise levels (which certainly doesn't seem like a byproduct of disc encoding), but again I'd take that any day over and overly processed transfer that's been scrubbed within an inch of its life. Simply put, it's a clean and straightforward presentation of a slice-of-life film that debuts on Blu-ray with visual energy to spare.

Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix capably translates Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins' original mono audio into an even split-channel mix for more natural width. As expected there isn't a lot of audio flair to be found here, with only sporadic needle-drop cues livening up a sound stage that's mostly dominated by on-location audio and diegetic music, including a number of country songs performed at a third-act bar and one even sung by Sally Kellerman. Simply put, this is a clean and no-nonsense lossless presentation that's limited by its original source material, but the dynamic range is very lively at times and no obvious age-related defects could be heard along the way.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature only, not the extras listed below.

Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with poster-themed cover artwork and minimal extras.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:55) - This rough but watchable vintage promotional piece can also be seen here.

Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Dick Richards' Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins is perhaps the director's most durable film, and it's mainly due to terrific co-lead performances from Alan Arkin, Sally Kellerman, and Mackenzie Phillips. It certainly doesn't rewrite the road comedy but remains effective due to its authentic characters and memorable locations, not to mention a late-film appearance by the singular Harry Dean Stanton. Those who enjoy this curious subgenre and 1970s films in general will likely find it time well spent, and there's no better time to get (re)acquainted than with Warner Archive's new Blu-ray, which celebrates the film's 50th birthday with its digital home video debut. Recommended to the right crowd.