Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

Thunder Road Blu-ray Movie Review

"There's no middle way. Now, how rough do you want it?"

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown February 9, 2024

You may not know it, but actor turned would-be-Thunder Road filmmaker (if not for handing off the reigns long before shooting began) Robert Mitchum was jailed for *gasp* marijuana possession once upon a yesteryear, making him one of Hollywood's leading Bad Boys of the era. It was that same rebel spirit he channeled to create his on-screen persona, a tough-as-nails, nothing-makes-me-flinch iceman who scoffed in the face of authority and represented a burgeoning desire for personal freedom that would barrel into the 1950s like a runaway truck. For Thunder Road, though, he didn't choose the present day drug battle, rather the illegal moonshine trade of decades earlier, which was still active in backwoods regions of the country. Mitchum was not only the driving force behind the film, he stepped in front of the cameras to make sure it was done right. It's only a shame the results are occasionally lackadaisical, failing to stomp on the gas or give the story the stakes it needed to truly push boundaries and careen into unforgettable-classic territory.

I don't remember anything dark and shameful. I just recollect the dogwoods and laurels with little tags of ice on the ends of them... I was just a little boy, following my daddy's footsteps up Sorrowful Mountain."

Unrepentant, no-nonsense Tennessee moonshine runner Luke Doolin (Robert Mitchum) makes dangerous high-speed deliveries for his illegal-liquor-producing father Vernon (Trevor Bardette) but won't let his younger brother Robin (James Mitchum) join the family business. Under pressure from both an out-of-town gangster named Kogan (Jacques Aubuchon), who wants a piece of the local action, and a Treasury agent by the name of Troy Barrett (Gene Barry), who wants to wipe out the moonshine business altogether, Luke fights for his fast-fading way of life. Directed by Arthur Ripley from a story by Mitchum and a screenplay by James Atlee Phillips and Walter Wise, the film also stars Keely Smith, Sandra Knight, Peter Breck, Mitchell Ryan, Dale Van Sickel and Nicholas Mann Konrad.

Click here to read Jeffrey Kauffman's 2015 review of the film, which he says is "still surprisingly visceral, offering Mitchum a nice contrarian role that seems to perfectly suit his 'fight the machine' persona." Adding, "blatantly overheated as it goes along, Thunder Road will probably be a guilty pleasure, kind of like moonshine itself."

Thunder Road Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

My colleague didn't reward Thunder Road with a very favorable video review when it was first released on Blu-ray in 2015 by Timeless Media Group. Normally I'm harder on catalog video presentations than he is, which means it's time for us to flip positions! It's possible the 1080p/AVC-encoded presentation featured on the 2023 Sandpiper edition is struck from a different master than its predecessor. However, Sandpiper tends to scoop up previous transfers and re-release them on new discs, meaning any differences between our evaluations and scores may just as easily come down to subjective taste. Whatever the case, I found Thunder Road's video presentation to be quite striking, with terrifically resolved fine detail, a crisp and largely consistent grain field (heavy though it may be), and notably clean, naturally sharp edge definition. There are a handful of infrequent shots that are noticeably soft, but each one seems to trace back to the original source elements and cinematography. Moreover, the film's black and white imagery is extremely well-preserved and represented, without exhibiting much in the way of age or wear and tear. Gradient grays are free of banding, contrast is lovely and vivid, and black levels -- though occasionally far too deep, oppressive and dark (interior car scenes shot at night are particularly problematic) -- are more than satisfying. I also didn't catch sight of many print issues. Specks, scratches and other unsightly blemishes are almost entirely absent from the presentation, minus minor roughness during the film's opening credits. All told, I was impressed with Thunder Road's treatment and can't imagine it looking much better than it does here.

Thunder Road Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The latest Blu-ray release of Thunder Road offers a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track; presumably the same mix included with the 2015 Timeless Media Group release. Dialogue is clear and intelligible at all times. It all has the tone of studio-recorded voices, as is common for the era, but prioritization prevents the actors' lines from slipping beneath music, the revving of engines or other more violent outbursts. Jack Marshall's score doesn't sound great -- it's shallow and a touch too tinny at times to sound as full and impactful as its meant to -- but again, it also isn't exactly that out of line with other similar 1950s cinema; especially the sort of home-grown movies in the vein of Mitchum's Thunder Road. I would have liked to see a 5.1 remix option, if only to bolster the low-end heft of the bootlegging scenes, but I also know it's unlikely it would have enhanced the experience all that much, and probably would have merely irritated purists. You won't come away from the film marveling at its sonics, but you will be able to enjoy the drama free of distraction.

Thunder Road Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Sandpiper Blu-ray release of Thunder Road includes the film's original theatrical trailer (presented in standard definition) but doesn't feature any other supplemental content. A shame. Would it really have been that expensive to hire a Mitchum biographer to record a commentary for a few hours? If you're a film biographer, author, essayist, professor or historian, consider offering up your commentaries of older movies to studios and distributors pro bono. You'll be doing us all a favor!

Thunder Road Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Thunder Road isn't going to spawn many new Robert Mitchum fans, nor is it remotely memorable enough to bear the brunt of time as well as other more renowned films from the 1950s. It is, however, a solid little game of principled cat and mouse, written in an era when life was simpler, crime was sometimes the plight of the common man, and sticking it to the authorities was a badge of pride. Sandpiper's Blu-ray release does well by Thunder Road, granting it a striking black and white video presentation and a decidedly decent DTS-HD Master Audio mono mix. There isn't much at all in the way of extras but... so it goes. I wouldn't race out to snag this one but if you're looking for a semi-classic, oft-forgotten '50s flick for your next rainy day movie binge, you could do worse.