Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

White Lightning Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 6, 2025

Joseph Sargent's "The White Lightning" (1973) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Imprint Films. The supplemental features on the release include new program with composer Charles Bernstein; new audio commentary by author and critic Patrick Bromley; vintage promotional materials; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

The booze running, motor gunning, law breaking, love making rebel.

Gator McKlusky is a character Burt Reynolds played twice. However, the original version of it from Joseph Sargent's White Lightning is not related to the second version of it from Reynolds' directorial debut, Gator. In White Lightning, McKlusky is a moonshine runner who is released from prison after cutting a deal with the FBI to take down a very corrupt and very powerful sheriff responsible for the death of his younger brother. In Gator, McKlusky is a retired moonshine runner and a whole bunch of other things forced by the authorities to help them get rid of a ruthless criminal. Both films are set in the South and feature a lot of good old-fashioned action. However, their styles and personalities are quite different.

In White Lightning, McKlusky has a bigger and more formidable nemesis. It is Sheriff J.C. Connors (Ned Beatty), who runs Bogan County, a made-up place somewhere in the great state of Arkansas, like a Chicago mobster. When Connors executes two newly converted revolutionary hippies, one of them McKlusky’s younger brother, somewhere in the swamp, the news reaches the state prison where McKlusky is serving a short sentence, and just days later he attempts to break out. But despite his best efforts to disappear into the boonies, McKlusky is immediately caught. Back in the state prison, much to his surprise, McKlusky is offered a deal. If McKlusky helps the authorities gather enough incriminating information on Connors, who according to multiple reports is a tax cheater, they will purge his record and set him free.

Down in Bogan County, McKlusky hooks up with Dude Watson (Matt Clark), a mechanic with a long rap sheet, who reluctantly helps him impress Roy Boone (Bo Hopkins), a delivery man for Big Bear (R.G. Armstrong), the biggest bootlegger in the area. Because Big Bear is in cahoots with Connors, McKlusky assumes he would have some documentation revealing the latter’s corruption. But even if he does not, it is the shortest way to get to Connors, whom McKlusky cannot wait to see dead.

White Lightning easily could have been directed by Sam Peckinpah because it unites several big actors he loved to work with and emphasizes key qualities that defined his films. For example, White Lightning is scripted as a contemporary western and oozes the raw energy that Peckinpah always wanted present in his work. It is packed with top-quality old-fashioned action that is no longer possible to stage and shoot. Despite being a very violent film, it is loaded with great unfiltered humor that now seems like a rare ancient art. While it visits the made-up Bogan County, it is shot as, and it is, a genuine piece of Americana, too.

Reynolds also plays McKlusky like a Peckinpah character. In fact, in the final act, where he and Beaty become engaged in a wild car chase, plenty of the material easily could have been extracted from The Getaway. While not an impostor, Reynolds also charms the ladies much like Steve McQueen and Kris Kristofferson would have. Indeed, there are seemingly endless similarities in all kinds of different places.

If White Lightning is such a complete, impressively shot film, why did McKlusky’s second appearance in Gator turn out so different? Reynolds had total control over Gator and went in an entirely new direction with it and McKlusky. Had Gator been a legitimate sequel, with Reynolds again only acting in it, Reynolds almost certainly would have been asked not to change McKlusky’s personality.

Sargent directed White Lightning from an original screenplay by William Norton, who also scripted Gator. Either these screenplays were drastically different or once Reynolds began shooting Gator a lot was changed on the fly.

White Lightning Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, White Lightning arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Imprint Films.

The release is sourced from the same older master that MGM has licensed to various boutique labels for other local releases of White Lightning, including Kino Lorber's more recent release. Despite its age, it is a good master. However, if this film is properly redone in 2K or 4K, it will undoubtedly look fresher and more attractive. How much exactly? Now a whole lot. There are certain areas where delineation and select shadow nuances can be better. Grain exposure can be superior, too. Select primaries and supporting nuances can be better saturated and balanced, too. But the current master produces the type of quality I would expect to see from an interpositive, only without the consistent freshness you would get from a new 2K or 4K master. There are no traces of any compromising digital corrections. Image stability is good. Most importantly, even on a very large screen, delineation, clarity, and depth tend to be quite pleasing. To sum it all up, while there is certainly room for meaningful improvements, at the moment the film looks pretty decent on Blu-ray. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

White Lightning Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I would describe the overall quality of the lossless track as very good. It has the type of dynamic potency I would expect from a film from the early 1970s. Also, all exchanges are clear and easy to follow. I did not notice any serious age-related anomalies either. However, I still feel that a remastering job can open up several areas a little bit better. One such area is in the second half, where Burt Reynolds is tied by R.G. Armstrong and his goons and offered a drink of their liquor, where the audio becomes a bit too thin. This could be an inherited limitation. The action material already sounds pretty good.

White Lightning Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Burt: A Decade Behind the Wheel - in this new program, author Wayne Byrne and critic/YouTube personality Gator McKlusky discuss the Southern personality of White Lightning, its production, Joseph Sargent's reshaping of the notably rougher character Burt Reynolds intended to play, some of the similarities between the bad characters Bo Hopkins and Jerry Reed played, and the film's reception and box office success. Also, there are some good, and true, observations about the progression of Reynolds' career. In English, not subtitle. (23 min).

• The Sonorous Swamp - in this new program, composer Charles Bernstein explains that White Lightning "came out of the blue" and how little he knew about the South before he began creating its soundtrack. Bernstein also discusses some of the unique qualities he wanted to emphasize in his music and how they fit the narrative of White Lightning. Several years later, Bernstein also scored Gator. Quentin Tarantino, a big fan of White Lightning, has used some of Bernstein's music in his big box office hits, which are addressed at the end of the program. (Bernstein also scored one of the greatest horror thrillers of the last century, The Entity). In English, not subtitle. (26 min).

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by author and critic Patrick Bromley. The bulk of the comments address the identity and style of White Lightning, Burt Reynold's character and his reemergence in Gator, and crime and exploitation films during the 1970s.

• Theatrical Trailer - presented here is a remastered U.S. trailer for White Lightning. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• TV Spots - presented here are a couple of vintage U.S. TV spots for White Lightning. In English, not subtitled. (4 min).

• Radio Spot - presented here is a vintage U.S. radio spot for White Lightning. In English, not subtitled. (1 min).

White Lightning Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Steven Spielberg was supposed to direct White Lightning but changed his mind at the last minute and went on to do The Sugarland Express. It was for the better. In its current form, White Lightning is a terrific film, very easy to compare to several of the big cult films Sam Peckinpah directed. For this reason, I like the Gator McKlusky that emerges in it better than his reincarnation in Burt Reynolds' directorial debut, Gator. This release has several very good new bonus features, one of them with composer Charles Bernstein, who also scored one of my favorite horror films, The Entity. It is included in Film Focus: Burt Reynolds, a four-disc Region-Free box set. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.