Powerful

One of my all time favorites.

Beautiful, moving film.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Let's get a few things out of the way first. For one thing, it has all the feel of a TV movie even a TV movie cast other than George C. Scott (one of the FINEST actors ever-NOT sarcasm) and Martin Sheen in his early career. Otherwise, this has made for TV all over it, even the credits have that second rate feel.Many things happen that are very believable but there are plenty of things that make you go, "Hmmm?" Just a quick example that could be considered a spoiler, when Scott leaves the hospital, WHERE DID HE GET THE CLOTHES? And if they wanted to keep him there, I have a hard time believing his wallet would be left for him.And why did he have to kill so many folks (a guard, two cops, at least one soldier) who were as responsible for what was going on as much as HE was? They had families but eh, screw that, "I HAVE A GRUDGE!" A righteous grudge or not, these folks didn't kill anyone, but now their families grieve. It took the hero out of it and made him a douchebag.OK, that's off my chest. Whew.I saw this movie when it came out in 1972 and I liked it. After I had seen "Patton" I couldn't think of a GCS movie I wouldn't like, and I don't recall seeing one either. This movie has its flaws but it makes a statement and makes it clear. If you must experiment with stuff, don't do it anywhere near innocent people and if you screw up, rush up to the nearest podium and scream, "We are VERY sorry. This was a MAJOR screw up and we are doing everything we can to rectify it!" Some would say don't do these experiments, but hey, this is the real world and this stuff, sometimes has to happen. Yeah, the REAL world where there are folks who hate us, want to kill us and will do whatever it takes, maybe like flying planes into buildings or potentially releasing gas that we really should now how to deal with.Politics aside, GCS's character, Dan Logan was angry, and very rightfully so. He was being screwed, figured it out, and went for revenge. He apparently knew he was dying so, why not REALLY get back at those who wronged him. I understand and almost applaud his actions. I stress, ALMOST (see above). No time for a law suit when you're about to check out, right? The photography was good, the script was actually quite good but lots of clichés. Scott, that guy couldn't turn in a bad performance if it was required of him. The supporting cast did a fine job as well, even his kid who for a good portion of the movie just had to convulse and bleed. He bled well and his convulsions were to die for.Bad joke, but I'm not deleting it.Overall, the scariness of the potential real life stuff is there and this movie really makes you think. I caught it for the first time in YEARS on YouTube last night and I was so glad I did. Now if I could only find some more of his classics that for some reason just don't get shown. "Oklahoma Crude"? Where ARE YOU?

The movie "Rage" starts with a few minutes of filler, a traveling helicopter shot of hilly grasslands and then a truck driving down a dirt road. The background music is really bad, vacuous. Lalo Shifrin gets the credit for composing this score. One demerit. I saw this movie on TCM as part of a full day of movies featuring George C. Scott. Bob Osborne said that as director, Scott bought this movie in a week early and under budget. Scott should have spent some more money, especially on lighting. Except for some scenes of violence at the end, "Rage" has the crummy photography, the long build-up and the shoddy writing you expect from a TV movie.Over 50 minutes pass before Scott's lunkhead character realizes something is amiss. I mean, at the start, he drives by sheep dead on his property, blood coming out of their noses. A normal person would think, what could have killed his sheep. Not Scott, though. As he drives to a hospital, he passes by a neighbor to drop his dog off. Does Scott phone the hospital from the neighbor's place to let them know of his major medical problem and all those dead sheep? Of course not. It was nice to see actor John Dierkes as the neighbor, an actor who was super in an earlier movie, 1959's "The Hanging Tree," where he co-starred with Scott."Rage" is a collection of scenes, with a story that is totally unreal. There is a pretty good scene where Scott stops by a gun store to buy an automatic rifle that he puts together by the gun counter. A copy of a similar type scene in a Sergio Leone movie where Eli Wallach's Tuco assembles a handgun from different guns. Only the Leone movie is done way better. More typical of this movie is where the Army officers meet to discuss how to handle their problem. The actors look like they were reading their lines from a teleprompter.Looking at the movie in total, as I do now, you come to the conclusion that this movie has enough story to fill a 30 minute TV show. Everywhere there is padding, with dialogue serving as filler like in a TV soap opera series. If the military had done the normal thing, tell Scott's character what the situation was and put him in isolation, there would be no movie. In real life, the dead sheep lying out in the open on the range land would have been a dead giveaway to the other ranchers and TV reporters.I added one star to my rating because of the appearance of John Dierkes. If this movie ever returns to TCM, avoid it.

The legendary actor George C. Scott's theatrical directing debut is a decent revenge tale, one with some flaws, but it's still a slick, professionally made, and reasonably compelling yarn. Scott plays Dan Logan, a nice guy farmer out camping with his son Chris (Nicolas Beauvy) when they are accidentally exposed to a nerve gas that the Army was testing. It becomes clear that all the military wants to do is cover up the incident, and keep Dan in the dark, even when Chris dies. And naturally, once Dan learns the ugly reality of the whole situation, he determinedly seeks brutal revenge. Scott, working from a screenplay by Philip Friedman and Dan Kleinman, knows how to reel us in, with an extended pre-credits sequence serving up some heartwarming father and son bonding and then introducing the element of the nerve gas. Scott occasionally goes for some stylistic touches, particularly when it comes to slow motion, but mostly just sticks to telling the story in a straightforward manner, taking advantage of the Panavision aspect ratio in the way people and things are arranged in the frame. Fred J. Koenekamp does the beautiful cinematography and Lalo Schifrin supplies a wonderful music score. Now, it should be very easy to sympathize with Logan and root for him to hold the Army accountable, and it is at first, but his descent into cold blooded murder and nastiness is a pretty abrupt one, making it hard to really be on his side the entire time. Also, the authorities striving to keep things quiet do slip up more than once, which is rather contrived considering all the steps one would think they would be taking. And a key moment where Logan learns the truth about his own fate is not shown on screen and one would have to wonder why it would be left out. In any event, Scott keeps this watchable throughout, delivering a quietly intense performance and not resorting to much in the way of histrionics. He also ably directs a top notch supporting cast including Richard Basehart (very warm as Logan's physician and old friend), Martin Sheen, and Barnard Hughes, with familiar folk such as Stephen Young, Kenneth Tobey, Robert Walden, William Jordan, Dabbs Greer, John Dierkes, Lou Frizzell, and Ed Lauter in smaller roles. Overall, even with its flaws it's still pretty entertaining. Six out of 10.

George C Scott stars and makes his directorial debut in this tense but ultimately pointless drama about a peaceful rancher who goes on a rampage of revenge after a botched military nerve-gas experiment conducted over his land leads to the death of his young son. You can feel Scott's character's frustration as he's lied to and stone-walled from every angle by the military bureaucrats who want to cover up the incident. Scott knows how to keep things moving and shows some stylish touches in the director's chair, but he can't keep the ending from being disappointing and unsatisfying. Still, all said, it's a fairly absorbing ride while it lasts. It's a movie that will likely stay with you long after the end credits roll.