It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Because of the low-budget look and no-name cast except Mitchum. This is an overlooked B budget classic. I found the acting to be on the whole very good. Robert's son ,Jim Mitchum has the same physical presence of his father. All he is lacking is the sneer. The brutality of the moonshine business. The danger the shiners faced and how they were viewed as dare devil heroes. The story gives us a vivid picture of all the aspects of what it was to be a moon shiner in the south. The feds are the opposite side of the coin to the mob wanting to muscle in on the business. Feds using tactics almost as nasty as the mob allows us to sympathise with rebel putting it to the man. Mitchum is perfectly cast as the ultimate non-conformist but one who realizes what is he is doing has a short shelf life.Knowing this he discourages others particularly his "brother" (Jim Mitchum) from getting involved in the business. The principles are all excellent and some of moonshiners look like the genuine article. The "Whooperwhill" sung at the credits by Keely Smith is appropriatley haunting.

Hot rods, moonshine and Robert Mitchum - oh baby! - what's not to love about "Thunder Road"? OK, the film gets a little tedious at times with it's dialog and a few scenes that drag, but when it focuses on 'wild and reckless men and illegal whiskey', the picture revs up to a ninety mile per hour pace. And whoa! - long before James Bond - those moonshiners were using gadgets like the oil spray gimmick to run chasers off the road - did that really happen? You have to give Mitchum credit here, not only did he star, but he wrote the story and the title song and produced the picture. He also cast oldest son James as younger brother Robin in the story. It was the perfect part for Mitchum, the perennial bad boy of film in a role that allowed that understated malice and danger to show through.Watch for an obvious continuity goof in that lounge scene near the end of the picture with Lucas Doolin (Mitchum) and Francine (Keely Smith). As they were sitting at the table, a whiskey bottle was positioned at Lucas's elbow. When Francine goes to play a tune at the juke box, she turns around to find Lucas gone, and there are two different non-alcoholic bottles on the table.What would have made the picture better would have been a final showdown between Lucas and gangster Kogan (Jacques Aubuchon). Be that as it may, it's a worthy film that revives a certain nostalgia for those glory days of the Fifties with it's fast cars and sense of imminent danger, best expressed by Kogan when he tried to shake down Lucas with his warning that 'there's no middle way'.

Robert Mitchum - renaissance man? You better believe it as Bob besides. naturally doing the lead acting honours, is credited with the original story-line, cops a production credit and even co-writes the winsome "Whipoorwill" ballad which frequents the movie.The movie itself comes off like a contemporary "beat" novel set to film, an unglamorous story of moonshine whisky transporters living just outside the law with Mitchum's Luke Doolan's character as talismanic main driver, not part of any team, but somehow the lightning rod around whom the whole story sparks.While obviously low-budget, there's a good cast here who give the film an ensemble feel and if you can ignore the obvious process "driving in my car" shots, there are also some exciting car chases, particularly the concluding one which sees Doolan meet his demise.Mitchum even introduces us to his son James in a prominent acting role and while he, not unnaturally, seems too young to be his old man's kid brother, he certainly seems like a chip off the old block. I also like the actresses who respectively play Doolan's mother, not above dispensing some peremptory corporal punishment when Mitchum Junior steps out of line and also the girl singer who gets as close as anyone to getting under Mitchum's tough skin as love interest. No beauty and obviously contrasted with the prettier more youthful girl with a major crush on Mitchum, their "love" scenes (I'm stretching the term) come across with engaging naturalism and realism.Perhaps the film has a little too many sub-plots and characters for its own good and it takes some while to find its rhythm, but once it settles, it finds a kinetic energy which keeps you watching and draws you into its small world, inspiring genuine interest in the characters. I also just wonder if it inspired Bruce Springsteen's famous song of the same name, several years later...

I really enjoyed this film! Maybe this film is not on the level of some art film, but it is one very engaging story. While Robert Mitchum takes center stage in this production, I also took special note of Gene Barry as the agent intent on putting the moonshiners out of business. He showed a grittiness that might have landed him the lead role on "The FBI," had he not been starring in another show in 1965 and had not been an activist in the Democratic Party.Even though I am a Northerner, I do understand the point of view that many Southerners have about this topic. I thought Mr. Mitchum did a fine job with his role. While I noticed that some of the supporting cast might have seemed a tad wooden, they did their work just fine. The cars and North Carolina locales also worked well.And I will give this film a "10" because of the extra work Mr. Mitchum did here, as well as the portrayal of a slice of Americana far removed from the streets of New York or Los Angeles.