Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Memorable, crazy movie

Brilliant and touching

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Despite the thick-ear dialogue, lack-lustre performances from most of the cast, (Charles Durning being the notable exception), and the frankly ridiculous premiss of a renegade general taking over a nuclear missile silo and holding the US government to ransom, Aldrich's dip into the Cold War paranoia genre is surprisingly good, working both as a highly suspenseful thriller, (Aldrich makes great use of split screens), and as a reasonably serious picture on American foreign policy. It's also funny enough to work as political satire and I'm not sure that Aldrich took it all that seriously. It may not be in the same class as either "Seven Days in May" or "Fail Safe" and television dramas such as "The West Wing" and "House of Cards" are much closer to the mark on what goes on in the Oval Office than anything here but it's also far from negligible and if it's hardly Aldrich's best film it's still well worth seeing.

This was quite the film. A movie based on the movements of the government, and their way of doing business overseas in the vein of war. Vietnam, the most controversial subject in history. A man who's deranged idea to stop war is by using a missile silo to make his point. General Dell (Burt Lancaster) is a man who's poised into stopping the black ops with his government so that the people can make a choice in the face of tyranny. Yet to achieve this, he had to overtake a missile silo armed with Titan nuclear warheads in order to make his dream a reality. Although no one person wishes to use them in the haste of war, in dell's mind it is the only option left other than diplomatic means to which his own fellow officers denied him, and placing him in prison for thirty years.I really liked how they had Charles Durning play the president. To find out how the seemingly trust worthy governments kept a well hidden secret from the public eye and ear about what the Vietnam War was all about. To hear about how many lives were lost just because the idea of war is big business to those money cartels all over the world. And to find out that even a few of his own staff members were apart of such devious plots to show the Russians that they meant business in case both countries went to war later in the future.However none of this would ever come to light, for his good friend Zachariah Guthrie (Sec of Defense) was asked by the president to make public the secret meeting for which the war was implemented from in the white house. That the last word would be from Guthrie himself. Except during the last moments of the president's life, Guthrie never kept his word, and the president died in vain.All in all, I thought this was an exceptional film. Emotions running ragged in all corners of the white house, dell, and his cohorts. To see the joint chiefs combining efforts to hush up the well kept secret so that more wars in the distant future could flourish under the noses of the same American's who wanted nothing to do with wars in the first place. To see a leader gunned down like JFK for believing in the people rather than their own military might, or black ops behind the curtain. It was a roller coaster ride of emotional turmoil, set behind a stream of deceit, lies, greed, and above all a totalitarian attitude the world can do without.A very gritty film based on the people's views on war, and why it has no place among the human populace. Highly recommended to those over 17.

Disgruntled Nam Vet Controls The Button 'Twilight's Last Gleaming' is extremely original and gripping edge of your seat action. It ranks right up there with, 'Failsafe' 'War Games' and 'Crimson Tide' as one of the all time great nuclear holocaust films.The plot: Four terrorists led by Burt Lancaster manage to take control of a nuclear missile silo in Montana. As implausible as it is we're gripped by not knowing whom they are or their motives.It's cleverly revealed that Lancaster is a disgruntled Vietnam vet general who wanted to expose the truth about the war's motives through the release of classified documents. As a result the military framed him for murder. Lancaster organized a prison break and with nine missiles at his disposal he speaks with the president directly and demands the documents be made public.Lancaster comes off as one of the few movie terrorists we sympathize with even though he's just killed American soldiers.We also feel for the honorable president who is left with an impossible choice, release documents which could destroy the country, or face a nuclear holocaust.The film's villains are the military generals who caused this mess and refuse to allow the disclosure of the documents. They'd prefer a nuclear war! 'Twilight's Last Gleaming' really keeps you on the edge of your seat for 2.5 hours! It shows how powerful drama can overcome implausible Hollywood cliques such as escaped convicts taking over a secure missile silo, even knowing its traps.Also that Lancaster and Paul Winfield would be stupid enough to simply walk out of the bunker. And that "military snipers" would spray and pray with M16s in the final scene. And that NO paramedics would be on site.Paul Winfield is horribly miscast as a jive talking street thug. Paul Winfield the most eloquent black actor today reduced to a stereotypical token black guy? It doesn't work. Winfield can't play the fool no matter how hard he tries. But he does get to say one of the best lines in movie history: "To get out of that sxxxhole I would've told you I was George Wallace with a tan." A classic sound bite.

This is one of the few films I saw in its original release in the theater where the audience actually applauded at the end. Burt Lancaster and Richard Widmark were excellent, and the cast of actors is incredible. The film uses an innovative split screen effect throughout. The viewer sees what is transpiring in two, three and even four places simultaneously. This heightens the suspense, as we see approaching threats that the characters cannot. Lancaster's Dell character is superb. He basically dominates the entire film, if one can believe how he got stuck in prison in the first place. The end shocked most in the theater, but one can see it coming and understand that it could really happen, under the circumstances. Another governmental cover-up.I'm not sure if it is a spoiler, so I checked the box, just in case.