Intcatinfo
A Masterpiece!
Afouotos
Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.
Fairaher
The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.
cordobaga
Approach this as a B movie, & you'll have a great ride.If you enjoy Dirty Harry, you'll enjoy this movie.Sure, some out, well most of it, is over-the-top corny, but that's the fun.
moonspinner55
It's difficult to believe the stories that have arisen over the years involving numerous top Hollywood players vying for a chance to appear in or direct this action vehicle: the turgid, one-dimensional, inane screenplay by Michael Butler and Dennis Shryack would seem to mitigate any interest from the likes of Streisand, Kristofferson, McQueen, MacGraw or Peckinpah. A boozing, faded police detective in Phoenix is assigned to pick up a prisoner in Las Vegas and escort them back to Arizona to testify in a trial; he has no idea what trial the police commissioner is talking about, nor he does he realize that the prisoner, "Gus", is a woman (much ado is made about the gender flip-flop, for no apparent purpose). Oddsmakers in Vegas are already betting the pair will never get across the state line alive, which causes the cop to ask this lady--a hooker, naturally--why everyone wants them dead (her story, something about the mob and the commissioner and a kinky sex act, is barely intelligible). The noisy action, sloppily-staged by director and star Clint Eastwood, consists mainly of thousands of rounds of gunfire decimating a house, a constable's car and a stolen bus (when the police shoot up the car, why doesn't anyone bother to look inside for victims or open the trunk?). Eastwood's relationship with college-educated prostitute Sondra Locke seems to bloom off-screen: she screams, he squints, but love is in the air! Locke has a lengthy phone-monologue where she talks to her mother which, I'm guessing, is supposed to substitute for character content. Eastwood stays in a guttural low-key, somewhere between his disc jockey from "Play Misty For Me" and his other cop, "Dirty" Harry Callahan. They look good together riding on a chopper in the desert, but it would be impossible for anyone to care about these characters or whether or not they make it to City Hall unscathed. *1/2 from ****
mrb1980
Clint Eastwood strays a little from his Dirty Harry character in this violent, ridiculously illogical, but enjoyable film. Eastwood plays Shockley, a fairly dim-witted detective who must bring witness Gus Mally (Sondra Locke) from Las Vegas to Phoenix. Along the way, there are lots of gunshots and explosions before Shockley's corrupt political superior Blakelock (a deliciously evil William Prince) is killed at the end of the movie.If you don't mind lots of mindless violence and don't care whether a movie makes any sense, you should enjoy "The Gauntlet". I found myself almost laughing at times at the ridiculously contrived plot, and I've never seen so much gunplay in one film. Pat Hingle is good as Shockley's police force friend (you know he'll never live through the movie), and it's good to see Mara Corday briefly as a jail matron. Eastwood's character is somewhat unusual because Shockley just isn't too bright. It's also interesting to see what Phoenix looked like 37 years ago before lots of explosive growth. "The Gauntlet" is worth watching, but it sure won't win any awards for credibility.
Maziun
"The Gauntlet" is an enjoyable thriller/action movie about a cop that must deliver a witness to the court . The story is mostly quite predictable , yet there are some nice twists and ideas along the way . Eastwood as the director nicely switches the mood of the movie from very serious to ironic. The shootouts and the fights have some raw energy that is impressive. Some of the dialogue here are very quotable . My favorite is " I give her 2 , because I haven't yet met a woman I could give 1".Clint Eastwood is , well , Eastwood . You know he will be badass . He's a cop that not only follows order , but also thinks. Sondra Locke is great as the prisoner and ex-prostitute . She's feisty and tough . She and Eastwood has a great chemistry together.The helicopter chase is really nice . I must admit that Sondra Locke talking by the phone in the hotel is one of the sweetest movie scenes I have ever seen. The image of all those cops standing on the street and the destroyed bus is quite powerful one . Only the ending seems a little clumsy and rushed.All in all it's a not bad one from Clint. Watch out for Pat Hingle ("Batman") as the loyal friend of Eastwood . I give it 5/10.
