Steinesongo
Too many fans seem to be blown away
StyleSk8r
At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
Robert Joyner
The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one
Scott LeBrun
As written and directed by George Armitage, "Vigilante Force" is acceptable "turn your brain off", yahoo action fare, albeit with a solid premise. An excellent cast that's full of familiar faces clearly has a fine time with the material. Armitage gets down to business extremely quickly, with an energetic opening credits sequence. From then on it's a series of confrontations that culminate with a whole lot of gunfire and explosions going on.Jan-Michael Vincent plays Ben Arnold, upstanding young citizen in the small town of Elk Hills. Unfortunately the scores of men who came to work on nearby oil fields have begun to raise bloody hell in the town. In desperation, the towns' bigwigs agree to bring in Bens' brother Aaron (Kris Kristofferson), a Vietnam vet, and Aarons' wartime comrades, to try to restore law and order. Soon, however, the "solution" proves to be another problem, as Aaron lets a position of power go to his head and indulges in all manner of crooked ventures.Vincent is good, but Kristofferson out-acts him with style, bringing charisma and humour to his juicy role. The sweet and sexy Victoria Principal plays Vincents' gal pal, and the cute as a button Bernadette Peters is endearing as flaky singer "Little Dee", whose shtick involves acting as if she knows everybody. The Who's Who cast of supporting players is most impressive: Brad Dexter as the mayor, Judson Pratt as the police chief, and David Doyle as a banker, as well as Antony Carbone, Andrew Stevens, Paul Gleason, John Steadman, Charles Cyphers, and Carmen Argenziano. Bombshell actress Loni Anderson and cult icon Dick Miller have uncredited cameos.The folksy music by Gerald Fried adds to the substantial fun factor of this movie. Armitage really gives his audience their money's worth, and knows how to end things in a big way.Seven out of 10.
FlashCallahan
The title and the poster says everything you need to know about this movie.There's a trouble brewing in town, and extras are fighting all over the opening credits, and this is before there is any of the key cast introduced.Cue Vincent, a widow with a daughter who is dating Victoria Principal. Life is good.Kristofferson turns up and joins the local force as there is too much trouble for the existing troops as the fights are getting more and more insane, and the extras are starting to smile in the background.It isn't long before Blades sidekick goes the way of the dark side and starts to bat for both sides, much to the irk of Bernadette Peters.Air wolf catches on and it all ends with an exploitation special 4th of July and Kris doing his best top of the world Ma impression.It's not very good, the action and the dialogue is pretty bad, but Kris is sadistic in this, and he really makes the film worth while.If you liked movies like Gator and Hillbilly seventies action, this is for you.
Coventry
I was in elementary school when I last read it, but "Vigilante Force" actually reminded me of the classic biblical story of Cain and Abel; the harsh and bloody battle between the strong and treacherous brother versus the physically weaker but forthright brother. George Armitage, the hugely underrated cult director of "Gross Pointe Blank" and "Miami Blues", transferred this basic given from the Biblical era to the trashy 70's and a small Californian town setting. When the previously dormant oil deposits nearby are re-opened again, the charming little town of Elk Hills all of a sudden becomes a lawless boom town. The local authorities instruct the town's mechanic Ben Arnold to call in his elderly brother Aaron for help. Aaron is a Vietnam veteran as well as a local legend, so they draft him and a handful of his Tour of Duty buddies to come and restore the law and order in Elk Hills. Aaron and C° quickly rid the town of all the scum, but then subsequently take over all the illegal activities themselves. The alleged heroes start up a felonious gambling network in town and even force the local merchants to participate in mafia practices. It takes the town of Elk Hills, and particularly younger brother Ben, a very long time to realize their new deputies are bigger criminals than they dealt with before and even longer to stand up against them. "Vigilante Force" is an interesting albeit heavily flawed mixture between urban western, guerrilla action and family melodrama. The tone of the film is very uneven, as Armitage interchanges wild & virulent bar fights (the absence of a Buddy Holly record in the jukebox is enough to drive these hicks insane, apparently) with overlong and dull morality speeches. Luckily there are a couple of powerful and memorable moments, like the cowardly assassination of a pivot character and the extremely explosive climax, to help "Vigilante Force" qualify as precious drive-in exploitation heritage. And the catchy banjo soundtrack helps a great deal as well to achieve this, of course. The best performances are given by Kris Kristofferson as the corrupt and totally unreliable anti-hero Aaron and Bernadette Peeters as a cocky but down-on-her-luck barroom singer. Personally I'm a tremendously big fan of Jan-Michael Vincent, especially of the cult hits he made around that era like "Shadow of the Hawk" and "White Line Fever", but here in this film he mainly just drives around town. Seriously, his red pick-up trucks deserves top-billing as well. For the seekers of hidden cult accomplishments
Woodyanders
Anarchy and lawlessness reign supreme in the podunk hick hamlet of Elk Hills. The town elders deputize tough, cagey Vietnam veteran Aaron (a wonderfully robust and engaging performance by Kris Kristofferson) and several of his fellow vet buddies to clean up the place. The plan goes sour when Aaron and his cruel cronies decide to take over Elk Hills after they get rid of all the bad elements. It's up to Aaron's decent do-gooder brother Ben (amiably played by Jan-Michael Vincent) to put a stop to him before things get too out of hand. Writer/director George ("Miami Blues," "Gross Pointe Blank") Armitage whips up a delightfully amoral, cynical and wickedly subversive redneck drive-in exploitation contemporary Western winner: he expertly creates a gritty, no-nonsense tone, keeps the pace brisk and unflagging throughout, and stages the plentiful action scenes with considerable muscular aplomb (the rousing explosive climax is especially strong and stirring). The first-rate cast of familiar B-feature faces constitutes as a major asset: Victoria Principal as Ben's sweet hottie girlfriend Linda, the fabulous Bernadette Peters as flaky saloon singer Little Dee, Brad Dexter as the feckless mayor, David Doyle as a slimy bank president, Andrew Stevens as an affable gas station attendant, John Carpenter movie regular Charles Cyphers as one of the 'Nam vets, Anthony Carbone as a smarmy casino manager, John Steadman as a folksy old diner owner, Paul Gleason as a mean strong-arm shakedown bully, and Dick Miller as a talentless piano player. Moral: Don't hire other people to do your dirty work. William Cronjager's slick cinematography, Gerald Fried's lively, harmonic hillbilly bluegrass score, and the abundant raw violence further add to the overall trashy fun of this unjustly neglected little doozy.
