Thunderbolt and Lightfoot

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Thunderbolt and Lightfoot

R

1974

1h 54m

Comedy

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

89%

Tomatometer

35 Reviews

73%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

While stealing a car, free-spirited drifter Lightfoot (Jeff Bridges) crosses paths with legendary thief Thunderbolt (Clint Eastwood) in the midst of his own escape. Thunderbolt's old partners in crime, Red (George Kennedy) and Eddie (Geoffrey Lewis), believe he double-crossed them after they robbed a Montana bank vault several years ago. After Thunderbolt successfully pleads his innocence and is let off the hook, Lightfoot rallies them together as a group to rob the very same bank again.

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Critics Consensus

This likable buddy/road picture deftly mixes action and comedy, and features excellent work from stars Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges and first-time director Michael Cimino.

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Sara Michelle Fetters

MovieFreak.com

06/27/2024

3.5/4

Thunderbolt and Lightfoot remains a major achievement for Eastwood, Bridges, and Cimino. It deserves to be more than a cult curiosity.

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Joe Clay

The Times (UK)

03/21/2023

This light-hearted yet poignant buddy movie is very much in the style of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)...

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Richard Brody

The New Yorker

04/14/2020

...a criminals-on-the-road movie that shifts toward a dazzlingly elaborate and painfully realistic heist tale.

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Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

04/23/2023

4/5

…a great tough-guy movie that drips with learned experience and hard-earned pathos… a down and dirty feature full of questionable characters and morality... there’s a profoundly moral story in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, a bromance for the ages...

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Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

12/03/2022

It’s the directorial debut of Michael Cimino, who also wrote the script, and his directs the film as a mix of character piece and lighthearted crime story with dark shadows around the edges.

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David Sterritt

Christian Science Monitor

10/08/2021

Thunderbolt sorely lacks the kind of movie-movie star-power that might have made it memorable despite its excesses of vulgarity and glibness.

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Joaquin U

@Joaquin1 Jun 24

Very entertaining. A brilliant cast, with two likable leads who are legendary by now, a good script, and a notable director’s debut. This movie deserves more recognition — it’s pure fun, scattered with random 70s nakedness. You get thrills and laughs, what’s not to like? Pure Eastwood goodness.

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Matthew L

@Mattog1 Jun 14

Clint Eastwood at his finest. Jeff bridges is amazing.

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Jerod S

@jeroduptown May 10

Bridges and Eastwood are a cool crime pairing - but the movie is so scattered with random 70s nakedness.

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Matthew H

@Hendy2013 Mar 11

Love this movie another Clint classic

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Frans B

@FransB Dec 24

Benchmark 70's movie. Stellar cast all excels in character. Great story, well written and light hearted. Will always be sort of a cult classic. Very entertaining and incredible twist in the end

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Ian H

@Howellsey Nov 3

Classic buddy movie with hugely likable and talented cast. Twist at the end.....

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Michael Cimino

Director

Clint Eastwood

Thunderbolt

Jeff Bridges

Lightfoot

George Kennedy

Red Leary

Geoffrey Lewis

Eddie Goody

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Synopsis

While stealing a car, free-spirited drifter Lightfoot (Jeff Bridges) crosses paths with legendary thief Thunderbolt (Clint Eastwood) in the midst of his own escape. Thunderbolt's old partners in crime, Red (George Kennedy) and Eddie (Geoffrey Lewis), believe he double-crossed them after they robbed a Montana bank vault several years ago. After Thunderbolt successfully pleads his innocence and is let off the hook, Lightfoot rallies them together as a group to rob the very same bank again.

Director: Michael Cimino
Producer: Robert Daley
Screenwriter: Michael Cimino
Distributor: United Artists
Production Co: Malpaso Company
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 23, 1974, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 16, 2008
Runtime: 1h 54m