Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Helllins It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Griff Lees Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

A_Different_Drummer More than a half-century before Yost The Younger decided to bring Harlan County back to the small screen in Justified (see my many reviews on the IMDb) you have this little gem.As one of the characters laments on screen, "We've been making shine here for more than 250 years" and that is all the reason anyone really needs for this film.Enjoy the chase scenes. Get a rare opportunity to catch Keely Smith (one of the greatest and most under-rated singers of the era) in a dramatic role. See a young Gene Barry puff and strut. And of course watch Mitchum give a breakout star performance.At the risk of generalizing, in his later films Mitchum was cast as the Alpha Male and he merely had to maintain the image. Here the audience gets to see him earn that image. It is a treat.Holds up well over the years but suffers from the same issues as many other 50's films. Too many wide-screen static shots. Black and white but never any greys. And every ostensibly "authentic" Kentucky boy in the film is wearing freshly creased coveralls with not a mark of dirt.See it anyway. It is a one of a kind.

dougdoepke Whatever the film lacks, which is a lot, focus on the imagery -- duelling hotrods, a dangling cigarette, country two-lanes, and a precious load of illegal booze, family honor, and a good woman. This is movie myth-making at its near purest, so what else could a ducktailed Elvis- clone of the 50's have wanted. Girls may have swooned over treacle like "A Summer Place", but hot-rodders packed this drive-in classic bumper to bumper. Sure, it's badly produced ($50 budget, tops), badly acted (even Mitchum struggles with the hopeless Keely Smith), and features one of the worst canvas backdrops on record (the water-wheel scene). Still it has the King of Cool gunning down the asphalt (don't let the sleepy eyes fool you), pits rugged individualism against angry collectivism (organized crime and big govn't), and opens with a throbbing title tune (composed and sung by Mitchum) -- topped by a look and feel unlike the usual Hollywood contrivance. And who can forget those forlorn headbeams searching their way through an existential void. The imagery was compelling and caught the edgy mood of a drive-in crowd feeling their own way through a world of teenage angst. Few would grow into the mythic shoes of road-warrior, Luke Doolin, but a lot sure wanted to try. Which is why this primitive slice of small-screen black-and-white continues to resonate, even into the big-screen myth-making of souped-up starships, evil empires, and computerized magic.

Volker Scheunert I just saw "Thunder Road" for the first time on TV this morning a 3:00 a.m. (an appropriate time of day to watch this one). For years I had been longing to watch it and I surely wasn't disappointed at all - that is, I missed "The Ballad Of Thunder Road" sung by Mitchum. Most Germans - if they have any love for America at all - dig new York City or California but I was alway haunted by the West and later by the South. Sure, I hate racist reactionary rednecks, but I love freedom-loving stubborn individualists who are doing things their own way. And Mitchum's Lucas Doolin ist a perfect example of this kind. Technically being far from perfect - this exciting little "Hillbilly Noir" movie to me is the greatest homage to the South and its people and culture! No Civil War epic can match this. Sixties movies like "To Kill A Mockingbird" or "In The Heat Of The Night" also have a great Southern feel, but they concentrate on what was wrong with the South - mainly the widespread racism. "Thunder Road" instead celebrates Southern virtues - individualism, dedication and integrity. Besides that, it shows rural life in the 50s, including rockin' teenagers and those beautiful American cars. This is an out-and-out Robert Mitchum film, he wrote the story, produced the film, played the main role and even co-wrote the music! Mitchum is not the Happy End type of guy, but he is as cool an actor as there ever was. 14 hours after seeing "Thunder Road" for the first time, I can say that alongside "Out Of The Past" and "Blood On The Moon" it is is my favorite Mitchum movie.

tforbes-2 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.