Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977) Reviews

• Definitely worth watching, possibly owning if out on DVD WS

  doug56-874-208502011-02-03

  Based on the novel 'VIPER THREE', it's an early, if not one of the first to challenge the motivation for going to war in VIET NAM. Great acting by some of the best, Burt Lancaster and Richard Widmark, who alone make it a 'must see' in my book. In addition to , Charles Durning, Paul Winfield, Burt Young (ROCKY) Joseph Cotton and others. The use of 'split screen' to show multiple events unfolding simultaneously, really helped in building the tension. It was the first movie I saw using it. It did seem to grind long a little at nearly two and one half hours, but that could have been due to my being a slightly restless and impatient 20 YR OLD. I haven't been able to catch it on TV whether it aired or not. Looking forward to its release on DVD in widescreen if not already out( I haven't found it). Love to get a petition going like the one for Rolling Thunder, but really don't know how.

• I Saw This In The Theater

  cwcsquaredcwc2006-05-20

  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.

• I enjoyed Twilight's Last Gleaming

  jasonhaworth2005-06-03

  I disagree that the political statement in the movie is misplaced. It was one of the first movies from the Hollywood mainstream to address the atrocities in Vietnam (such as the Mai Lai massacre for those who are not familiar with history). I think the film showed the pain and anger many vets felt when they returned. Beyond the social statement, I think the film is good thriller that stands the test of time. There are some minor problems with the plot such as the security at the silo, but those come up when one tries to analyze the film instead of enjoying the ride. Lancaster and Widmark are, as usual, very good in the picture which alone makes the picture worth seeing.

• Ten Years Ahead Of Its Time, but still as powerful

  projectthor2006-01-23

  This movie is a highly exciting and fairly riveting computer hardware and political thriller, which has some deeply disturbing, if not cynical things to say about some of the powers that be in the United States Governemnt. It also handles the subject of nuclear hijacking and terrorism really well. Like The Flight Of The Phoenix and The Dirty Dozen, Robert Aldrich's direction delivers the goods in this potboiler of a political thriller. One that was seriously laced with both liberal and conservative politics. Indeed, this cinematic masterpiece is very explosive, brutal, violent, and doesn't hold back on anything. One of the finest in action cinema. The action in the film begins on a Sunday Morning in Autumn in 1981 (the near future for this 1977 release) and centers on former US Air Force Brigadier General Lawrence Dell (the late Burt Lancaster), a Vietnam veteran who served five years as a POW. Upon his return, Dell became a vocal advocate of disclosing the truth behind US involvement in Southeast Asia and IndoChina in the hope that a post-Watergate America would forgive its government and have renewed faith in its leaders. Regarded as a dangerous embarrassment by the higher-ups, Lawrence Dell is framed on a manslaughter charge and sent to prison. Still determined, he recruits three inmates (played by the late Paul Winfield, Burt Young, and William Smith) to help him escape and take over a nearby SAC base in Montana, that he helped design. Once in control of the base, and armed with the launch codes, Dell non-negiotiably demands from the SAC Command Center that U.S. President David Stevens (Charles Durning) reveal the truth about the Vietnam War to the American people by reading National Security Council document 9759 on national television. SPOILER ALERT! A security file revealing the United States of America's real reasons for entering the Vietnam Conflict in the first place. Files, it would seem, that no one in the United States Government, wants to be made open to the general public. If these demands that the top-secret Vietnam War files are not made public, Dell promises, at the turn of two keys, to send the nine Titan missiles to their targets in the Soviet Union. In many ways, the plea for 'open' government and revealing the shameful, if not truthful, secrets of both a controversial war and former administrations makes this science fiction/action thriller the first film of the Carter administration. Twilight's Last Gleaming is a stunning indictment of the arrogance, if not bureaucratic close-mindedness, of certain government decision makers and the lengths to which they will go to maintain both the "business as usual" stance and the "covering up of the brutal truth". At the same time it also dramatizes both the cynicism of the Post Watergate Seventies and the danger of our unthinking faith in technology. Tellingly, it comes as a deep shock to the military that their usually reliable computer systems and detailed procedures seem to have gone haywire on the day of the siege (of the missile silo that Dell and his people are in), leaving them powerless to stop Dell. Robert Aldrich's film--shot in the former West Germany with no cooperation from the US military--is a fascinating, tension-filled effort. One that could be accurately described as a Cold War thriller with a serious social commentary that was ten years ahead of its time. Especially with the United States and the United Kingdom Of Great Britain still recovering from the loss of the Vietnam War. Burt Lancaster contributes a fine performance as the righteous, populist Brigadier General. One can definitely understand why this right-winged patriot resorts to such methods to reveal the truth, and the extraordinary lengths that go with such tactics. Charles Durning, as always(when he plays heroic and sympathetic characters)is superb as the saintly President Of The United States, who comes to empathize Lancaster's viewpoints and high hopes. Paul Winfield offers some sound wisdom as convict Willis Powell. Burt Young has some minor comic moments as the other convict(his messing up of his fake identity to the Military Police guards at the missile silos is memorable). And finally Richard Widmark is excellent as the SAC General who goes out of his way to stop Dell from starting the nuclear countdown to World War III. Further more, the late Jerry Goldsmith composes his usual, if not excellent soundtrack for the film, and veteran director Aldrich uses some remarkable split-screen techniques that add to the film's tension and speed up the complicated expository passages. The film also has an extraordinary cast of familiar character actors that consist of Shane Rimmer, the late Ed Bishop, Phil Brown, the late William Hootkins, John Ratzenberger, Garrick Hagon, and a range of familiar screen legends that include the late William Marshall, Gerald S. O'Laughlin, the late Leif Erickson, the late Richard Jaeckel, the late Melvyn Douglas, and the late Charles Aidman. Despite some minor impossibilities, Twilight's Last Gleaming is both a gripping right-winged and left-winged action conspiracy drama that will have you on the edge of your seat until the very bitter end. Especially where it "SPOILER ALERT" involves some members of a shadowy branch of American Special Forces, determined not to have that secret document about the bush wars in Vietnam revealed.

• Outstanding

  mikehipkins2001-04-26

  In the 1960's three "nuclear" movies stand out: Dr. Strangelove, Fail Safe, and the much under rated Bedford Incident. All tried in their own ways to raise awareness of the implications of both the Cold War, the mind set of Nuclear Warriors and their political masters, and the dangers implicit in the possession of nuclear weapons. While Twilights Last Gleaming is not as good as these three, it is an excellent well crafted film that not only explores the mind set of the military and politicians, but also how a power structure will protect itself, particularly from that most dangerous of threats: the truth. Its also explores ONE of the reasons that once in Vietnam, the US found it so hard to get out. If you enjoy this one, check out another Burt Lancaster movie, CONTROL. Again, an excellent treatment of a nuclear subject.