Movielogr
Vigilante Force (1976)
Directed by George Armitage
Twitter Facebook Google+Most recently watched by sleestakk
Overview
In a small town in California, the quiet citizens find their lives disrupted by boisterous, lawless oil-field workers who have infested their community. One resident, Ben Arnold, enlists his brother Aaron, a Vietnam veteran, to assemble a group of men to restore law and order to the town. Though Aaron’s crew succeeds, the newfound power goes to some of their heads, and Aaron and Ben must again reclaim the town for the citizens.
Rated PG | Length 89 minutes
Actors
Kris Kristofferson | Jan-Michael Vincent | Victoria Principal | Bernadette Peters | Brad Dexter | Judson Pratt | David Doyle | Antony Carbone | Andrew Stevens | Shelly Novack | Paul Gleason | John Steadman | Lilyan McBride | Jimmy Lydon | Peter Coe | Charles Cyphers | Debbie Lytton | Carmen Argenziano | Don Pulford | Suzanne Horton | Loni Anderson | Dick Miller | Brent Armitage | Thomas Gark | Troy Melton | Bob Reynolds | Paula Russell
Viewing History (seen 1 time)
| Date Viewed | Device | Format | Source | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 06/04/2011 | TV | Streaming | Video on Demand | 5.5 stars |
| (Average) 5.5 stars |
Viewing Notes
Kind of a mess of a movie, but not without its merits. Starring Kris Kristopherson, Jan-Michael Vincent and Victoria Principal, the plot revolves around a vigilante force of ex vietnam soldiers who are hired to augment the police force of a small town dealing with a lot of crime from an influx of oil workers after nearby oil fields are opened up for drilling.
The setup here is pretty cheesy, and the movie really falls down on character development. You really don’t get any good sense of the motivations driving any of the main characters, but especially Kristopherson, who seems to just be nihilistic for the hell of it as the main antagonist.
We don’t even find out that Principal’s character is a school teacher until near the end of the movie, even though it’s a plot point. Sadly, her character gets short shrift here, since she screen smoulders when she’s present. She’s absolutely gorgeous, and serves as the conscience of the entire town, but is never given the chance to really do anything much with the character.
Still, if you enjoy low budget ‘70s and ‘80s actioners like I do, it’s a fun watch. It definitely goes places you don’t expect it to, even if you don’t know why.
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