This is almost an unofficial Dirty Harry sequel. That can add to the enjoyment or detract from your enjoyment. In either case, this film is exciting, action packed, and well acted with good chemistry between Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke.

A big open-road (but rarely talked about) 70's action film with Eastwood snarling at everyone, lots of car chases, gun fights and laughs. There's an incredible scene where cops surround a house and fire so many bullets into it that the house actually implodes on itself. I've never seen that in a movie before and I imagine it would have gotten a big laugh during it's original theatrical run. Also we get a love interest who has some real presence and nearly steals the show from Eastwood - Sondra Locke, who was also Eastwood's partner in real life. They seem to feed off each other and boil it over nicely at moments and ultimately that's what makes this movie roll. Lots of this doesn't make any sense, but who gives a shit?

Dirty protest Harry.

Clint's worst film? It is certainly the worst he has directed.

I could shit a better screenplay.

At least we get a bullet fest in the last 10 minutes to wake us from our slumber.

Bad ass Clint being extremely bad ass...

Completely inept and utterly ridiculous. But it's so dumb that it manages to kinda fun for the most part. Clint's pretty badass, of course, there's some nice jazz on the soundtrack and the cinematography is often lovely. But mostly this is Clint at his dumbest and Sondra Locke is just awful, not to mention irritating.

A big open-road (but rarely talked about) 70's action film with Eastwood snarling at everyone, lots of car chases, gun fights and laughs. There's an incredible scene where cops surround a house and fire so many bullets into it that the house actually implodes on itself. I've never seen that in a movie before and I imagine it would have gotten a big laugh during it's original theatrical run. Also we get a love interest who has some real presence and nearly steals the show from Eastwood - Sondra Locke, who was also Eastwood's partner in real life. They seem to feed off each other and boil it over nicely at moments and ultimately that's what makes this movie roll. Lots of this doesn't make any sense, but who gives a shit?

I like Clint Eastwood, so I'd have gotten around to watching The Gauntlet eventually, but the primary reason that I decided to track it down recently was the GORGEOUS poster painted by the late, great Frank Frazetta. Honestly though, the poster is better than the movie. I like the premise about a cop who has to escort a prisoner from Las Vegas to Phoenix, Arizona while evading repeated attacks due to the odds on their heads in the mob-run underground betting market. That concept could make for a great, fast-paced thriller, but The Gauntlet plods along, never really offering too many thrills. Then there's the climax which is completely ludicrous...and not in a good way. Eastwood's performance is the highlight of The Gauntlet, but I'd still call Frazetta's stunning poster artwork the star of the film in my eyes.

Crime Drama, Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke

"You see we've got a problem, you and me. We don't like each other much but we have to take a trip together. Now you can come along peacefully or you can be a pain in the ass. But I'm warning you: You mess around and I'll put the cuffs on you. You talk dirty - I gag you. You run - I'll shoot ya. My name is Shockley and we've got a plane to catch. Let's go."

It's the 70's and it's Clint Eastwood, no its not very good but it has some entertaining moments. It's over the top 70's action but Clint's one liners always entertained me if nothing else. The movie starts of promising but quickly becomes forgettable and some scenes drag on needlessly. Thank God his directing ability improved.

Bad ass Clint being extremely bad ass...

Cop-buddy flick with a slight twist, pairing Eastwood's textbook misfit cop with Locke's lippy hooker. The film takes a little while to get going and is a bit more boring than the central idea really should be; the storyline of taking a witness to a courthouse with an entire police department trying to stop them should really be a lot more OTT and comic book than it is here. Instead the film keeps one foot mired in dull old reality. Locke's character arc is also painfully obvious from the moment she first mouths off at Eastwood.

Clint Eastwood chugs Jack Daniels, smacks around Sondra Locke and encounters a string of revolting, sweat-sheened racist cops and bikers. There's a gorgeously shot but sluggishly edited helicopter chase, and the scene where Locke submits to gang-rape as a tactical measure nearly tops the one in COOGAN'S BLUFF where Eastwood gets an airhead to betray her criminal boyfriend by forcing himself on her. But that's the 70s, I guess.

An odd case of a film that has all the elements that I like, but just doesn't hold together for me. It's like the film just lacks a certain cohesive energy and ambles along without ever clicking. I think it's one of those films who's wavelength you have to hit just right.

Worth watching for Sandra Locke's speech on the similarities between cops and hookers.