Part hard-nosed revenge flick and part moody examination of a
damaged psyche, John Flynn's Rolling Thunder is one of the very
best Vietnam 'coming home' movies. It's also the sort of period
piece that you just don't get any more, or at least not without
it turning into a daftly ironic and sad parody of itself. 
 Major Charles Rane returns from spending seven years in a
Vietnamese POW camp to a hero's welcome, but his return is
quickly soured on discovering his wife's infidelity. Suffering
flashbacks of the torture he endured, he tries to bond with a
young son who barely knows him.  Rane's efforts to readjust are
quickly shattered when a botched robbery leaves him missing a
hand, and mourning a dead wife and son. Soul torn asunder, Rane
sets off to find the thugs responsible.   Much touted as a
Quentin Tarantino favourite (hence his short lived Rolling
Thunder Pictures), it's a a sombre, bleak and gripping drama,
punctuated by moments of stark, violent action. As with so many
pictures of the period, it's not