Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977)

Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977) 

A band of dangerous escaped convicts led by bitter, disgraced and determined renegade former Strategic Air Force General Laurence Dell (superbly played by Burt Lancaster) take over a nuclear missile silo. They demand ten million dollars, the release of a top secret document which gives the true reason why America fought in the Vietnam war, Air Force One as a getaway plane, and affable, moral President David T. Stevens (an outstanding performance by Charles Durning) as a hostage. If Dell's demands aren't met, he'll launch the missiles and start World War III. Director Robert Aldrich, working from a bold, hard-hitting and incisive script by Ronald M. Cohen and Edward Huebsch, relates the arresting premise at a constant headlong pace, stages several stirring action set pieces with rip-roaring gusto, and builds a tremendous amount of nerve-wracking suspense. This film further benefits from terrific acting from a first-rate cast: Lancaster and especially Durning both excel in their meaty roles, with fine support from Paul Winfield as the antsy, reluctant Willis Powell, Burt Young as the grubby, excitable Augie Garvas, Richard Widmark as Dell's austere nemesis General Martin McKenzie, Melvyn Douglas as the pragmatic Secretary of Defense Zachariah Guthrie, William Marshall as the equally wise Attorney General William Klinger, Joseph Cotten as the weaselly Secretary of State Arthur Renfew, Gerald S. O'Laughlin as Stevens' loyal right-hand man Brigadier General O'Rourke, and Richard Jaeckel as the disillusioned Captain Standford Towne. William Smith makes a brief, yet chilling appearance as vicious unstable psycho Hoxey. Robert B. Hauser's polished cinematography makes inspired frequent use of split screen. Jerry Goldsmith supplies a tense, rattling, rousing score. The devastating downbeat ending packs a strong sucker punch to the gut. But what really makes this film so effective and impressive is the potent and provocative statement it bravely makes about the unnecessary wastefulness of the Vietnam war. An absolute powerhouse. (IMDB Woodyanders)