Rating: 
Summary: This Is My Gun, Clyde!
Review: Another great Clint cop movie. I remember seeing it when it was in the movie theatre with my friends. I felt the picture and sound quality on the DVD was just fine for a movie from that time. A great addition to my Clint collection.
Rating: 
Summary: Nag, nag, nag...
Review: At this point in his career, Clint Eastwood was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. With his own production company (Malpaso), Eastwood had firm control over the projects he became involved with. His choice as a follow up to The Enforcer, the third Dirty Harry film, was The Gauntlet. This cartoonish adventure, directed by Eastwood, features a poorly written story, huge doses of excessive violence, and bad dialog with liberal doses of profanity. It is another opportunity for Clint to operate against overpowering odds, and team with then girl friend, Sondra Locke, for the first of several films in which they would star together.Once again Clint is a cop. Ben Shockley, one of Phoenix's finest, is assigned to bring back a prisoner being held in a Las Vegas jail, to testify. Sondra Locke is the prisoner, her character Gus Mally is a prostitute, who happened to have as a client, a certain high police official with usual sexual preferences. This apparently, is sufficient reason to want her dead. The story is a simple double cross, as forces behind the scenes manipulate various agencies of law enforcement, to turn against Shockley and his tough-talking prisoner, to prevent her from testifying. The pair is forced to make their way from Nevada back to Phoenix via a circuitous route, evading the forces of the law and other dangers. Excessive gunfire is the featured event several times. The first time, enthusiastic Vegas cops destroy a house, while Shockley and Mally barely scurry to safety in a most implausible manner. Then a police car is thoroughly ventilated. The final and most outrageous example is the film's finale, in which Shockley drives a tour bus through a "gauntlet" of police, lined up on both sides of the street. The film's ending is an unbelievable, extended exercise in gratuitous excess. Shots are fired at close range, and the crowd of police officers behave like zombies. Violence just for violence sake can have a purpose, but this is pretty dreadful. Calling this bad writing, is a gross understatement. Throw logic totally out the window, go along for the ride, and you can still be entertained. Although the plotting is spotty, and the dialog unpolished, there are some decent action scenes, particularly when Shockley takes to a motorcycle, and is chased by a chopper. Clint's quiet macho swagger, contrasts with the free spirited, and spunky Locke. Their relationship, both on and off screen, is really at the heart of this movie. Romance, Eastwood style, has its rough edges, and is at times almost painfully awkward. Warts and all, this film was done per Eastwood's specifications. Though part of the "Clint Eastwood Collection", the DVD offers only a trailer as an extra. From here, the collaboration with Sondra Locke would continue for several more films, as Eastwood's career took a turn. The Gauntlet, Clint's last true action film in the 70's, is far from his best work, and is best suited to his true fans, and those who appreciate excessive gunfire
Rating: 
Summary: Clint's best non-Dirty Harry Actioner
Review: Clint stars and directs this action-packed tale about an out-of-it cop who goes an a "routine" mission to get a witness (ex-girlfrind Sandra Locke) to Phoenix. The problem is that nobody wants them back alive, leading to attacks on them the entire way. the highlights include shooting up both a hideout house and the bus when they finally get to Phoenix. Best quote: after Sandra Locke whines over injured Clint, who she thinks is dead, he says "Nag, nag."
Rating: 
Summary: POOR PICTURE QUALITY!
Review: COMPARED WITH "DIRTY HARRY",THE PICTURE QUALITY IS BAD TO SAY THE LEAST! WHERE DO THE EMPLOYEES OF WIDESCREEN REVIEW COME FROM?
Rating:
Summary: Eastwood Plays Loser cop in a Winning Movie
Review: Eastwood play Ben Shockley, a loser cop who is sent to retrieve a witness Gus, to a trial in Phoenix. Gus is Sondra Locke and the two best parts are the bus which is shot to pieces, and the (real) house which is also shot to pieces by vcrooked cops and gangsters.
Rating:
Summary: This has got to be one of the 10 most underrated movies ever
Review: I don't know about everybody else, but "The Gauntlet" is one of my favorite movies of all time. Clint Eastwood directed and starred in this awesome vehicle of a movie. Ben Shockley (Clint Eastwood) is a cop who has to dodge thousands of bullets on his way to escort a hooker (Sondra Locke) from Las Vegas to Phoenix. However, something bad goes wrong that just might twist everything around for Shockley. "The Gauntlet" was one of the first Clint Eastwood movies that I saw and now, several years later, I've seen a lot of other great Eastwood classics such as "Firefox," "Escape From Alcatraz," and even some more recent ones such as "Absolute Power." To make it short, the first time I saw "The Gauntlet," it became one of my favorite movies, and even to this day, it still is a favorite of mine, and it always will be. In my opinion, everything about "The Gauntlet" is superb. It has great acting, good special effects, and best of all, it's VERY entertaining from start to finish without even a hint of boredom arising. Whether or not you're one of Clint Eastwood's fans, whether or not you like movies that are as old as this one (1977), and whether you like action movies or not, I recommend at least watching "The Gauntlet" if you haven't ever seen it before. I don't have a DVD player yet, but when I do get one one of these days, "The Gauntlet" will definitely be one of the first movies I get for it!
Rating:
Summary: Super Cool
Review: I have loved The Gauntlet since it's first showing and I
never get tired of it. Clint's movies on location are always
great and historical. The movie is fun and entertaining
and pure Clint. It's reality does not bother me, it
is imaginative and I always catch something that I missed
before every time I watch it.
Rating:
Summary: Sondra Locke's finest hour
Review: I read years ago that "The Gauntlet" was originally intended to feature the star matchup of Clint Eastwood and Barbra Streisand, but after Eastwood was warned by the Warner Bros. brass of La Streisand's diva tantrums on the set of "A Star is Born" he nixed the idea and cast his "Josey Wales" costar Sondra Locke instead. Admittedly, a Eastwood-Streisand matchup would have made this film a major blockbuster instead of the solid hit it was, but I'm glad it never happened. The pair would probably have had no chemistry whatsoever and Streisand would have been unbearably shrill in the role of "two bit hooker" Gus Malley. Besides, Locke is excellent in the role and proves a terrific sparring partner for Eastwood. Yes, her subsequent pairings with the legend were less than satisfactory, but for one bright shining moment, Locke's talent would shine brightly.
"The Gauntlet" actually works strictly because of the Eastwood/Locke chemistry and not because of the unbelievable plot. Eastwood plays Ben Shockley, a self-described "dumbass cop" and alcoholic who is sent by Phoenix's shady new police commissioner Blakelock (William Prince) to Las Vegas to extradite Malley, who is the only witness to a mob trial. It becomes obvious from the start that Shockley has been set up and by whom, and the two don't even make it to the airport before they are being chased across the desert by mob assassins. You'll figure out who's behind everything long before Shockley, but for once, his ineptitude makes sense, since he was sent to do the job because of it. The plot turns when Shockley figures it out and decides to prove the brass wrong by delivering Malley to the steps of Phoenix city hall, providing he can get through the impenetrable barrier (or "gauntlet") of policemen sent to stop him.
Like I said, the plot is unbelievable. Shockley and Malley dodge so many bullets and escape so many sure death circumstances a total suspension of belief is required to fully enjoy the nonsense. And the final five minutes is stupid beyond belief, since we are asked to believe the entire Phoenix police force would stand by and watch three people being shot and do absolutely nothing. However, the film is fast-paced and the action scenes are expertly mounted and the film never drags for a single moment in 109 minutes. Eastwood directs with economy and style and with tongue firmly placed in cheek, and for once, the lightning pacing many have yearned for in his recent, more leisurely paced films. And the performances are universally excellent, especially by Locke, Pat Hingle as Shockley's concerned partner-turned-patsy, Michael Cavanaugh as a seemingly sympathetic assistant district attorney, and '70's Eastwood regular Bill McKinney, who is absolutely hilarious as a smarmy constable taken hostage by the desperate pair. In fact, anyone who thinks Locke can't act should watch the expert interplay between her and McKinney when he decides to have fun insulting her and she turns the tables on him, twisting the screws until he explodes. This scene alone is worth the price of of the DVD, and it should serve as a rebuttal to Locke detractors everywhere. I also liked the subtle way Eastwood and Locke's relationship turns from adversarial to actual love and affection. Nowhere in the script is there a specific moment where they fall in love, they just do, and they make the transition believable strictly through their interplay.
The film makes great use of Nevada/Arizona locations and has a terrific jazz score by Jerry Fielding, who heavily borrows from gospel standards like "A Closer Walk (my Lord to Thee)." In fact, the film is littered with religious symbolism, but why is a mystery. In all, the entire production is a solid, professional piece of work by the entire Eastwood team at Malpaso. And while it will never be considered in the same class as such top-drawer Eastwood directorial efforts as "Outlaw Josey Wales," "Unforgiven," and "Mystic River," it remains to this day a solid entertainment that seems to improve with each viewing, just as long as you shut your brain off completely at the end.
As for the DVD, WHV has done better. However, at least it's in panavision widescreen instead of the pan-and-scan that the VHS copies contain. And could we have a little more than the standard theatrical trailers for extras? All in all, it rates ***1/2 (out of *****)
for the film and **1/2 for the DVD presentation.
Rating:
Summary: The Gauntlet
Review: I think this movie was way ahead of its time. I liked the way they portrayed the college-educated prostitute. The violence may have been a bit overdone, but having experienced the Vegas-Arizona scene myself, it really isn't that far-fetched! The government corruption is right on!
Rating:
Summary: Horribly Unrealistic
Review: I will admit, this movie is not lacking in action in any way. However, it's incredibly unrealistic and has a poor story line. For an Eastwood movie, this one just isn't holding its own.
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