Rent Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977)
3.5 of 5 from 86 ratings
2h 26min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- High among idiosyncratic auteur Robert Aldrich's most powerful and intense dramas, 'Twilight's Last Gleaming' is a thunderous political thriller and race-against-time doomsday classic. Burt Lancaster stars as the Air Force general Lawrence Dell who seizes control of a stockpile of nuclear missiles to force the US President (Charles Durning) to tell the truth about the Vietnam war. As negotiations get ever more desperate, General MacKenzie (Richard Widmark) leads an elite fighting team into the complex to disable Dell and his team directly.
- Actors:
- Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Roscoe Lee Browne, Joseph Cotten, Melvyn Douglas, Charles Durning, Richard Jaeckel, William Marshall, Gerald S. O'Loughlin, Paul Winfield, Burt Young, Charles Aidman, Leif Erickson, Charles McGraw, Morgan Paull, Simon Scott, William Smith, Bill Walker, David Baxt, Glenn Beck
- Directors:
- Robert Aldrich
- Producers:
- Merv Adelson
- Writers:
- Ronald M. Cohen, Edward Huebsch
- Studio:
- Eureka
- Genres:
- Classics, Thrillers
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 31/10/2016
- Run Time:
- 146 minutes
- Languages:
- English Dolby Digital 1.0
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing
- DVD Regions:
- Region 2
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.85:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- Bonus:
- 'Aldrich Over Munich' Robert Fischer's feature length documentary on the making of 'Twilight's Last Gleaming'
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 31/10/2016
- Run Time:
- 146 minutes
- Languages:
- English LPCM Mono
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.85:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- 'Aldrich Over Munich' Robert Fischer's feature length documentary on the making of 'Twilight's Last Gleaming'
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Reviews (2) of Twilight's Last Gleaming
Nukem - Twilight's Last Gleaming review by dl
My god the first ten minutes of this and i was ready to turn it off, it just immediately screams low budget tv fodder 70’s style it really looked that bad, and what became more surprising was the cast which includes cinema giants Lancaster,Cotten and Widmark among the many others, who where all utterly dreadful delivering their lines of cheap dialogue in such a very tellingly and awkward manner, but here is the thing even after all this badness i just couldn’t bring myself to turn it off it became so moreishly fun and bonkers that i just had to see where this one was going and what the hell the outcome would be.Beneath its where not quite there cast and cardboard looking settings this nuclear nut job story had somehow got me hooked and gripped making it either the best worst movie I’ve seen or worst best movie I’ve seen i’m really not quite sure.7/10
2 out of 3 members found this review helpful.
70s Conspiracy Thriller - Twilight's Last Gleaming review by GI
This fits into the tail end of the 70s American conspiracy film cycle and was a favourite of its director Robert Aldrich but it failed to gain an audience even after receiving an edited, more action focused cut. Now restored (although some scenes remain lost) this has garnered a favourable re-evaluation as a bold film that questioned the heart of America's political establishment and its cold, inhumane foreign policies especially regarding the Vietnam War. Burt Lancaster plays disgraced Air Force General Dell framed for murder by the authorities who has escaped from prison and with two criminal associates managed to break into a nuclear missile silo, taken control of it and threatens to launch the missiles unless the President (Charles Durning) reveals to the public the contents of a secret document that shows the Vietnam War was a lost cause. It's a very talk orientated narrative with much of it taking place around a table in the Oval Office and whilst it does a good job of condemning the US foreign policies and it's failure to properly legislate the use of nuclear weapons, the plot is utterly preposterous with some gaping holes mostly around the action in the silo with Lancaster. There's also a frustration caused by the apparent naïveté of the President who sort of learns his own countries policies and plans as he goes along. This makes the film seem a rather scrappy affair although there are some stand out moments mostly in speeches delivered by Lancaster and Durning. The downbeat ending all seems rather daft too but the performances are mostly sound especially the two leads but also including Paul Winfield, Richard Widmark and Melvyn Douglas amongst others. This was filmed in Germany and whilst it is a brisk and bright picture it feels more like a 70s TV programme. This is a film that will have interest if you are looking at the work of Aldrich but, despite his own view, this is not his best film by a long stretch.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.