Where to watch Thunder III
2 Stars
Pacifist Native American warrior, Thunder, takes on a racist militia in Las Cruces, New Mexico, after they refuse to pay $53,000 in damages for attacking and abusing him and his people and destroying their property.
The venerable director Sergio Leone created the spaghetti Western genre. But it’s his fellow Italian filmmaker, Fabrizio De Angelis, who must be given his due for giving audiences the Ravioli Rambo genre. Teaming with lead actor Mark Gregory for the third time, notably absent is Bo Sevenson’s mercurial Sheriff from the first two films. Angelis delivers the most entertaining and polished entry in the Thunder trilogy.
Let me be clear: the Thunder trilogy can’t hold a candle to the Dollar’s trilogy, but it’s not without its own style and charms. Thunder II ended on a cliffhanger. Why did the Sheriff all of a sudden switch loyalties? Did he kill anyone in the escaping vehicle that carried Thunder, his pregnant wife, and the drunken, portly lawyer? This WTF final moment gave that movie some balls. But the surprising thing is that not only does Thunder III totally ignore everything that happened in Thunder II, including the cliffhanger ending, but this second sequel is better for it. Even if the explosion of a gas station and drugstore is obviously a miniature set,
In this third film, Thunder battles a new group of corrupt cops and a local militia. The story would have been stronger of it focused on Werner Pochath as Colonel Magnum. He’s a magnetic actor who absolutely commands the screen in the few scenes he briefly appears in.
Directed by: Fabrizio De Angelis
Written by: Fabrizio De Angelis, Dardano Sacchetti
Starring: Mark Gregory, John Phillip Law, Horst Schön